With experience spanning global brands including Arcadia and Debenhams, Beth is passionate about branding, creativity, and innovation. At Signify she oversees campaign management from concept to delivery, working to grow brand awareness, drive conversions, and create long-term marketing strategies. As part of our interview series with leading female founders, Beth shared her advice for scaling a business, growing a community and striving for parental equality from day one.
What was the biggest challenge you faced when starting Signify, and how did you overcome it?
Running an agency comes with many challenges, but in the first few years, the biggest hurdles were balancing work delivery, pricing, and maintaining a steady flow of new leads. When you’re a small team, it’s crucial to be mindful of the projects you take on, the skills available within your team, and ensuring your pricing is both competitive and sustainable.
We started with just two people in the first year – myself and my co-founder Nathan Palmer, then grew to three, and within another year, we expanded to five and beyond. As a small team (and even now), clear communication has been vital – not just for delivering great service, but also for overcoming challenges, learning new platforms, and improving our work.
What key decisions or strategies helped you scale Signify successfully?
Having both myself and Nathan making decisions has been a huge asset in our growth. Working with a business partner allows us to question all the time. We talk through everything from opportunities to challenges, ensuring we’re making the best decisions for the business. We constantly evaluate costs, structure, pricing, and services to make sure we’re moving forward in a positive and strategic way.
Another key factor has been building a great team. We take hiring very seriously, ensuring that every new team member shares our vision and values while bringing valuable skills to the Signify mix. Our team has played a massive role in our success – not just in delivering high-quality work but also in developing strong client relationships and shaping the services we offer.
What advice would you give to a female entrepreneur starting out in your industry?
Find your community! There are so many fantastic agency communities out there. I run a community called Women in Agencies, which provides opportunities for learning and helps members strengthen their networks. Running Signify, we’ve learned so much from other agencies like ours – not just about how to run the business effectively but also about expanding our network, which has opened doors to collaborations and partnerships.
These partnerships have been incredible opportunities, allowing us to work with clients we might not have reached otherwise. They also enable us to offer our clients additional services through a trusted network of suppliers, adding even more value to our business.
"As a society, we still expect women to take on the majority of care and home-life admin. Because of this, fewer women end up in leadership positions."
How would you like to see the world of work change for women in the future?
I want to see a shift in our mindset around childcare, especially in those early years and critically in the first year.
The data on women returning to work and the mental and parental load shows that, as a society, we still expect women to take on the majority of care and home-life admin. Because of this, fewer women end up in leadership positions – not always due to a lack of opportunity, but often because of burnout or simply choosing not to take on as much as is expected of them. For me, the catalyst for this has always been parental leave when a baby is born. Equality from day one leads to – and encourages – equality from then on.
Flexible working hours are great but it can feel like a plaster on a much bigger issue. As leaders, it’s important that we encourage and expect equal leave from parents.
What professional achievement are you most proud of?
Haha, still going! Seven years in business is something we’re incredibly proud of. It’s been a wild ride – navigating COVID, two pregnancies, small children, business highs and challenges – and yet, it still feels like we’re just getting started.
We’ve built an amazing team and have the privilege of working with clients who feel more like friends. On top of that, growing a community for women in agencies has been a passion project that doesn’t even feel like work. It’s been an incredible journey so far, and we’re excited for what’s next!
