Teamwork Makes the Dream Work at No Single Individual
‘There’s no I in team’ at No Single Individual, the pioneering agency partner offering a bespoke ‘teamlancing’ solution for agencies in need of strategy and account management support. Founded by agency veteran Christine Olivas and experienced freelancer Susan Mees, the business is celebrating its fourth anniversary this year, having been trusted by over 60 agencies since its founding.
The story behind No Single Individual is an intriguing one, growing from a solo venture to a female-led organisation. Currently representing over 15 carefully curated members across the US, it continues to evolve in response to demand from within the industry for talented and reliable freelancers outside of the creative discipline.
Christine explains, “No Single Individual (formerly Co Conspirators) was born out of my own experiences solo freelancing from 2017-2020. This time helped me to gauge an understanding of what agencies really need from freelance talent, as well as build an invaluable network of connections. As more work than I could take on as an individual came to me, I decided to partner with another solo contractor, Susan Mees, who became my co-founder and thus formed the foundations of No Single Individual.”
No Single Individual’s offering has been shaped by the needs of the agencies it serves. Heads of resourcing in particular find themselves in one of two predicaments: the expectation that one freelancer would fill a variety of needs (e.g. both brand and social strategy), and/or a request to find three to four freelancers in a very condensed timeframe. After being told, ‘If I could clone you, I would’ by a resourcing manager, Christine landed upon the solution that would go on to form the core of No Single Individual - a team-based model.
The beauty of the team-based approach lies in its versatility and ability to fulfil a number of needs for an agency without causing disturbance or interruption. One person leaving may not always call for a straight swap for another single person, with a team better filling the gap instead. “I firmly believe that while one person may be performing a full-time role at an agency, that doesn’t mean if they go on leave, it’s always best for one freelancer to step in,” she says. “In fact, with limited training, tight onboarding and high demands for continuity, our agency clients have found that a small team covering leaves or hiring gaps is more effective, and both enriches and relieves internal resources.”
No Single Individual is unique, as it exclusively provides strategy and account management teams. Christine’s background as a senior account person, managing brands such as Toyota, Nike and Arizona Office of Tourism before stepping into a strategy focused role, meant that as a freelancer, she found herself attracted to strategy or account-strategy hybrid positions. Built to serve agencies, but also to look after and nurture the freelance talent that it represents, the best way for No Single Individual to authentically do this was “to sell what you know well - and have done yourself.”
Moreover, the team-based offering came from “an envy of the team-based approach creatives have,” which is not often replicated in other departments. “Creative freelance teams are expected. But strategists, account managers and research/data folks have not historically been so lucky. When a freelance need emerges, the expectation is that one freelancer will tackle all aspects of that ask, even if some don’t match their best skills or seniority level.”
“In founding No Single Individual, I thought it was critical that the other two ‘legs’ of the advertising ‘stool’ have the opportunity to work in teams - to answer the biggest client and strategic challenges with the same collaboration as creatives do,” Christine continues. And, as pioneers of ‘teamlancing’ for the strategy and account disciplines in advertising, No Single Individual has reimagined the ways in which agencies think about welcoming outside talent, placing more consideration on introducing “new perspectives, fresh thinking, and, of course, relief for existing full-time employees.”
Rooted in the mindset at No Single Individual is that although freelance talent might be ‘outsiders,’ they do not think or act like ‘outsiders’. Affirming that the bespoke teams formed to serve the needs of each agency are “not built around ‘gigs’, but around partnership”, Christine explains, “We may be outside talent, but our secret sauce is immediately becoming insiders, adapting to every agency's culture, process and ways of working, building trust and confidence from the outset.”
Clients trust that the teams coming on board are well-versed in understanding how agencies work, how they run, and how they differ from one another. Freelance teams, which can range from two to six people, are made up of talent that has been vetted by No Single Individual’s leadership team following a referral. Each member is known and understood intimately, allowing for the right teams to be assembled for each case. This ultimately helps to build trust and confidence with agencies using the unique team model.
Although designed to interact as part of the wider team within an agency, teams brought in from No Single Individual are there to help and reinforce work that is already underway, and not to take credit away. “Our entire mission is to support the talented, brilliant people at each agency partner by taking work off their plates, so they can take a vacation, or bolster their braintrust to win and onboard new business,” Christine adds. “We’re not in it for the glory; we’re in it to help them make great work. We happily white-label and we also happily stay behind the scenes, setting our agency clients up for success in their client interactions. We work the way they feel works best for their team. And that is just one more way we build trust.”
Over the past four years, the tenets which No Single Individual was built upon have remained largely unchanged – “the team model, exclusive focus on servicing agencies, our membership for freelance talent, and our strong all-female leadership team”. That’s not to say that nothing has changed, as it has recently adopted a package model, aligning the strategy and account team services to common needs that agencies have, from pitching to covering long-term absences. This has helped to drive efficiency, in that it is quicker to pick the right team, and effectiveness, as the exact needs are determined from the outset.
No Single Individual continues to add value to its own network of members, building a deep business team that handles the complexities of finances, scoping, operations and billings so that they can spend their time enjoying what they do best - the work - as well as partnering with other smart freelancers. Beyond this, Christine says that, “We see it as our responsibility to evolve with the market and are hyper-focused on ways we can offer them more perks and rewards - from growth/training opportunities to new innovative programs like FTO (Freelancer Time Off), which we’re making available to long-term members.”
Looking to the future, Chrstine reflects, “I’d like to be the first call for any agency that has a strategy or account need and is open to thinking holistically about how to solve it. We’ll never replace solo freelancers, which still fit the bill in some cases, and we’re not designed to supplant a full-time roster, but as the industry evolves to a more fluid talent model and actually embraces the mantra that great talent comes from anywhere, we will be that solution. We have serviced 60 agencies in four years, but there are 10,000 in North America alone, so we’ve only scratched the surface.”
With clear aspirations and a vision for the future, it’s evident that No Single Individual will continue to help agencies strengthen and expand their bandwidth and capabilities, whilst building and investing in a membership base of trusted freelance professionals. More evident perhaps is Christine’s confidence in “always being able to count on one thing: doing great work for great agencies.”
