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. 

A major goal for Hill moving forward will be getting the agency more national recognition.

“The agency has big ambitions,” Hill said. “I've been saying this for a couple of years, that it's time to put a spotlight on this agency because we tend to be very humble and very Midwestern in the way that we approach things and feel like the work should speak for itself, but I think that it's time to get a little bit of a humble brag and talk more about what this agency is about and what it can accomplish.”

Marcus Thomas has been on a growth trajectory, with revenue up 21% last year. Besides Ohio, the agency has locations in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Santiago, Chile. The agency also has an average client tenure rate of 14 years. Some of the shop's clients include Gold Star Chili, Ohio Lottery, Moen, Vitamix, Stanley Black & Decker, KeyBank and KraftMaid Cabinetry. The agency will also be looking to grow its influence in various categories, according to Hill.

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“One of the largest clients that we have is Dexcom, and there are a lot of healthcare clients out there who are not competitive to Dexcom that I think could benefit from the learnings that we have in that category,” Hill said. “There are certainly other adjacencies to home and garden, and to some of the consumer package goods work that we've been doing. And we also have been just recently doing some work in QSR for a small regional brand that I think might allow us to look at that category. As we move down the road, the point is that I think that it's time for Marcus Thomas to start being looked at by some of the major advertisers as somebody who can help them punch above their weight.”

The agency, which was founded in 1937, has over time built out its full service of capabilities. One area of the agency that has grown the most over the past couple of years is its media business, Nash said.

“A lot of agencies over the last 10 years have tried to add media practices and they've done it to a certain extent, but I think what Marcus Thomas has been able to accomplish is a pretty sophisticated media offering that I would put up head-to-head with any of the media-only agencies out there," said Hill.