[Top Agency Series] Visionary Leadership in Sponsorship With Andrea Shaw

Andrea Shaw is the Founder and Executive Chair of TTG Canada and TORQUE Strategies. Operating in Toronto, these marketing and sponsorship agencies are leaders in Canada, working with an exceptional roster of clients and guided by the aspiration to elevate sports, culture, and community. Andrea played a pivotal role in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, raising a staggering $760 million in corporate sponsorship and overseeing the longest torch relay in Olympic history. She has a strong focus on values-based hiring, the importance of team culture, and a passion for empowering women in sports and business.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [1:10] Andrea Shaw’s journey from nurse to marketing leader
• [3:45] The decision to decline a $3 million sponsorship deal 
• [7:13] How TTG Canada has evolved from an Olympic legacy to a leader in event-driven strategic marketing
• [15:16] The detailed sales process for high-ticket sponsorships
• [20:18] How sponsorships can solve significant business challenges
• [26:06] What are the top priorities when building a value-driven team culture?
• [33:29] Why stepping down from CEO can be a strategic move and how to handle it with grace
• [36:37] Nurturing your team and why clear communication is key during a CEO transition

In this episode…

Imagine navigating through a high-stakes negotiation where walking away from a $3 million deal feels like the right move. What would make a seasoned professional take such a dramatic step? Could it be a profound lesson in values and alignment that not only guides personal decisions, but also shapes corporate cultures and successes?

Andrea Shaw shares her pivotal role in raising over $760 million in corporate sponsorship for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, highlighting the importance of aligning with partners who share similar values. The decision to reject a $3 million sponsorship deal due to a misalignment of values illustrates the deep commitment to integrity. Andrea also delves into the creation of TTG Canada and TORQUE Strategies, detailing how these ventures were born from the desire to leverage her Olympic experiences and contribute to the sponsorship and marketing industry.

In this episode of Inspired Insider Podcast, host Dr. Jeremy Weisz sits down with Andrea Shaw, Founder and Executive Chair of TTG Canada and TORQUE Strategies, to talk about maximizing business growth and creating a positive corporate culture. Andrea takes listeners through the ins and outs of the sponsorship marketing industry, detailing the lessons learned from handling sponsorships for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and how companies can leverage sponsorships to meet business objectives and increase employee motivation. Finally, Andrea discusses her hiring philosophy and why nurturing the team is the key to scaling a company successfully.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Andrea Shaw on LinkedIn
• TTG Canada
• TORQUE Strategies
• Canadian Olympic Committee
• Traction: Get a Grip on Your Business by Gino Wickman
• Rocket Fuel: The One Essential Combination That Will Get You More of What You Want from Your Business by Gino Wickman and Mark Winters

Special Mention(s):

• Bart Given on LinkedIn

Related episode(s):

• “Leading with Passion with Gino Wickman Founder of EOS Worldwide” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[Top Agency Series] Navigating a Merger and Becoming an End-to-End Digital Partner With Kevin Hourigan of Spinutech” on Inspired Insider Podcast
• “[One Question] Closing A Promising Startup with Mark C. Winters of RocketFuelNow.com” on Inspired Insider Podcast

Quotable Moments:

• “Our values were our backbone; that’s why we walked away from $3 million.”
• “It’s about creating a mutually rewarding relationship, not just meeting a revenue target.”
• “If our corporate partners aren’t successful through us, we’re not going to be successful.”
• “I care more about our people — I want to see them walk out stronger, professionally and personally.”
• “Leadership is all about knowing when it’s time for a transition and ensuring it’s done with communication and trust.”

Action Steps:

1. Align your business vision and values with potential partners to ensure successful collaborations: Andrea’s experience with the Olympics highlights the effectiveness of this for long-term partnership success.
2. Opt for a values-based hiring approach to foster a strong team culture that propels your company forward, as showcased by Andrea’s leadership style.
3. Create bespoke sponsorship programs that address your partners’ specific business challenges, mirroring Andrea’s strategic approach with companies like Teck Cominco.
4. Encourage personal development among your team members to enhance their professional growth and contribute to company success, inspired by Andrea’s passion for empowering her employees.
5. Recognize the right time for leadership transition and smoothly pass the torch while continuing to provide guidance and support.

