The Thing That Changed Everything

Happy Sunday.

When I started the agency, I treated every other agency owner like a threat.

I didn't say that out loud obviously. But the way I operated made it clear. I stayed in my own lane, kept my head down, didn't share what was working, and definitely didn't reach out to anyone who could be considered a competitor.

If another retention agency popped up on my feed, my first thought wasn't "cool, someone else doing good work." It was closer to "how do I make sure they don't take what I'm building." That's scarcity thinking, and I didn't even realize I was doing it.

It wasn't just about competitors either. It leaked into how I thought about hiring, how I priced, how I approached client work. When you're operating from a place of fear, every decision runs through this filter of protection instead of growth. You play defense when nobody's even coming for you.

The shift happened slowly, but the moment I remember most clearly was about two years ago when I was still in Irvine and started meeting other agency owners in person. People running shops that overlap with what we do, people I would've avoided three years ago.

And they were genuinely cool.

Not guarded, not competitive, not sizing me up. Just people figuring it out the same way I am. One conversation over coffee gave me more clarity on a problem I'd been stuck on for weeks than any amount of sitting alone with it would have.

That experience broke something open for me. I started sharing what was working in our systems, offering advice to founders even when it had nothing to do with retention. And the weird part is the more I gave away, the more came back in actual introductions, referrals, partnerships, and ideas I wouldn't have had on my own.

The agency has grown more in the months since I stopped guarding everything than it did in the year I spent trying to protect it. I don't think that's a coincidence.

Have a good Sunday.

If any of this hit home, reply and tell me about it. I read every one.

- Raymond

P.S. As Ezra Firestone has said, serve the world unselfishly, and profit.