Nancy Hill, founder of consultancy Media Sherpas and former CEO of the 4A's, is taking on a new role as CEO of Cleveland-based agency Marcus Thomas. Jim Nash, who held the position for more than 30 years, is stepping down for personal reasons and continues as vice chair of its board of directors.
Hill's appointment is effective June 1.
Hill had been working with the agency, which has 260 employees, as a Media Sherpas client since 2017, helping with strategy, business development, culture and more. Hill also joined the agency’s board of directors more than a year ago, which made the decision easier, said Nash.
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“We are constantly working on long-term plans, business plans, and also succession plans for the agency, myself included,” Nash said. “I needed to move my succession planning up and step back a little sooner than I expected due to some personal issues that I needed to deal with. I had the great fortune, quite frankly—and the agency has the great fortune—of having known Nancy for well over 10 years.”
As a result of this move, Hill, who will also have some equity in the independent agency, will be shutting down Media Sherpas’ operations after it was launched five years ago.
“I'm winding down Media Sherpa at the end of this month,” Hill said. “Because first of all, in some cases it could be a conflict, but secondly, of course, I need to be 100% focused on Marcus Thomas. All of my clients have been notified. I had no intention of going back to work full time, but when this opportunity arose and the fact that I could not only help Jim out personally but help the agency, which I had come to admire, it was a pretty easy decision.”
During her time as the head of the consultancy, she helped agencies navigate all types of issues, such as the future of work, layoffs, managing PPP loans and more. Prior to that, Hill served as the CEO of the 4A's for nearly 10 years. Hill previously held executive roles at BBDO, Hill Holliday, and TBWA\Chiat\Day.