There are parts of Toucan that no longer need me involved...and my sense of iden
By James Northcott · October 31, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
There are parts of Toucan that no longer need me involved...and my sense of identity hasn’t always enjoyed that.
The first time I had to properly step back was in the early days. I was running my favourite client account, spending a lot of time on it and loving the work.
But Toucan was growing. I needed to focus on direction of the agency, and I couldn’t keep giving so much of my week to one account.
I had more experience than the person taking it over and I enjoyed the relationship.
So…handing it over was hard.
That client is still with us (7 years strong). And the person I handed it to...she's still here, absolutely flying and now leading a strong team.
A few years later, I had to do it again.
Toucan had grown A LOT, but I was still actively involved in one last account.
Another one I loved.
This handover felt bigger. I knew it would be the last time I was involved in running a client account day to day.
Something I’d spent years doing, enjoyed and built a business around was no longer going to be my job.
It was a sort of...end of an era.
I left it with someone incredibly capable. He’s still with us and smashing it. I still contribute strategically from time to time, but we’ve built a strong team who own the delivery.
Then came the C-suite.
Dan Makdessi and Sophie O'Brien took on more responsibility.
They make decisions without needing my approval. I don’t know what they’re doing the whole time.
It's actually very cool to see the business evolve like this.
But you do have to get used to being in meetings where other people know more than you. Where they have the context, they’ve made the call and my involvement isn’t particularly necessary.
I've become used to my role evolving over time. As the agency scales, what being a CEO means changes.
I do miss the days of being in the accounts...but I have also loved the journey of growing into someone completely different.
And with the direction Toucan is headed...I'm sure my role will look very different in 2 years time.