Launched by Freia Muehlenbein, Be Reyt is an agency consultancy based in Leeds.
With over 13 years of experience in operational and strategic agency roles, Freia saw a gap in the market to support businesses from a strategic perspective.
Freia now works with agencies across the UK and internationally including Search Laboratory, 21 Degrees Digital, and Modo25 to deliver strategic goals.
Offering coaching and mentoring services to business owners looking to overcome specific challenges, Freia has also secured a partnership with Liverpool-based consultancy FORM, where she serves as a growth consultant delivering six-month growth programmes for ambitious creative, marketing, and tech businesses.
Freia is also an associate guide for Agency Local, a community for agency owners focused on helping them improve, grow, or scale their businesses.
She shared all the lessons she has learnt…
Which single daily habit or practice could you not do without?
It’s nothing ground-breaking, but I go for at least one walk every day, even when I have busy days. My partner and I have some beautiful Yorkshire countryside on our doorstep, and we made walking a habit when we moved to this location 7 years ago. If I walk on my own, I listen to podcasts or call friends.
When I work from home, I often take walking breaks to record voice notes to plan client workshops, or to come up with key themes for presentations. It’s much more effective and fun than doing this at your desk. I also eat the same lunch pretty much every day. Is that weird?
What’s been your luckiest break?
Moving to Leeds has led me to some very lucky breaks. I’m from Germany and originally only came to Leeds to finish the last year of my Master’s degree. I never intended to live here long-term, but met my partner during uni and found an amazing job so decided to extend my stay. This was in 2008, and I now call the UK my home. When I finished my degree in Leeds, my then flatmate Charlotte worked part-time in a small digital agency that was looking to fill a new role to set up a content & online PR offering within SEO.
My first thought was “what the hell is SEO” and I nearly didn’t apply. It sounded intriguing so I decided to go for it, got the role, and stayed with the agency for 11 years. I grew the offering from 0-100 people in the 7 years of leading the department. For the 4 years after that, I was in charge of the agency strategy and change programmes and responsible for moving our strategic goals out of the boardroom and into the agency. The learnings were the perfect foundation for the work I do now as an agency consultant.
What’s your best failure?
When I was still agency-side and my department was growing so fast that we constantly had to fill new roles, I made a few rushed recruitment decisions that ended up impacting negatively on the teams. Picking the right team members will always be one of the most important decisions you can make, and this can’t be rushed.
I’ve made a few decisions against my gut feel and they always turned out to be the wrong ones. Another big eye-opener was having long periods of poor work-life balance. The impact can be significant and I have been super strict about looking after my well-being ever since. The experience helped me to spot signs of stress in others pretty immediately, and I try to support my clients and friends with this as much as I can.
What is the best investment you’ve ever made, either financial or time?
I’ve worked with business and life coaches for nearly seven years, and there is no better investment than in yourself. It sounds corny, but unless you understand what is important to you in life, it will be hard to see purpose in some of the things you do. Including work. Working with coaches also helped me take the leap into self-employment and consulting, which was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Professionally, another great investment was in an Agile Change Management course. When I was responsible for the strategic initiatives of my agency, I was hitting some barriers in embedding changes across the 150-strong business. The course has been an eye-opener and I have approached large initiatives and changes much more effectively since. Other than that: foam earplugs for £0.99, because your sleep is sacred!
Which book would you recommend others to read and why?
I’m not actually a huge reader and prefer podcasts, but there are quite a few agency-specific books I would recommend to agency owners: Agencynomics, I’m An Agency Owner Get Me Out Of Here, Standout Or Die, Grow Your Digital Agency, to name a few.
Another book that stuck with me is called “Panic Years” by Nell Frizzell. It’s about the time between mid-twenties and early-forties which many women can find quite turbulent, because of the number of decisions, changes, and career choices – all underpinned by this huge question of whether or not to have kids. It’s very fun to read and any woman in that age group will identify with it.
What one piece of advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Don’t get that tattoo!!! If I had a chance to go back even further, I would talk to younger Freia about university and whether that’s the best choice for her. I loved uni life, but I don’t feel like my degree has either prepared me or was necessary, for my career. Luckily, it is now much more common in the marketing/digital sector to employ non-graduates. Some of the best people I’ve worked with in agencies don’t have a degree.
Who or what has had the single biggest influence on your working life?
Ian Harris, the founder of Search Laboratory. He’s just brilliant and I learned a lot from him. He managed to create and maintain a lovely culture throughout the agency’s growth journey. He is always fair, trusts people to do a good job, and is just an overall great person that you genuinely want to work for. What I respect most about him is that he was often the instigator of fun and always encouraged everyone to have a laugh.
Tell us something about you that would surprise people.
I have German and British dual citizenship and had to take the “Life In The UK” test in 2020 to qualify for this. I had to learn about British history, royals, poets, artists, geography, political systems, etc. so if you ever need a pub quiz partner, give me a shout! I take a 50% cut of all winnings.
How will the COVID crisis change work for the better?
There are the well-known positive changes around more flexibility, and more emphasis on sustainability, the planet, and people’s well-being. Of course, not all businesses have moved towards these things, but there is a visible shift.
The pandemic prompted many people to rethink their lives and question the status quo. Many took the leap into something new or switched to employers that enable them to live more in line with their personal values. I think this is a good thing. The world of work needed a shake-up.
What does success look like to you?
I started looking at success much more through the lens of my entire life, rather than just my work life. My work is only as successful as the impact it has on the rest of my life. Working with coaches helped me understand what’s important to me, and I started my own business as one piece of the puzzle to achieve the lifestyle that works for me. This isn’t about ‘living your best life’ (don’t like this; too much pressure).
For me, success is about feeling content and not missing out on the things you know make you happy. Running my own business allows me to realise a lot of the things that define success for me: freedom, flexibility, constant learning, being more active, working abroad, seeing my friends and family in Germany more, working with interesting clients etc. If I can maintain those things, then I feel successful.
