Katy Hornaday, CEO of BarkleyOKRP, has spent over 13 years building what she calls “something rare”—a Big Indie. Not big agency with indie vibes stapled on. Not indie shop pretending it has holding company scale. The real thing: over 700 people across Kansas City, Chicago, New York, Austin and Denver who operate with both the horsepower to move markets and the soul to stay human. About 18 months ago, Barkley and OKRP became BarkleyOKRP, and what was once a media team became MissionOne Media—a standalone offering now managing over $1 billion in billings. The clients include Red Lobster, Burger King, Planet Fitness, AMC, and brands that need thinking and making to happen at the same time. “We really believe that if we do this right, one plus one equals three,” Hornaday says. “Not only the ideas and where they show up, but the media as an idea.”
From two agencies to one Big Indie: the merge that made sense
Barkley and OKRP didn’t merge because they had to. They merged because the opportunity was too good to pass up. Both agencies had long track records for creative work that landed—campaigns people remembered, brands that mattered. Combining them meant creating something the industry hadn’t seen much of: an independent agency with real scale and zero interest in acting like a holding company.
The philosophy? Scale meet soul. Big enough to handle the full breadth of capabilities a major brand needs. Small enough to protect what makes independent agencies special—speed, flexibility, creative bravery, and the ability to actually give a damn about the work.
What BarkleyOKRP is known for: integration without the turf wars
The shop doesn’t just talk about integration. It lives it. Creative and media don’t compete for budget or glory. Strategy and activation don’t operate in different buildings with different priorities. Everything connects because the structure demands it and the leadership models it.
Sean Corcoran, president of MissionOne Media, came from 13 years at IPG, where he led Mediahub to 400% growth. He’s not here to manage media as plumbing. He’s here to make media creative again. “We went through this process where media became about platforms, connecting data, targeting, addressable,” Corcoran explains. “It gained power but kind of left the humans behind. We’re now in this full circle moment where we can participate again in the creative process.”
MissionOne isn’t an add-on. It’s integrated into the agency’s P&L, operates alongside creative from the jump, and brings proprietary tech from Adlucent—the performance media company BarkleyOKRP acquired—to power smarter, faster decision-making.
Three things that make this agency different
Nate Swift, president of BarkleyOKRP, breaks it down to three core principles that aren’t negotiable.
First: integration. “It’s not about finding a balance,” Swift says. “It’s about bringing them all together, putting people in a room and making something better than each individual vertical can make by themselves.” Creative teams and media planners sit in the same meetings from day one. No handoffs. No translation layers. Just solving the problem together.
Second: the Red Thread. It’s the agency’s strategic framework—a single idea that ties everything together, internally and externally. It gives CMOs a way to turn to their teams and say, “This is what we’re going for.” It travels across departments, across channels, across every touchpoint. One clear thought that does the work.
Third: giving a shit. Swift puts it plainly: “We care about our clients. We care about our clients’ business. We care about each other. We care about making great work, and we’re able to get to human relationships and conversations with clients pretty quickly. That cuts through a lot of the crosstalk that tends to get in the way of good work.”
Why independence still matters (and always will)
Independence isn’t a branding exercise at BarkleyOKRP. It’s operational. Decisions happen faster. The agency can take risks holding companies won’t touch. There’s no parent company demanding quarterly earnings growth or forcing capability rollouts that don’t fit the work.
Hornaday’s clear about what independence enables: freedom to build the agency the way it needs to be built, not the way a spreadsheet says it should be built. “We’re always thinking about what that indie element is that makes us special and how we keep it alive inside of the agency we’re building,” she says.
That independence also shows up in how the agency structures deals. They’re a Certified B Corp. They’re employee-owned. The private equity backing from Keystone Capital doesn’t dictate creative direction or force margin optimization at the expense of talent. It gives the agency room to grow the right way.
Why brands should work with BarkleyOKRP
The pitch is simple: you get both. Scale and soul. Full-service capabilities with indie speed. Strategy, creative, media, CRM, analytics, retail media, digital experiences—all under one roof, all talking to each other, all focused on making the work better.
The agency’s work for Red Lobster proves it. CMO Nicole brought Hornaday and the team into a turnaround that needed cultural relevance, operational smarts, and speed. They helped recruit CEO Damola, whose TV presence has become part of the brand story. Red Lobster is winning in culture and in business. Endless shrimp is out. Relevance is in.
For Burger King, they relaunched the “You Rule” positioning and brought back the jingle with a modern edge. The kind of creative confidence that only happens when strategy, creative and media are built together from the start.
Why talent chooses BarkleyOKRP (and why they stay)
The agency isn’t in New York or LA. It’s headquartered in Kansas City. That’s a feature, not a bug. Lower cost of living. Less burnout culture. More space to build a life that isn’t just work.
Corcoran came from IPG’s Mediahub. Swift spent a decade at OKRP before the merger. Hornaday has been there for 13 years, starting as a creative director and rising to CEO. The leadership team isn’t job-hopping. They’re building something that lasts.
The 700-person team includes the FUEL content studio—80 creators making work at speed—and a freelance network of senior pros who want interesting problems without the politics. Independence attracts people who want to make a dent, not climb a ladder.
The disarming challenger: BarkleyOKRP’s energy explained
Corcoran describes the agency as a “disarming challenger.” Not the Boston punch-in-the-face agency energy. Not the New York we’re-too-cool-for-you vibe. Midwest roots with Midwest manners—smart, kind, and here to prove what’s possible.
“There’s a little bit of we’re here to prove ourselves,” Corcoran says. “But it comes from the side. You’re like, oh shoot, didn’t see that coming.”
Hornaday’s leadership reflects that. She’s been recognized on Adweek’s Creative 100 and Business Insider’s Most Creative Women in Advertising. But she leads with empathy, not ego. The agency doesn’t need to be the loudest in the room. It just needs to be the smartest and the most effective.
A hello to marketing leaders who get it
Corcoran gives a shoutout to Nicole at TGL for being a great partner on AI work. Swift calls out Joel at Burger King, who just came in and is pushing the work forward. Hornaday highlights Nicole at Red Lobster, who walked into a turnaround with courage and vision.
The pattern is clear: BarkleyOKRP works best with marketers who want to move fast, think differently, and build brands that matter. If you’re looking for an agency that won’t waste your time with decks about decks, this might be your shop.
Learn more
BarkleyOKRP
Katy Hornaday LinkedIn
Nate Swift LinkedIn
Sean Corcoran LinkedIn
BarkleyOKRP LinkedIn
MissionOne Media
Contact: (816) 842-1500
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