Redefining the Agency Model: Heart, Hustle, and Human Leadership

By Kelsey Lodge, Strategic PR/Marketing Advisor, Merlot Marketing

When I tell people I work in PR and marketing, supporting brands in the home, building, and outdoor living space, they tend to picture trade shows, product launches, and a lot of stainless steel. And they’re not wrong.

What they don’t picture is the team behind the scenes doing the work – or the culture driving it.

I joined Merlot Marketing knowing it was an award-winning agency with a national reputation in a competitive niche market. I knew the client roster was strong. What I didn’t fully anticipate was what it felt like to be here – to log on each day and feel a genuinely different energy.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially with Mother’s Day approaching, because so much of what sets Merlot apart traces directly back to the women who built it.

Leadership Looks Different at Merlot

The home, building, and outdoor living space is a tremendous industry. It’s also one where women have historically been underrepresented, not on the consumer side, where women hold immense purchasing power, but at the top of the agencies, brands, and companies serving the marketplace.

Merlot doesn’t just exist in this space – it thrives in it, led by two powerhouse females who claimed their stake in the industry early on and made their own place at the table.

Debi Hammond founded Merlot Marketing more than 25 years ago and has since grown it into a nationally recognized agency – earning top industry awards, partnering with marquee brands, and delivering results that build lasting client relationships. Her career reflects a steady build of discipline and achievement, from a Division I tennis scholarship to an advertising degree at San José State, followed by early honors like PR Person of the Year and 40 Under 40, before she set out to build something of her own.

Brenda Granucci Forman joined Merlot Marketing in 2003, quickly becoming an integral partner in the agency’s growth and success. Today, as President, she leads operations and strategy while building deep client partnerships that inspire sentiments like, “I wouldn’t trust anyone else with this.”

What stands out about their leadership isn’t gender, it’s the standard they set: clear expectations, meaningful support, and a balance of celebrating wins while continuing to raise the bar. In an industry that often defaults to hierarchy and formality, their people-first approach sets them apart as leaders.

Inside the Culture They Built

Something that stood out to me before joining Merlot was their Culture Deck, which is reviewed in detail with candidates before an offer is extended. It’s not just a hiring tool to ensure fit (for both parties); it’s an accurate reflection of how the team works every day.

The core values of Heart, Hustle, and Teamwork aren’t just words on a break room poster. They show up in how projects are run, how feedback is delivered, how the team interacts, and how we engage with clients. The agency mantra, “Make It Happen with Heart + Hustle,” isn’t just language – it’s an expectation. If you watch our team prepare for a major trade show or turn around a project with a tight deadline, you’ll see exactly what this looks like in practice.

As a working mom, what I value most is how Merlot’s culture supports the people behind the work. There was a moment last holiday season when I had to step away mid-morning to bring my son his holiday pajamas and favorite stuffy for Polar Express day at school. It wasn’t planned, and it wasn’t convenient—but it also wasn’t a problem. There were no questions or issues, just the understanding that sometimes life shows up in the middle of a workday. That kind of flexibility isn’t seen as a perk…it’s simply how things work.

Debi wrote about this recently in her piece on time management and entrepreneurship: she shared the ideology that you don’t balance work and family by segmenting them, you do it by integrating them. At Merlot, that philosophy isn’t just something the CEO publishes on her blog – it shows up in how the team operates. There’s flexible thinking around how and when great work gets done, genuine respect for what people are managing outside of business hours, and leadership that models what it looks like to be both ambitious and human.

That matters for working parents: mothers and fathers alike. There’s a meaningful difference in joining a team where the leaders have experienced the balancing act firsthand and intentionally built a culture around it. You’re not over-explaining yourself. You’re not bracing for the raised eyebrow when life and work need to coexist. The culture was intentionally designed by two working moms who already understood what it takes.

A Pleasant Surprise

Working at Merlot, I’ve learned that a women-led team doesn’t mean the absence of challenge, pressure, or high expectations – it means those things exist alongside support, trust, and the space to grow. In an industry defined by deadlines and high stakes, that balance is what allows both performance and people to thrive. Balance is also a defining part of Merlot’s culture. That balance isn’t accidental at Merlot: it’s been intentional from the start. Debi and Brenda built a culture that holds space for everything people carry beyond the 8-to-5, and as someone who’s navigating that balance myself, it’s something you notice and genuinely appreciate.

So, to the working moms making it happen every day—with heart, hustle, and a whole lot of intention—Happy Mother’s Day. The sacrifices you make don’t go unnoticed.