People Over Projects: A Client Services Director on Boundaries, Creativity and What Really Matters - Stef Lait, OST
Episode 08 - THAT MOMENT
In this thoughtful episode of That Moment, host Thailah Newton explores a question that haunts every agency professional: how do you protect creative space while managing relentless client demands? Meet Stef Lait, Client Services Director at OST, a B2B social media agency, who's spent her career learning that the best work emerges not from saying yes to everything, but from knowing when, and how, to say no.
When Stef moved from Canada to the UK, from writing to leading client experience, she discovered something counterintuitive: the same discipline that makes good writing also makes good leadership. Don't stop to edit every idea as it emerges. Get everything down first, judge later. In brainstorms, this becomes "no idea's a bad idea", creating psychological safety that unlocks breakthrough thinking for B2B brands often dismissed as boring.
But Stef's real wisdom comes from what she's learned to refuse. Working through summer holidays when the team was depleted? Sometimes necessary, if you're not asking others to sacrifice. Replying to client emails at 11:30pm? Depends on the time zone and whether you've made expectations clear. The boundary isn't rigid; it's conscious. And that consciousness, she argues, is what separates sustainable high performance from eventual burnout.
Stef brings the perspective of a recovering people-pleaser who's learned that "what other people think of you is none of your business." She understands why junior team members struggle to push back on scope creep, which is why she practises actual role-play scenarios, giving people the vocabulary and confidence to have difficult conversations before the pressure's on.
This episode tackles the tension every client-facing professional eventually faces: how do you deliver excellent work without sacrificing the team culture that makes excellence possible? And why do the projects we remember most have less to do with results and everything to do with the people we worked alongside?
The Art of Conscious Boundaries:
Stream of Consciousness, Then Edit: Why the writing discipline of "get it all down first" transforms brainstorms from self-censoring to breakthrough thinking
The Planner's Paradox: Booking meetings with yourself, protecting focus time, yet staying visibly available when the team needs you
Movement Unlocks Ideas: Voice-recording thoughts mid-run, journalling on trains, walking meetings, why static positions produce static thinking
The Boundary Buzzer Reality: Not all 11:30pm emails are equal, not all scope creep is wrong, context determines whether yes serves or sabotages
Role-Play the Hard Conversations: Practising client pushback scenarios sounds silly until the real moment arrives and you have the vocabulary ready
The Katherine Ryan Principle: "What other people think of you is none of your business", advice that freed a recovering people-pleaser to lead authentically
Key Insights Uncovered:
Why managing client expectations proactively beats reactive firefighting every time, and how to empower teams with the vocabulary for difficult conversations
The dangerous myth that replying instantly demonstrates commitment when it actually trains clients to expect 24/7 availability
How Stef's early manager at CNN modelled people-first leadership that transformed her entire approach: seeing the whole person, not just project output
Why "can this meeting be an email?" isn't laziness, it's respecting time and requiring agendas that prove preparation
The crucial difference between stretching yourself for the right reasons (great client, willing team, clear end date) versus unsustainable overcommitment
How asking "how are you?" with no agenda creates human connection that remote work constantly threatens to erode
From Stef's perspective as someone who studied English and found her way through PR, client-side work, and agency leadership across continents, witness how foundational skills compound unexpectedly. That journal she kept at age 12 in Germany? It built the reflective practice that now informs how she coaches teams through boundary-setting and creative problem-solving.
Stef shares what she'd tell her younger self: "Relax. It's going to be fine." The perfectionism, the critical inner voice, the constant worry about missing something, none of it serves as well as taking risks and trusting the process. Wayne Gretzky was right: "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take."
This episode addresses the question every ambitious professional wrestles with: when you care deeply about excellent work and client relationships, how do you build boundaries that feel like protection rather than barriers? And why does prioritising people over projects paradoxically lead to better project outcomes?
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximize profit and motivate their people through powerful, AI-enabled business intelligence dashboards. By connecting over 500+ platforms and providing real-time data analysis, Supo helps firms make better data-driven decisions about their profit, projects, and people.
For more information about Supo: www.supo.co.uk
About OST:
OST is a global B2B social media agency that makes brands unmissable. Specialising in LinkedIn presence, advocate marketing, and creative campaigns that cut through B2B noise, OST proves that even "boring" businesses have compelling stories worth telling. With a focus on work that actually drives results, not just vanity metrics, they help B2B brands build genuine connections in crowded digital spaces.
For more information about OST: ostmarketing.com
Ready to discover why protecting creative space and setting conscious boundaries isn't selfish, it's essential? This episode isn't just about saying no, it's about the self-awareness required to know which yeses serve your best work and which ones slowly erode it.