Lessons from the Trenches: Joanna Sharma on Agency Pivots, Team Building, and Tough Calls
Lessons from the Trenches: Joanna Sharma on Agency Pivots, Team Building, and Tough Calls
Building a digital agency from scratch is often painted as a glamorous hustle filled with big wins and quick wins. But the reality? It’s a grind, full of twists, tough calls, and a never-ending learning curve. Joanna Sharma, founder of Drum Digital, knows this all too well. Over the past decade, she has navigated building her agency while juggling a young family and the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape. Her story sheds light on what agency life really looks like—warts and all.
When Joanna launched Drum Digital on maternity leave with her first child, she thought juggling motherhood and business would be a balancing act, but nothing like the rollercoaster she actually experienced. Early on, she realised that running an agency meant wearing many hats beyond just marketing—handling HR, pricing, client relationships, compliance, and everything in between. It was tough, and at times overwhelming. But she credits a mentor and community support, especially from programs like HubSpot’s partner network, for guiding her through those slippery early years.
One of the biggest lessons Joanna shares is about growth pace. “We tried to grow too fast, too soon,” she confesses. Suddenly, Drum Digital’s team swelled from a handful to eight people, but the systems and processes weren’t ready to support it. The result was burnout, cash flow stress, and difficult decisions—including letting people go, some who had been close from the very start. These learnings are a stark reminder for any entrepreneur: growth without planning leads to chaos. Joanna now champions sustainable growth, with solid structures and team support as foundation stones.
Another theme throughout the conversation is Joanna’s bespoke approach. Drum Digital isn’t about being cookie-cutter or fitting clients into one rigid service box. Instead, Joanna and her team conduct digital audits to identify gaps and opportunities unique to each client. Their focus on B2B and professional services markets means they tailor strategies involving SEO, content marketing, email automation, and paid ads that genuinely move the needle. This tailored approach, combined with Joanna’s diverse skill set as a former in-house marketer, means clients aren’t just getting tactics—they’re getting a strategy that fits their business goals and audiences.
Mindset also plays a big role in Joanna’s narrative. She talks openly about facing limiting beliefs, fear of growth, and the mental shifts she’s worked through with NLP coaching to unlock new opportunities. It’s a refreshing reminder that success isn’t just about external circumstances—it’s also about internal blocks and clearing them so the business can thrive.
Technology is a key piece of the puzzle too. Joanna swears by tools like HubSpot for sales and marketing automation, and ClickUp for project management and team collaboration—especially critical when juggling remote teams and multiple projects. With the speed of change in marketing technology, she embraces innovation but never at the cost of the human strategy behind the scenes.
For any Aussie entrepreneur chasing sustainable agency growth, Joanna’s story offers a wealth of honest, practical wisdom. It’s about knowing when to push, when to pause, and how to build a business that works for your life, not the other way around. Whether you’re starting out, scaling up, or searching for that next level, this episode delivers the no-nonsense insights and inspiration you need to keep moving forward.
Connect with Joanna Sharma
Company Website: https://www.drumdigital.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannasharma/?originalSubdomain=au
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