What it’s like being the only guy in an all-female agency
"What do you do?" It's the classic question that we tend to ask people we’ve just met, looking for an answer that we hopefully find interesting and relatable.
I've been with TCCC for a few months now, and I’ve enjoyed trying out new ways to answer that question whenever I’m asked: "I work for an agency that helps businesses get closer to their customers.” Interesting, but a bit vague, needs some clarification. “We have three sides to it – closeness sessions where customers share their experiences with senior leaders listening, they’re about creating a more customer-centric culture; insight which is more about specific problem solving or evaluating a new idea; and brand strategy, which is about understanding what you mean to your customers and aligning effort with how you want to position business. Everything we do is about creating the conviction to act.”
"It's a small agency, just 11 of us and I'm actually the only guy…" That one always gets a reaction. "You're the only guy? What's that like?" Well, I thought it would be worth sharing my thoughts on that, because the reasons I enjoy working here are things I think every team can benefit from working on:
The positive tropes that are actually true
When you say 'all-female agency', you might think of a few stereotypes and there are three big positives I see here:
Emotional intelligence: Running a great agency requires deep and consistent empathy. Constantly thinking through our clients' goals and challenges with the kind of detail that makes them want us on their side.
No egos: Collaborating without egos and bravado is so much easier. “Can I give you some feedback?” is often a question that sparks fear at work, but not here. You know the intention is always to improve our collective output, not to assert dominance or belittle in any way.
Recognition of the whole person, not just the job person: This means people can bring outside-work superpowers into work, making us all more valuable. For example, my colleague Lucy is also a life coach and facilitator, which brings a unique perspective to our team.
Reality check: it's not about gender, it's about culture
I think what really makes TCCC a unique place to work isn't that it's female-led, it's the culture they've built. Things that sound great on a job spec are often lacking in reality because they take consistent effort from the leadership team, but not here. In my experience that’s quite rare and I’ve noticed a few practical ways this culture is consistently cultivated:
Clarity – Meetings, even quick internal ones, always start by agreeing the objective. Requests always come with a logical reason and a realistic deadline. There's a strong sense of ownership from each team member and that all breeds confidence.
Flexibility: We're remote-first to give the team freedom to find balance, but with the structure of ‘Together Days’ where we meet up every three weeks to share ideas, have some important social time and work in the same physical space.
Growth mindset: There's a real emphasis on personal growth and cultivating a habit of curiosity. We have even developed our own Curiosity Toolkit to help our clients be more customer-curious, which I personally think every single business could benefit from.
Conclusion: Great team culture is built with consistent actions
We can't help other teams build supportive and curious cultures without embodying it ourselves and that makes this a rewarding place to work on a daily basis. So, let's all move past the stereotypes and focus on what really makes a team thrive: not who they are, but what they do, every single day.
留言