HiPortfolio didn’t start as a “let’s launch an agency” moment. It started way more casually, via a friend who was running his freelance practice under the name Hi, and pulled me in to help on a couple of projects. So I helped. Then we did a few more and somewhere in between those projects, we thought what if we stopped treating this like a side thing and actually built something substantial? A real agency, with structure, with intent, one that does cutting-edge work, with a point of view, and a standard that’s unapologetic and brave.

So in April 2024, we made the call and ditched the practice and went all in. We had a very cute idea that this was going to be straightforward. Polish the visuals, put up a website, some social media posts and maybe grab coffee with some people. Simple, right?

Turns out, building an agency from scratch is less like a coffee run and more like assembling furniture blindfolded, with one hand tied. There was heaps of the design work, directions that led nowhere. But then there was everything else. The case studies that took forever to write, social profiles that sat empty, documentation, legal stuff, bank accounts, business registration, tools, workflows, planning and everything else. All of this while keeping client work moving because, you know, bills don't pause for rebrands.

Our initial timeline was cute. We thought maybe six weeks. Then six months started feeling ambitious. Every time we checked one box, three more appeared. Things we'd never considered, like what systems you need when you're no longer two people in a room but something that has to actually run for in every situation.

We weren't just building a brand, we were building a company, and nobody warns you how different those two things are.