Dear BTF Community,
In this interview, Tom Shepansky, one of the Founders of Rethink Communications, discusses:
- The growth of the company;
- The change in the business model; and
- The purpose of the company.
Enjoy,
Mark
Tom Shepansky is one of the Founders of Rethink Communications, the leading independent creative agency in Canada.
Rethink was founded 25 years ago and has grown beyond Canada to become a Globally recognized agency, most recently awarded Independent Agency of the Year at the Cannes festival.
Rethink has offices in Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and has recently opened a New York office to serve global brands in the US and beyond.
Shepansky with his two Founders Chris Staples and Ian Grais vowed to remain an independent agency and worked to transition their roles to create a more sustainable business model. Over the past three years, Tom, Chris and Ian have moved to the Board of Trustees overseeing the operation and governing the new partnership model.
“I was so incredibly fortunate. Chris and Ian through their career they grew to be sort of the top-ranked creative directors in the country,” says Shepansky.
“We started with a set of values and a desire to do great work but ensure we kept the culture and kept putting people first. We always said put people first, hire good people, do great work and let’s make some money too.
“Twenty five years ago we had a little whiteboard . . . We put on the board that we wanted to work with brands we believe in, we want to work with people we believe in, we want to share a belief that a creative idea can solve a business problem.”
He says the purpose of the company is creating believers in the brands they believe in.
Shepansky will be participating in the upcoming Vancouver Business Transitions Forum on November 6. He will be in an intimate fireside chat, Rethinking Transition, with Natalie Michael, CEO Coach and Succession Advisor, Waterfront Partners, sharing the unique journey of transitioning his award-winning creative agency. From navigating leadership changes to preserving the company’s culture and creative vision, Shepansky will reveal the key strategies and lessons learned. The session will help people gain insights on how to build a succession plan that safeguards the legacy of their brand while positioning it for future growth.
Shepansky says it’s one thing to start something with a set of values and beliefs but it’s another thing to exit and create “a more sustainable business model that gives you the ability to keep this thing going.”
“Entrepreneurs have to hear alternative success strategies to get inspired. Some businesses need to sell strategically. Others like us didn’t need to sell. In fact, I would make a case that an independent business that keeps profits in the local country and community and can distribute those profits to partners and employees, that’s when I think of capitalism at best. That’s how it was set up.”
Shepansky says companies always face a fork in the road. It can sell. It can get private equity. Or it could sell to management.
The company looked at the different options. The beauty of this model they came up with is they have a governance model that is able to have oversight on the business and play an active role in guiding and shepherding the business.
“No one knows the business better than us. So we’re deeply involved in it,” he says.
Since that change with the founders moving into their roles as trustees, the revenues have doubled. They’ve opened New York City and they’ve been named the number one agency in Canada for five years. Last year, at the Cannes Lions Festival it was named Independent Network of the Year and Independent Agency of the Year.
Outside of his work at Rethink, Shepansky has both advisory and fiduciary board roles and he’s an active investor in companies where he finds like-minded Founders with shared values.
He has been involved in the local community over the past 18 years, having served as Board Chair of Vancouver Foundation and Vice Chair of St. Paul’s Foundation.
Shepansky lives in North Vancouver with his wife Roxanne and can be found hiking or skiing the local mountains, cycling with friends or playing his bass guitar with his band TwoPointOH on Salt Spring Island.
Mario Toneguzzi is a veteran of the media industry for more than 40 years and named in 2021 a Top Ten Business Journalist in the world and only Canadian. He also made the RETHINK’s global list as a Top Retail Expert 2024.
