The Real Cost of Saying Yes, with Dr. Mark Young Part 1

Episode 180

I want you to think about this question for today’s episode of Sell With Authority: what’s the real cost of saying “yes”?

Every time you add another service, take on an iffy-fit client, or chase a trend just because “every agency is doing it” — you’re adding more weight onto your team.

At first it doesn’t feel heavy, but over time the load builds. And eventually, growth stalls — not because you’re not working hard enough, but because you’re carrying too much of the wrong stuff.

That’s why agencies get stuck in money-draining mistakes — like throwing darts at a board and calling it strategy, selling everything to everyone, or constantly chasing clients instead of magnetically attracting the right ones.

Here’s the thing — even some of the most successful agencies in the country have been there.

Our guest expert today, Dr. Mark Young, Founder and CEO of Jekyll+Hyde Labs, built one of the nation’s top challenger brand agencies. But eventually, he realized they were diluted — saying yes out of fear instead of strategy.

So, Mark did something bold. He set what author Dr. Benjamin Hardy calls an “Impossible Goal” — $100 million in revenue in just three years. Not 15. Not 10. Three. And then he used that Impossible Goal like a scalpel. If it didn’t align, he cut it.

The results? Within weeks Jekyll+Hyde shed bad-fit clients, won bigger ones, and began scaling with conviction — not fear.

Today, Mark is here to share how you can apply the same lessons inside your own agency.

Hannah Roth, our Director of Strategy and Mad Scientist, is here too. Hannah’s in the trenches every day with our Predictive clients, and she leads all of our experiments inside the Predictive Lab. It makes perfect sense to bring her into this candid conversation.

This episode is packed full of takeaways you and your team can put into practice right away.

What you will learn in this episode: 

• Why saying “yes” can quietly stall your growth
• How to to identify the invisible costs of overcommitting to clients, services, or trends
• How to use an “Impossible Goal” as a strategic lens to simplify decisions, eliminate distractions, and focus your entire team on what truly moves the needle
• Ways to recognize when your agency is diluted — and the proven steps Dr. Mark Young took to reclaim focus, authority, and profitability
• Why most agencies optimize what shouldn’t exist — and how to confidently cut services or clients that don’t align with your strategy

Resources:

• Website: https://jandhlabs.com/
• LinkedIn Personal: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markyoungwci/
• LinkedIn Business: https://www.linkedin.com/company/jekyll-and-hyde-labs/
• HYPNO-TISING: The Secrets and Science of Ads That Sell More…: https://www.amazon.com/HYPNO-TISING-Secrets-Science-That-Sell/dp/1544526091