Episode Transcript

Intro 0:15

You are listening to Inspired Insider with your host, Dr. Jeremy Weisz.

Jeremy Weisz 0:22

Dr. Jeremy Weisz here founder of InspiredInsider.com where I talk with inspirational entrepreneurs and leaders today is no different. I have Andrea Shaw, you could check them out at TTGCanada.com and TORQUEStrategies.com. And Andrea, before I formally introduce you, I always like to point out other episodes of the podcast people should check out. Since this is part of the top agency series. There was a really good one with Kevin Hourigan, who runs Spinutech. And Andrea, he’s had an agency since 1995. So you haven’t been doing this longer, but he talks about the landscape of the internet, business and agency life throughout some of the ups and the downs.And so super interesting story.

Also, before we hit record, Andrea was talking about EOS and they implement EOS.I do have an interview with Gino Wickman, who wrote Traction who started EOS. That was a really good one. And also, I have a separate interview with Mark Winters who co authored Rocket Fuel with Gino Wickman. And that was a really good episode as well talking about the visionary, the integrator, and you know, having both created rocket fuel. So check that episode out and more and InspiredInsider.com This episode is brought to you by Rise25, at Rise25 we help businesses give to and connect to their dream relationships and partnerships. How do we do that? We do that by helping you run your podcast. We’re an easy button for a company to launch and run a podcast. We do the strategy, the accountability and the full execution.

So Andrea, we call ourselves the magic elves that run in the background and make it look easy for the hosts in the company. So they can create amazing content and develop amazing relationships and most importantly, run their business. You know, for me, the number one thing in my life is relationships. And I’m always looking for ways to give to my best relationships. And I have found no better way over the past decade to profile the people and companies I most admire and share with the world what they’re working on. So if you are thinking about podcasting, you definitely should. If you have questions, you can go to Rise25.com or email us at [email protected]. 

And I’m excited to introduce Andrea Shaw. And Andrea’s path of inner career is very interesting. Going from registered nurse to high school teacher to sponsorship marketing, obviously starting and running TTG Canada and TORQUE Strategies. She’s been doing this for over a month gonna date you but like very experienced several decades, over 35 years. 10 of those years were working with the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, she was responsible for raising corporate sponsorship there of over $760 million and overseeing the longest torch relay in Olympic history she founded TTG Canada actually in 2010, at the end of the Winter Games, an effort to bring the Olympic learnings to the market as a legacy company of the game. So and later on TORQUE Strategies. Andrea, thanks for joining me. 

Andrea Shaw 3:21

Thank you. Great to be here. 

Jeremy Weisz 3:24

We’ll talk about 760 million. But there’s another number that fascinates me more than 760 million, which is 3 million. There was a point where you turned down $3 million dollars and most people may have thought you were crazy. Talk about that for a second.

Andrea Shaw 3:45

Yeah, that was a journey like no other. When we went to Prague to put our bid into the right to host to become custodians of the Olympic brand and Canada. We had a budget line item that I was very involved in at 450 million. And we actually said to me, there’s no way you’ll do that in Canada. Anyway, we went on and budgets fell. We all know what happened to the economy. And the price of steel went up and cement went up. So the budget line item to respond went from 450 to 550 to 650 to 760 million. So it was an amazing journey. But one of the biggest learnings that we had was we had a very clear vision and we had clear values.

We all knew what those were. And if those weren’t aligned, we knew that we could only be as good as the company we kept ie our corporate partners. And in the circumstance that you asked about. This company started to negotiate and our entry level was 3 million and through the negotiation process we realized that our values were not aligned. And when you’re negotiating, and the other side of the table moves the goalposts from where they had said before, you quickly realize that your values aren’t aligned. And that’s why we walked away from $3 million. We were our values and were the backbone of that organizing committee, which is why quite frankly, we got through the ups and downs that we did and had the success that we did in 2010.

Jeremy Weisz 5:33

Yeah, and that kind of transcends a lot of different situations, even taking on clients in general. Right. So talk about maybe a highlight or two on how you actually accomplished that goal of seven 60 million.

