When You Message Your Dream Client and They Actually Hire You - Daisy Whitehouse, Down at the Social
Episode 15 - THAT MOMENT
What if landing your dream client was as simple as telling them they're your dream client? In this refreshingly candid episode of That Moment, host Jim Johnson sits down with Daisy Whitehouse, who proved that sometimes the boldest move is just being honest about what you want. Thirteen years ago, she started a Manchester PR agency with nothing but belief. She once messaged the MD of J.W. Lees saying they were her dream client. Years later, he remembered - and hired her for the Boddingtons campaign.
When Daisy launched Down at the Social in 2009, Manchester's PR scene was dominated by 4-5 big agencies who rarely worked outside the city. Media City was a wasteland with no shops, no bars, and recruitment was brutal because nobody wanted to travel there. But Daisy spotted something the establishment missed: social media was exploding, hospitality was booming in Manchester, and every agency was still arguing about who should own those new channels whilst selling the same old press release formula.
Her philosophy - "PR with a purpose beats PR for PR's sake" - sounds simple until you understand what it costs. She's walked away from vanity projects that wouldn't solve actual business problems, challenged clients who wanted newspaper coverage just to say they got it, and built a reputation for being uncomfortably direct about what works and what doesn't. Fourteen years in, she's now using TikTok trends to tell bakery clients which products to make.
This episode tackles the tension every service business founder faces: when do you chase revenue, and when do you stay true to the work that matters? And why does building lasting client relationships require something most agencies won't give - actual time spent understanding their business?
The Uncomfortable Truths About Building an Agency:
The Dream Client DM: Why a simple "you're my dream client" message to William Lees led to the Boddingtons campaign - and what made him remember her years later
The Manchester Barrier: How northern agencies still fight perception they can't deliver national work - and why clients expect things "considerably cheaper" then get surprised
The Snobbery Problem: When The North Face wouldn't use a Cumbria agency because journalists were in London - and one founder who bucked that trend
The Media City Gamble: Moving into an office "in a wasteland" with no infrastructure whilst established agencies stayed comfortable in the city centre
No Tories, No Vapes: The business model built on cultural fit and values alignment - not just whoever pays well
The Influencer Evolution: From food bloggers everyone hated to TikTok creators driving frozen meal sales so successfully that new retail opportunities opened within weeks
Key Insights Uncovered:
Why timesheets matter for utilization - but micromanaging Slack status kills the flexibility that attracts great people
The thing nobody admits: PR takes time, and clients wanting "quick wins" usually end up disappointed with Meta ads anyway
How the algorithm creates echo chambers - you're being influenced whether you realize it or not, and brands now use trends to shape product development
Why "getting to know the business and spending the time" is considered old-fashioned - but it's still the only thing that creates lasting relationships
The crucial skill agencies abandon too quickly: challenging clients when their ideas won't deliver what they actually need
How riding Manchester's hospitality growth gave them a niche the city needed - and free drinks at launches meant people knew and liked them
From Daisy's perspective as someone who "sponged everything" working at one agency for years, witness how learning by watching brilliant people - sometimes "stopping my or in when it wasn't wanted" - built the foundation for knowing what she wanted to do differently. Her approach isn't about grand strategy; it's about hiring specialists better than you, listening more than talking in client meetings, and admitting when you don't know something.
Daisy shares her unfiltered wisdom: "Take them out for lunch. Spend time with them. Ask them questions. Don't just run an agenda that's just the three things you want to talk to them about." But she's also brutally honest about the reality: "We're older now. Being a mum, running a business, driving about everywhere, trying to go to the gym occasionally - it's a lot. And I am not a believer in the whole it's glamorous to be tired nonsense."
This episode addresses the question every founder wrestles with: when everything evolves constantly and you're operating in a world of "everything all at once, all the time," how do you stay true to building something that lasts - not just something that scales?
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 Down at the Social:
Down at the Social is a Manchester-based PR and social media agency specializing in making newsworthy brands famous through campaigns that put "bums on seats and move products off shelves." Their approach blends traditional PR with social media strategy, content creation, and event management - always grounded in understanding client businesses deeply rather than chasing vanity metrics. Named the third fastest-growing agency in the North, they've built their reputation on being uncomfortably direct, culturally selective (no Tories, no vapes), and committed to long-term relationships over quick wins.
For more information about Down at the Social: downatthesocial.co.uk
Ready to discover why messaging your dream client might be less risky than you think? This episode isn't about networking tactics - it's about building a business where boldness, honesty, and genuine relationships matter more than playing it safe.