Crossroads 2025 Recap: Growing Smarter While Leading Authentically
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Pathlabs Marketing |
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June 6, 2025 |
Growth doesn’t come from simply working harder. It comes from innovative thinking, collaboration, and building around the unique facets that help independent agencies thrive.
That belief was reaffirmed during Pathlabs' three-day visit to AMIN Worldwide’s Crossroads 2025, where independent agency leaders gathered to share challenges, celebrate creativity, and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
Our team was proud to join agency leaders from across North America to exchange ideas and lead conversations about sustainable growth and the real-world power of partnership. Here’s what we took away:
Regular Reflection Drives Smarter Campaigns
All agencies aim for stronger collaboration and better results, but not all are equipped to make it happen. During our time at Crossroads 2025, we identified several common attributes that the most successful teams shared, such as:
Shared ownership
Transparency
Customer focus
Adaptability
Continuous improvement
Each of these traits is valuable alone, but the key to making them all work together is retrospectives, or time dedicated solely to reflecting, assessing, and creating a plan to improve as a team.
At Pathlabs, reflection is built into how we work. It's a core part of every Media Execution Partnership. When we embed with agencies, we don’t just execute, we evolve alongside their team. Growth starts by asking the right questions: What worked? What didn’t? How can we improve? It’s why so many of our clients report growing media revenue and internal alignment.
Start Small to Scale Fast: Use an MVP Mindset
During one session, each table was assigned a different audience archetype and tasked with imagining a scenario where that person made it to work on time and happy. Then the prompt changed to simply getting them to work. There was no room for fluff in their commute because now there was traffic, bad weather, and other roadblocks.
Agencies can use the same process to define their Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
For agencies working with Pathlabs, this MVP mindset translates directly into our media execution approach. We help teams execute, test strategically, and improve consistently so they don’t get stuck chasing ideal conditions that rarely exist.
To Reach Every Generation, See the Whole Person
Another impactful session featured a panel representing four generations: Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. The most important takeaway was that you must market to the whole person, not just the generation to which they belong.
Leading with generational assumptions alone can lead to overlooking nuance, context, and lived experiences that are the keys to unlocking authentic and relevant campaigns.
At Pathlabs, we often support agencies executing omnichannel campaigns where voice and tone must remain consistent, whether speaking to a Gen Z TikTok audience or a C-suite decision-maker on LinkedIn. Authenticity, clarity, and respect for the whole person are non-negotiables.
Partnerships Can Jumpstart Exponential Growth
Pathlabs didn’t just attend Crossroads 2025. Courtney Packard, our VP of Agency Growth, also presented a keynote session with Sam Burn, Principal - Strategy at Cayenne Creative.
Together, they shared how Cayenne, a creative-first agency, faced a common challenge: their clients wanted more digital media, but their two-person media team couldn’t scale fast enough to keep up. Hiring wasn’t sustainable, and outsourcing risked client relationships. The solution? A Media Execution Partnership (MEP) with Pathlabs.
The results speak for themselves.
Cayenne saw 3X growth in digital media revenue within one year solely from their existing clients, all without expanding headcount.
This story wasn’t about flashy tools or overhauls. It was about designing an operational structure that allowed a high-performing creative team to stay focused on what they do best while Pathalabs' media experts executed media at scale with precision, speed, and strategy.
Putting People First Builds Stronger Partnerships
Year after year, the most powerful part of AMIN is the people.
We left the event energized by conversations with agency leaders from across the US and Canada. Hearing their stories, their interests outside of work, swapping ideas, and connecting as professionals and people highlighted the key ingredient in independent agencies’ recipe for success: real, creative individuals building businesses and communities with integrity and authenticity.
At Pathlabs, we’re proud to support that mission. Whether through media execution, team integration, or strategic growth enablement, we aim to help agencies scale without losing what makes them unique.
Contact Pathlabs to see how, with the right partners, mindset, and processes, growth doesn’t have to mean burnout or compromise.