Andrea Shaw 5:50

Well,and it wasn’t me, we were a fabulous team, headed up by John Furlong, Dave Cobb, and we had a team. So it certainly wasn’t just me. But we were very, very strategic, what we had to do was turn the traditional model of sponsorship, literally upside down on its head. So we sold partnerships based on storytelling and purpose and what we’re trying to achieve. And so because our vision was so clear that that vision was to walk the Olympic spirit, through every house and home in Canada, and I have to say, Jeremy, they people thought, again, we had 10 heads, how are you going to do that, and in a country, the size of Canada, so we knew that if we had this, you know, big vision, and we were going to, we were determined to achieve it, that like minded companies like the bells and the RBCs, and the petro Canada’s, their visions were aligned with our vision. And we knew that if we could get that alignment, that we could sell sponsorship very successfully, which the 760 million proved that to be true.

Jeremy Weisz 7:07

So now, you talk about the idea behind starting TTG Canada. 

Speaker 1 7:13

Yeah. Well, you said it in the intro. The 10 years that I worked on the Olympic Games was like a learning laboratory. It was as I said, before we turned the traditional model upside down on its head because we had to raise so much money. So a year out from our games about 2009. I thought, Okay, what’s my next chapter? I’ve had a few journeys, as you mentioned, but I am passionate about sport, sponsorship marketing, very, very passionate. And I thought, What is my next chapter, and because I had been in the industry before going to the game, since quite frankly, the mid 80s, I had seen the evolution of the sponsorship industry evolve incredibly. And so I thought, how can I be so passionate and not take all the learnings that I’ve learned in the games 10 years learning laboratory and not take them to market. So that was the impetus to me opening the doors of 2010.

It was a jump, it was a jump off the cliff for sure. But I hired some of my best people, two or three people but obviously had to pay them a salary. And I certainly didn’t have, you know, cash in the bank just to do that. So I jumped off the cliff, really being passionate about our industry, the sponsorship industry in Canada was evolving, and I was really excited to bring the learnings to market and we’re now 14 years old. So we continue to prosper and, and grow and try to be better every day.

Jeremy Weisz 9:04

And this time, you’re really focused on by the way, if someone’s listening to the audio, there’s a video piece that we can see here, where it is TTG Canada.com and see this, but you are focused on events, right event management. What was the next milestone of a client that you were able to start to work with? 

Andrea Shaw 9:29

Yeah, so when we opened the doors of TTG Canada, formerly known as 2010 group, it was primarily sponsorship sales and marketing working on behalf of properties. And we were also doing that as the core of that business. The Canadian Olympic Committee was a client. Whistler Blackcomb was a client. We had all kinds of great clients that we were fortunate to get fairly soon after we opened our doors. At the same time, we were doing strategic marketing initiatives with some brands, but nobody knew we were doing it, because we had this Olympic halo over our heads. So in 2014, we made the decision to open TORQUE Strategies, which is the sister company to TTG Canada, which works primarily with brands on strategic marketing initiatives.

Jeremy Weisz 10:29

And you can see here we’re looking at TORQUE Strategies. It’s interesting to hear how the thought process goes with just opening a sister company with a whole new brand, as opposed to just releasing a service line under TTG. Because I think, you know, companies may listen, go, you know, maybe I wouldn’t have even thought to start a whole sister company and just released the services under TTG talked about that thought process.

Andrea Shaw 10:59

Yeah, that’s an interesting one. And at the time, 2014, when we opened the Comm, we were concerned about people having a perceived conflict. Both companies are run completely separately. But now in the world, 14 years later, as you know, the convergence of industry, ad sponsorship, content marketing, they’re all converging. It was these massive global companies. And opening TORQUE was one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. And I’ll cite the why is when we stepped into COVID, didn’t step in, we all got hit with COVID.

The event side, as you know, can imagine the event side of our business fell through the floor. You know, we couldn’t hold events like rugby sevens and World Juniors. Airports are also a big client of ours, they were hit hard. So TTG Canada was hit very badly during COVID. And torque, in fact, held that up, brands didn’t know what to do, they didn’t know how to act, they didn’t know how to, you know, pivot on their, their drop marketing strategies. So torque actually grew. And they become an amazing company doing amazing diverse things. And so, you know, we’re we bumped and bruised and COVID We sure were, but that decision in 2014 to open TORQUE, in hindsight, was one of the best company decisions we’ve ever made.

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