Ryan Kelly and Cynthia Mordecai Named WSI Agency of the Year

Valerie Brown-Dufour, President of WSI, and Michael Monaghan, VP Field Operations, present Ryan Kelly, Founder and CEO of WSI Smart Marketing, with the Agency of the Year award at WSI's 2026 Global Convention.

Recognized for a collaborative, client-first approach that turns honest strategy conversations into measurable client growth

TORONTO, ONT, CANADA, August 17, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- WSI, a global network of digital marketing and AI consultants, has named WSI Smart Marketing, a Santa Rosa-based agency, its 2025 Agency of the Year. The recognition, presented at WSI's 2026 Global Convention in Los Cabos, Mexico, honors WSI Consultants Ryan Kelly and Cynthia Mordecai for pairing real client results with an approach based on collaboration rather than one-way strategy delivery.

Kelly joined the WSI network nearly 20 years ago, working alongside his parents, and later brought on Cynthia Mordecai as co-owner. Together they've grown the agency by treating clients as active participants in strategy, not just recipients of it. That approach, and the results it delivers for clients, is what WSI leadership weighed when naming its 2025 Agency of the Year.

"Our most successful campaigns have one thing in common: clients who participate," says Kelly. "They show up to the strategy conversations, they push back when something doesn't make sense, and that back-and-forth is what moves the number that matters, whether that's revenue, leads, or retention."

For a business owner choosing a marketing partner, that willingness to disagree is often the clearest signal of trust. The agency's strongest relationships, Kelly says, run on honest feedback in both directions. "When a client tells us an idea doesn't make sense, that's not a setback. That's the relationship working the way it should."

Mordecai echoes those sentiments: "The clients who stay with us for years aren't the ones who hand us a problem and walk away. They're in the room with us, collaborating with us and having healthy and productive dialogue. When they win, we win, and we've built the whole agency around that."

That approach shows up in the work. When Holly Construction, a Sonoma County builder and WSI client of nine years, shifted its focus from winery projects toward education and government contracts in 2025, Kelly realigned the company's entire digital strategy around the new market. Organic traffic grew 76% and tracked phone calls rose 77%. That year, Holly recorded the strongest revenue in its 35-year history.

WSI Smart Marketing serves clients across California, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, in home services, automotive, healthcare, professional services, retail, and eCommerce.

"Ryan and Cynthia are incredibly deserving of being named WSI's Agency of the Year," says Valerie Brown-Dufour, President of WSI. "They have built an exceptional agency that delivers strong results for its clients while also being deeply engaged in the WSI community. They are generous with their experience, committed to the success of others in our network, and consistently demonstrate the leadership and collaboration this award is intended to recognize. They represent WSI at its very best."

Kelly says the next phase centers on deeper AI and digital strategy for clients, supported by the same network that shaped it from the start. "You don't build something like this on an island," says Kelly. "At every stage we've drawn on the collective expertise of this network, and put ours back into it. The next stage will be no different."

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About the WSI Agency of the Year Award
WSI's Agency of the Year recognizes an agency that pairs consistent growth with active leadership across the network. For clients, it reflects more than one team's success: a network where proven practices are shared between agencies, so the standard of guidance holds no matter which consultant a business works with.

About WSI
Founded in 1995 and headquartered in Toronto, Canada, WSI is a leading global network of digital marketing and AI consultants: a community of agencies, each rooted in its local market and backed by knowledge shared across the network. For more than 30 years, WSI has been a strategy-first partner to businesses through every major shift in digital, from search to AI, pairing practical strategy with hands-on execution rather than one-off campaigns. Guided by its mission to unlock a world of possibility for those it serves, WSI helps businesses use digital and AI to strengthen the people and relationships behind them, not replace them. That belief is the heart of its tagline: Embrace Digital. Stay Human.

Cheryl Baldwin
Director, Marketing & Communications Department, WSI World
+1 905-678-7588 ext. 1283
cbaldwin@wsiworld.com
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