Walking Away is a Power Move
TL;DR The clients I didn’t take built my business. Walking away doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful.
It doesn’t mean you’re not hungry or capable. It means you’re paying attention and choosing success for both you and your client.
Not every opportunity is one. The clients you don't take, the RFPs you decline, the contracts you walk away from before the ink dries — those decisions build your business just as much as the ones you say yes to. Walking away isn't dramatic. It's quiet. And it usually happens before the resentment does.
When the RFP is about optics, not intention
Once you've seen a few "academic exercise" RFPs, you can spot them a mile away — vague objectives, overly detailed deliverables with no stated why, performative timelines, zero interest in your point of view. The decision has already been made. You're there to make the process look thorough.
That's not a strategy. That's theater.
When budget and expectations don't live in the same universe
You can usually tell when someone wants senior thinking for junior pricing. It shows up in phrases like "we're lean but ambitious," "this will be great exposure," or the classic: "our last agency did X for Y" — in which case, why aren't you still with them?
Hope is not a budget. If the expectations require more time, access, or experience than what's on the table, walking away is kinder than overdelivering, underpaying yourself, and resenting everyone involved.
When success can't be defined
If no one can clearly articulate what a win looks like — or everyone defines it differently — the work will always feel like it's falling short. You can't hit a target that hasn't been named, especially when the goalposts keep moving.
When you don't know who actually has final say
If you're not in the room with the decision-maker, you don't have a client. You might have a champion. That is not the same thing. When approvals are layered, political, or constantly shifting, good work slows down and frustration speeds up.
When the energy is off from the start
This one is hard to quantify and impossible to ignore. If the relationship feels adversarial before it begins, pay attention. If communication is defensive or dismissive before a contract is even signed — it rarely improves after.
The beginning is usually the best it's ever going to be.
When the work wouldn't make you proud
Your body of work is cumulative. So is your reputation. If you already know you won't want your name on the outcome, recognize that before you're three months in.
When saying yes means saying no to something better
Taking the wrong client doesn't just create stress — it blocks the right one from finding you. That's the cost most people don't calculate.
Walking away doesn't mean you're ungrateful. It doesn't mean you're not hungry or capable. It means you're paying attention — and choosing success for both you and your client.