After nearly 17 years as CEO of Colle McVoy and numerous national awards, Christine Fruechte plans to step back from day-to-day leadership and transition to board chair.

Agency president Jessica Henrichs will be elevated to CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2025, the Minneapolis agency announced Wednesday.

Fruechte joined Colle McVoy in 2004 and became president two years later, when the agency was financially strained and heading into a recession. She leaned into B2B business, but also attracted more consumer brands—a roster that today includes many well-known national names, such as CHS, United Healthcare, Target, Craftsman, and Whirlpool. She was part of the leadership group that moved the agency downtown to the Minneapolis Warehouse District, where it is based today. And she helped to energize the team with her people-first leadership philosophy. As she told TCB during a 2022 conversation about work culture: “If you take care of your people, they take care of the business.”

Fruechte was promoted to CEO of Colle McVoy in 2008. During her tenure, the agency has nearly tripled its revenue and earnings have increased sixfold, according to a September 2024 report from Colle McVoy. The agency quadrupled BIPOC representation, from 7% to 28% of its workforce. In 2023, Fruechte led Colle McVoy to B Corp certification, committing to balancing profits with purpose, including commitments to sustainable and inclusive business practices.

“Some of our clients are not in an industry where they can immediately race to becoming a B Corp,” Fruechte said during a TCB Talks: Business for Good panel event in June. “So, we became an extension of their team. A lot of them were proud to be associated with us. I think our employees were also proud.”

Colle McVoy has been named a “Best Place to Work” for 14 years running. Its work with clients ranging from La-Z-Boy to Perdue has garnered national accolades including Adweek 2023 Midsized Agency of the Year, Ad Age 2024 A-List Standout Agency and Innovation SABREs 2024 Disruptive Agency of the Year.

“It’s been so gratifying to lead Colle McVoy through many reinventions,” Fruechte said in a statement Wednesday. “We’ve proven a midsized agency can be a lightning rod of impact for our industry and our clients’ business.”

True to form, Fruechte has been thinking about succession planning for years. Leading up to the CEO transition, Ciro Sarmiento was named chief creative officer and Megan Flynn became chief financial officer in the past year. And she’s been prepping Henrichs to step into the top leadership spot.

“Jess has been an undeniable force in Colle McVoy’s explosive growth over the past five years, winning over big-name brands and stewarding molecular-level transformation,” Fruechte said. “From our first conversation, I knew Jess would take the agency to places we’ve never been before.”

Henrichs played a key role in the multiyear process of obtaining B Corp certification, the agency said. She also worked hand-in-hand with Fruechte to evolve team structures in an effort to make Colle McVoy more nimble, “uniting strategy and experience design; creative and PR; media and data science.”

“Christine is proof that people-first and profitable are possible,” Henrichs said. “This culture she built of camaraderie, trust, and joyful restlessness for reinvention—it’s not a foundation, it’s a springboard. My job is to honor what’s been established and catalyze the momentum we have.”

Colle McVoy is owned by Stagwell, a global network of marketing agencies. “I believe in a bright future for the agency’s next chapter and continued success,” Stagwell chairman and CEO Mark Penn said Wednesday. He praised Fruechte’s bold leadership, and said Henrichs has accelerated the agency’s momentum, with new clients such as HARIBO and Frank’s RedHot, which became a viral hit with Super Bowl ads featuring Jason Kelce.

Fruechte will continue to work with Colle McVoy as a strategic advisor and chair. She also serves as board chair for the Minnesota Star Tribune, co-vice chair of the 4A’s board of directors, and in leadership roles with the Ad Council, See Her and The BrandLab.