ABOUT US

School of Agency is a specialist training and coaching practice that helps agency people grow.

We help practitioners in the professional services develop essential “work life skills", like client and account management, people management and leadership, and business development.

Created by ex-agency leader Mai Aristoteli, we offer interactive and highly practical training informed by decades of real-world experience.

Our clients value our bespoke and creative approach: we work with you to understand your team’s specific challenges, and develop a tailored learning program to address them.

WHAT WE TEACH

We help practitioners of all levels develop the “agency life skills” they need to get ahead at work.

WHO WE’VE WORKED WITH

WHAT THEY SAY

  • “The team has been raving about the many ‘lightbulb moments’ during the two day course. Thank you for sharing your brilliance!”

    Chloe Fitzgerald - Business Director, Dentsu Creative PR

  • “Mai brings years of recent agency experience and a warm and professional approach to her training. She takes the time to get to know participants and tailors her training to meet them where they are at. I believe our team are in a much better position to deliver in their roles as as a result.”

    Susie Laurence - GM, Sabio

  • “Mai is the one of the best agency directors I’ve worked with. She’s pragmatic, empathetic and inspirational - a problem-solver and an opportunity-finder. Watch your business and your people thrive.”

    Tanya Hughes - Ex-MD, M&C Saatchi Talk

  • “The sessions were incredibly detailed, yet so easy to digest - thanks to the approachable, interactive and engaging training style. I really valued being able to get some practical tools that could be applied immediately. I feel much better prepared and more confident about my ability to do the job of Account Director.”

    Account Director - C7EVEN

  • “Extremely engaging. Very practical - was able to really absorb all the information. Loved the deep discussion among attendees.”

    Senior Account Director, Burson WPP

  • “Mai is just the best. She has the innate ability to bring out the best in people and teams.

    Andie Crawford - Sydney MD, Alt-Shift

  • “Coaching with Mai played a huge role in my professional development. I’d recommend her to anyone.”

    Senior Account Director & B&T 30 Under 30 winner

  • “Just wanted to reach out and say thanks (again) for the killer training. Being able to lean on what we learnt and practiced in your sessions has helped HEAPS, as I had my first difficult conversation with a direct report today. THANK YOU!”

    Account Manager - Dentsu Creative

  • “I thought the training was fantastic - it felt like work therapy! I learned so much that is incredibly helpful for performing well at an agency that you don't learn at uni or on the job. It was well delivered, engaging and helpful. I really valued receiving some key insights and ways of working from a clearly seasoned and polished agency professional.”

    Account Executive - Rowland

WHAT TO EXPECT

STEP 1

DIAGNOSE

We start with a “get to know you” process with agency leadership. What are your business and team’s challenges? What skills and behaviours would you like to see as a result of training?

STEP 2

DEVELOP

From here we’ll create a bespoke learning program for your team, both pulling from our own learning resources and creating new content based on your brief.

Finally, we’ll adapt all materials to ensure we’re talking in your agency’s “language” - mirroring your terminology, team structure, and culture.

STEP 3

DELIVER

Where the magic happens! We’ll deliver interactive, thought-provoking, and highly practical training for your team.

This could look like interactive group workshops, targeted 1-1 coaching, or a mixture of both. Students will receive copies of all learning materials to keep.

We recommend in-person training - and we’ll come to you, wherever you are - and also offer virtual learning if preferred.

STEP 4

DEBRIEF

We’ll debrief with you after the team’s training to share some observations with you (while respecting attendees’ confidence).

We generally find that your team will be super energised and motivated after training. So we’ll also share guidance with you on how you can keep the energy and learnings going, long after training.