Jul 21, 2026 · 31 min · 10 segments
In this episode of Inside the Collective, Brad Amos sits down with Nathan Bell, who has spent years inside traditional agencies but is here to talk about why he no longer believes the old model is…
Nathan BellGuest
Brad AmosHost
I think, um, one of the, one of the things for me is probably, um, watching how agencies are, uh, were kind of designed and, and have been kind of designed, um, over the years, um, has probably had a massive impact on really how we're, you know, designing the, the Carrot Collective.
Um, I think most agencies I've worked in and been asked to lead are defined by ultimately what they make, you know, the...
We're a social agency, we're an experiential agency, we're an architecture firm.
So when a brief comes in that doesn't fit, you know, the, the specialism, agencies either turn it down or they force fit their team to deliver something that they're kind of mostly good at, um, because they don't wanna say no to the, to the revenue.
And I think that's probably, that experience has contributed to us, you know, building and designing a system that can deliver any output anywhere, any time because of the access to, to, to talent u- ultimately.
Um, and the fact that I think the biggest learning is that, you know, you, you never, um...
Traditional agencies have always built their value around owning the best people, whereas what we're doing is, is, is building a system around the ability to access, um, great talent.
And I think in a world where talent wants flexibility, you know, client needs speed, briefs are really diverse, um, ultimately I think access wins over, over ownership.
Oh, what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to build something different that wasn't a typical agency?
Um, I was sitting on a, on a, on a beach far north Queensland, and David Webster called me and he said, "Can I speak to you about the Carrot Collective?" And I was like, "Yep, this is a really good time." He's like explained it all kind of to me, and because I was thinking about what next after leaving my previous studio that I'd, that I'd built up, and I was looking for freelance work, and I was wondering how I was gonna find enough work to fill my pipeline, and David talked about this idea of access, not ownership.
It was all of the things I needed as a creative professional, and the more we talked about it, I met Paulo, I met Annalisa, I met Fabio, I met Nico.
I wanna be part of designing this because this is something I need, and I would, I would use." Um, I, I remember that, I remember that moment really clearly.
Yeah, because it was a solution to something I, I needed, and that was causing me great anxiety.
Um, because I knew the world was changing and kind of, not collapsing, that's a bit dramatic, but I knew the world was changing behind me.
Um, and I could either, you know, um, kind of be a freelancer for the c- kind of for the rest of, you know, the next 15 or 20 years, or I could kind of contribute to something much, much bigger, and hopefully I am.
I think, um, one of the, one of the things for me is probably, um, watching how agencies are, uh, were kind of designed and, and have been kind of designed, um, over the years, um, has probably had a massive impact on really how we're, you know, designing the, the Carrot Collective.
Um, I think most agencies I've worked in and been asked to lead are defined by ultimately what they make, you know, the...
We're a social agency, we're an experiential agency, we're an architecture firm.
So when a brief comes in that doesn't fit, you know, the, the specialism, agencies either turn it down or they force fit their team to deliver something that they're kind of mostly good at, um, because they don't wanna say no to the, to the revenue.
And I think that's probably, that experience has contributed to us, you know, building and designing a system that can deliver any output anywhere, any time because of the access to, to, to talent u- ultimately.
Um, and the fact that I think the biggest learning is that, you know, you, you never, um...
Traditional agencies have always built their value around owning the best people, whereas what we're doing is, is, is building a system around the ability to access, um, great talent.
And I think in a world where talent wants flexibility, you know, client needs speed, briefs are really diverse, um, ultimately I think access wins over, over ownership.
Oh, what was the moment that you realized that you wanted to build something different that wasn't a typical agency?
Um, I was sitting on a, on a, on a beach far north Queensland, and David Webster called me and he said, "Can I speak to you about the Carrot Collective?" And I was like, "Yep, this is a really good time." He's like explained it all kind of to me, and because I was thinking about what next after leaving my previous studio that I'd, that I'd built up, and I was looking for freelance work, and I was wondering how I was gonna find enough work to fill my pipeline, and David talked about this idea of access, not ownership.
It was all of the things I needed as a creative professional, and the more we talked about it, I met Paulo, I met Annalisa, I met Fabio, I met Nico.
I wanna be part of designing this because this is something I need, and I would, I would use." Um, I, I remember that, I remember that moment really clearly.
Yeah, because it was a solution to something I, I needed, and that was causing me great anxiety.
Um, because I knew the world was changing and kind of, not collapsing, that's a bit dramatic, but I knew the world was changing behind me.
Um, and I could either, you know, um, kind of be a freelancer for the c- kind of for the rest of, you know, the next 15 or 20 years, or I could kind of contribute to something much, much bigger, and hopefully I am.
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