Too often, independents are defined by what we’re not. We’re not networks. We’re not beholden to holding companies. Not part of “the machine.”

Independence has too often become a shorthand for a category of agencies, not a philosophy of how to live and work.

It’s the negative space that, like most negative spaces, ends up getting filled with more negativity. But this is not the positive shape of who we really are.

Recently, at an industry event I attended there was a fun, factual and sometimes feisty (as Gideo Spanier and Ajaz Ahmed can probably attest to) debate that pitted three network agency leaders against three independent heads. The topic: networks versus independents, the pros and cons of each.

While it was lively, passionate and entertaining, as I listened, I couldn’t help thinking: there was an opportunity to frame this conversation in a different way.

At Fearless Union, we’ve been thinking hard about what independence actually means. To make sure we’re not just reacting to a label, we’re putting aside 20% of founder time this year to invest in the business, to interrogate our principles, and to better understand what independence means for us.

Because the whole point of being independent is that no one tells you what to do. You make and own the decisions. You stand apart. You define your own principles. You forge your own way. Independence isn’t a badge to wear — it’s something you actively create.

Yet let’s be honest: many independents don’t feel entirely independent. We’re dependent on project work. Dependent on the next brief coming through the door. Dependent, sometimes, on taking whatever business arrives because the alternative feels too speculative, too risky, too time-consuming.

But with positivity, you can make that into independence. When the work comes in, you take it, and you bring your own independence to it. You don’t always get to pick your clients — just as you don’t get to pick your family. But you can choose how you show up. You can choose what you stand for. And sometimes that means making sacrifices.

The colour of independence

Independents don’t, and shouldn’t, look alike. Some will be loud and headline-grabbing, others more understated. Some will bet everything on creativity that surprises and unsettles, others will build quietly on long-term trust. That’s the colour, the texture, of independence.

The mistake is to frame all of this in terms of comparison with networks. To say we are stronger because we’re leaner. More agile because we’re smaller. Braver because we don’t have shareholders. That’s too simple, and it’s not the point.

If your mantra is only “we’re not a network,” then you’re still living in their shadow. If you try to build independence using the systems and logic of a network, you’ve missed the chance to create something original. What if your mantra was simply to surprise people with everything you do? It might be risky. It might not look like a sound business strategy. But it could also be the most independent thing you ever do.

Towards a new debate

Which brings me back to that event. The debate was framed as networks versus independents. Maybe it’s time to move on.

Instead of constantly pitting ourselves against networks, independents need to start talking about what independence really means today, in our own terms. What do we stand for? How do we operate? What makes us different from each other, and why is that difference valuable?

This article is just one voice in a one-way conversation. What I’d like is to open it up into something bigger. A debate among independents, about independence,  independent of networks. Not a comparison, not a competition. A proper conversation about who we are, what we want to be, and how we define ourselves.

Because if we don’t tackle this identity crisis ourselves, without reference to the networks, we’ll never be free of them. And that’s the whole point of independence, isn’t it?

So here’s my call: if you’re an independent agency leader and this resonates with you, let’s talk. Let’s redefine what independence means — together, and on our own terms.