Imposter syndrome, gaslighting, and the power of saying no - Aggie Meroni, White Bee Digital
Episode 10 - THAT MOMENT
In this revealing season of That Moment, our host Jim Johnson explores a question that haunts even the most successful founders: why do we feel like we shouldn't be in the room? Meet Aggie Meroni, bestselling author and founder of White Bee Digital, a paid social agency specialising in Meta, Pinterest and TikTok ads for e-commerce brands. She's trained hundreds of marketers, consulted with some of the fastest-growing DTC brands, and yet still battles the nagging feeling that someone's about to tap her on the shoulder and say, "Actually, we made a mistake."
When Aggie pivoted from a decade in high finance, working with major banks, to retraining in digital marketing in her 30s with a new baby, nobody was offering her a chance. Covid hit, e-commerce boomed, and she became an "accidental business owner" five years ahead of schedule. What she discovered managing difficult clients at agencies taught her something counterintuitive: the more you push back, the more respect you earn. The more boundaries you set, the more clients trust you.
Aggie brings the perspective of someone who's lived the volatility, from the iOS 14 privacy update that crashed unprepared brands in 2021, to the geopolitical upheaval that devastated consumer confidence in September 2024. She's seen behind the curtain of businesses that look thriving on social media whilst their books reveal they haven't paid themselves in two years. Her response? Radical honesty about how hard it actually is, what nobody's talking about, and why gaslighting business owners with highlight reels needs to stop.
But Aggie's real wisdom comes from what she refuses to do: work with more than ten clients at once, tolerate disrespect to her team, or pretend the algorithm is predictable. She's rebuilt her agency's entire back end to respond to a massive Meta update that competitors are only just acknowledging ten months later. And she's written it all down in her bestselling book, Crack the Code, because the same questions kept arising again and again.
This episode tackles the tension every boutique agency founder faces: how do you stay small enough to go deep whilst resisting the pressure to scale at all costs? And why does honesty feel so rare when everyone's performing success on social media?
The Accidental Agency Owner's Manifesto:
Imposter Syndrome at Scale: Why coming from outside the agency world creates both credibility gaps and competitive advantages clients desperately need.
The Covid Pivot: Launching a business five years early out of necessity when nobody would hire a 30-something with a new baby and no agency CV.
From Organic to Paid: Why Aggie abandoned organic social after clients' cousins' brothers' dogs kept undermining months of strategic work.
The iOS 14 Correction: How the 2021 privacy update separated brands who'd diversified from those who crashed and burned relying solely on Meta.
Boutique By Design: Why ten clients maximum allows depth over breadth, and how that boundary protects both quality and sanity.
The Honesty Tax: What it costs to admit publicly that business owners cry, struggle with cash flow, and spend unglamorous hours rebuilding systems nobody applauds.
Key Insights Uncovered:
Why e-commerce founders are harder to manage than high-profile banking clients, and what that taught Aggie about setting non-negotiable boundaries.
How the "messy middle" of attribution means no software can pinpoint exactly what drives conversions, yet brands obsess over in-platform metrics.
The dangerous pattern of brands cutting Meta spend because Google "performs better", then watching Google results collapse because demand generation stopped.
Why Aggie fired clients who tweaked ad accounts without permission, it's now a termination clause in every contract because one change destroys intentional strategy.
How staying nine months ahead of industry conversations (like the December update competitors only discussed in October) creates unfair competitive advantage.
The gaslight economy on LinkedIn and Instagram where highlight reels make struggling founders question their own reality.
From Aggie's perspective as someone who left finance to retrain entirely, witness how outsider status becomes strength. She simplifies what agencies overcomplicate, asks "can we call this something normal?" when jargon dominates, and remembers what it felt like not to understand, so her clients never feel stupid for asking.
Aggie shares what she learned the hard way: "Until we actually meet the people we'll be dealing with day to day, it's not something we take on." On paper, a brand can be the perfect fit. In practice, if boundaries won't be respected or communication stays professional, the partnership won't work, regardless of revenue potential.
This episode addresses the question every agency founder wrestles with: when you've built something valuable, how do you resist the pressure to scale beyond the point where you can maintain what made you special? And why is admitting struggle more valuable than performing success?
About Supo:
Supo provides people-first intelligence software for professional services firms, helping businesses maximise 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 White Bee Digital:
White Bee Digital is a paid social agency supporting e-commerce businesses to scale through online advertising on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and TikTok. The agency offers both done-for-you retainer services and training programmes, helping brands either outsource their paid social entirely or build in-house confidence through coaching and support. White Bee Digital specialises in navigating Meta complexities, creative strategy, and AI-powered systems that drive sustainable performance.
For more information about White Bee Digital: https://whitebeedigital.com/
Ready to discover why imposter syndrome might be your secret weapon and honesty your competitive advantage? This episode isn't just about building an agency, it's about the courage to stay boutique when everyone's scaling, and the wisdom to know that pushing back earns more respect than always saying yes.