Pros
Purpose is a creative agency focused on social impact filled with excellent strategists, creatives, campaigners and ops folks from a variety of backgrounds. Great things about Purpose include: * Getting to work with amazing clients and deliver real impact—none of the projects are fluffy or PR-driven * Working with smart, caring, passionate people who want to change the world—there are no a**holes * Having latitude to set the direction on projects and company initiatives—rarely does someone say no * It’s a warm and welcoming culture that cares about progressive ideals and supporting the team Things that have improved since I’ve been here: * The quality of work across teams and projects is consistently strong—not just if you have “the right team" * We’ve more clearly articulated the kinds of projects we’re good at—and what isn’t in our sweet spot * We’ve increased our geographic presence to better serve partners and clients outside of the US and EU * We’ve explicitly addressed racial equity as a company, and are actively working to building racial equity internally and through our client work—though there’s lots more to do * We’ve developed processes that make our work more replicable and our company more sustainable
Cons
Things that are still a work in progress: * Purpose needs to more clearly articulate how the different lines of business reinforce and strengthen each other, and what the long-term vision is * Since folks come from a range of backgrounds, Purpose can better articulate roles and expectations—this is what it means to be a campaigner on behalf of clients, or this is what it means to do strategy for a campaign * For a small company, our communications are pretty poor—Purpose needs to get better at sharing news and information across teams and global offices * At its worst, Purpose can feel like a group of smart people all doing their own projects under one roof Overall, I look forward to going to work (almost) every day. I love the people I work with and the clients I work for. The company is small enough that you can still have an impact on how things are done, and what gets done. People genuinely care about your perspective and your expertise. Even when people make mistakes (and they do) they are doing the best they can. That said, at the end of the day it’s still an agency: there are last-minute client emergencies, there are impossible deadlines, and there are not enough hours in the day. And it’s still social impact: there’s never enough money, you’re always wondering if you can have more impact, and you can’t do it all.