Meet Josh Henry-Hicks of Insightly Media `

Today we’d like to introduce you to Josh Henry-Hicks.

Hi Josh, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I’m an Australian who moved to LA in 2016. I was the 6th employee at digital marketing agency MuteSix. 5 Years later we were a company of 450. I managed a team of 120 and we sold to Dentsu one of the largest Digital Marketing agencies in the world. I started my own agency 4 years ago and have a team of 20 based all around the US. My wife is also Australian, I’ve had two kids here and have loved every minute of my time in LA.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Absolutely there have been ups and downs along the way. Living away from Family. Raising two kids in LA without family is no joke. The merger between Dentsu and Mutesix was particularly challenging. Blending a dynamic start up with a corporate conglomerate was tough. They fired all the existing leaders and eventually myself while I was on Paternity leave with my first born. That was the nudge i needed to start my own business. So in some ways it was a blessing.

As you know, we’re big fans of Insightly Media `. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Insightly Media is a growth partner for some of the world’s leading fashion, lifestyle and health brands. Show Me Your MuMu, Dissh, City Beach, Fashion Pass, Psycho Bunny, Lilac St, Vestirsi, Adorne — that kind of company.

The short version of what we do: we blend consumer psychology with creative strategy to make content that actually connects a brand to its audience, and then we scale it through paid. The longer version is that we sit much closer to the business than a typical agency. We think like founders, because that’s how I grew up. My father built City Beach into a 100-store, $400M retailer. My mother founded Dissh, now a $150M brand. Both are clients today. So I learnt early creative, messaging and positioning is the foundation for growth, paid media is what fuels it.

That’s the lens we bring to every account. We’re not media buyers chasing a ROAS number. We’re growth strategists who happen to be very good at the creative side of the equation, specifically the psychology behind why people stop scrolling, why they trust a brand, and why they buy.

What sets us apart

Honestly, two things.

The first is Psychology Based Creative. Most agencies treat creative as the asset and strategy as the wrapper around it. We do it the other way around. The strategy comes first — who the customer is, what they actually believe, what’s stopping them from buying — and the creative is the expression of that. It sounds simple, but very few agencies actually work this way.

We do a 30 page indepth persona report of every client before they partner with us. We;re not looking at age and demographics but more what makes them tick. Their motivators, their pain points and their desires on a human level. This forms the basis of our creative strategy. You can’t design effective creative until you deeply know who your customer is.

What I’m most proud of

Two things stand out.

One is the trajectory. We’ve gone from $800K in 2023 to $4.5M on the table this year. Almost all of it through word of mouth and the quality of the work. That’s the part I’m proudest of — clients refer us because they get a result, not because we have a slick funnel.

The other is the team. We’re 20 people right now, heading toward 35 by end of year. A big focus for me is making Insightly the best place to work in this industry, not just the best agency to hire. Talent compounds — the better the people, the better the work, and the better the result for our clients.

What I want readers to know

If you’re a fashion, lifestyle or health brand and you feel like your agency is running ads without really understanding your business and customer, that’s exactly the gap we exist to fill. We’re a small enough team that you’ll talk to senior strategists, not account managers, and we’re commercial enough that we’ll tell you when something isn’t working — even when it’s not what you want to hear.

We’re not for everyone. We work best with founders and brand teams who care about the craft, take the long view, and want a partner that thinks alongside them rather than just executes a brief.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.insightlymedia.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/insightlymedia/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-henry-hicks-32102951/