Chris LaFay

⚡Want to build a business that actually works? My team at Motive11 can help—websites, systems, and strategy for modern entrepreneurs → https://motive11.com Agency founder Chris LaFay joins me to talk about growing a web business from small-town freelancing to seven figures, the power of sharing experience instead of advice, and what it really takes to scale sustainably without losing yourself. 🔗 Connect with Chris LaFay: Website: https://www.classiccity.net LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrislafay X: https://x.com/chrisjlafay   🔗 Connect with Mark Szymanski: Website: https://markszymanski.co Facebook: https://mjs.link/FB Instagram: https://mjs.link/IG LinkedIn: https://mjs.link/LI X: https://mjs.link/X YouTube: https://mjs.link/YT About the show: Fueled By Progress is a podcast about candid conversations with builders, creators, and curious people—focused on decisions, disciplines, and stories that move us forward. If you’re new here, welcome. If you’ve been here since episodes recorded in my car—thank you. We’re still just getting warmed up 💪 Host --- Mark Szymanski: https://markszymanski.co/links Video/Audio Production --- Nathaniel DeHaven: https://elevatedmultimedia.com Chapters: 0:00 Intro and why I film first conversations 1:12 Meet the guest Chris LaFay and Classic City Consulting 3:11 How we got connected through Andy Milligan 4:30 Accountability partner dynamic and daily check-ins 6:40 Experience vs advice and why stories land better 8:46 Lessons from Entrepreneurs’ Organization on sharing experiences 10:46 My learn try share motto and staying authentic 12:10 What I’m excited about now daily shorts streak hits 100 13:20 Documenting life systems and personal website roots 15:03 Chris’s background slow and steady agency growth 16:25 Content ramp up and finally starting a podcast 18:58 Framing the studio and committing to a setup 20:06 Content to drive Classic City sales the game plan 21:17 Collaborations and mini series with agency partners 22:52 The dual CTA idea and jabs before the right hook 24:05 My path agency vs creator split and tradeoffs 25:27 Chris’s origin suburbs of Atlanta and early freelancing 27:12 Pricing mindset shift charging more with confidence 29:21 Scaling to 1.3M and hard lessons on expenses 30:53 Selling to CMOs vs founders and changing rooms 33:04 College path MIS degree and real world skills 35:39 First WordPress class and stepping up to teach 37:49 From Dreamweaver to WordPress becoming the core stack 41:26 Shopify side work and where it fits 42:53 What Chris does today founder CEO head of sales 44:38 Relationship driven sales and creating a repeatable engine 48:04 Why ads waited the need for a foot in the door offer 50:14 ICP clarity B2B SaaS with complex content models 52:18 Component libraries CPTs and empowering marketing teams 54:50 How they entered B2B SaaS referrals and Slack groups 56:40 Personal sites as scratch pads and short posts 59:28 Substack vs WordPress and owning the home base 1:02:44 Personal brand ideas fractional consulting with founders 1:05:20 Building new lines of business inside existing engines 1:06:56 Community and mentorship possibilities 1:07:24 Wrap up and where to find Chris LinkedIn and Classic City