Pros
One of my favorite aspects of working at Velir is its people. There are incredibly smart, passionate, and down-to-earth folks at the company who deeply care about the work they do and the clients they serve. There is a certain energy here – a lack of ego, genuineness, and amalgamation of different personality types that make it a true pleasure to come to work every day. Velir also goes a long way to treat you like a human being and not just another role on a team. There is a significant amount of investment that goes into ensuring that employees are well taken care of. This is reflected in the culture that is actively prioritized through various initiatives, events, and benefits, the constant reflection around what can be done to improve internal processes, and the strong encouragement and flexibility that is provided to maintain work/life harmony. Another huge benefit of working at Velir is the impactful list of clients that the agency thoughtfully chooses to partner with. From large non-profit foundations that are working to change the world to some of the top higher-education institutions, healthcare organizations, and associations in the country, there is a wonderful diversity in the types of challenges and solutions that you get to work on at Velir. At a time when the digital marketing and agency spaces continue to see tremendous transformation and disruption, Velir has managed to grow through the uncertainty relatively unscathed. While many agencies have had to fold or consolidate, Velir continues to independently expand its capabilities, areas of focus, and the strength of its leadership team. This has been impressive to experience and I look forward to the agency’s continued growth and evolution.
Cons
I think Velir struggled a bit with maintaining the culture and team bonds that are so unique to the company, as it expanded and underwent natural churn – a common challenge that comes with scale. However, this has been identified by the leadership team and there is a renewed focus on culture and identity. This has begun to turn the issue around and infuse Velir with new and exciting energy. There is also a lack of consistency in the definition and focus on career paths across different teams (again, understandable as the agency introduces new capabilities and services). This is also something that the management and people ops teams are actively working on to improve and fine-tune. Ultimately, I believe we have a natural tendency as human beings to magnify the negative and complain about issues, without recognizing the good or maintaining perspective and a focus on solutions. In my experience at Velir, the positives far, far, FAR outweigh any negatives. It is an incredible company to work for, learn/grow at, and form lifelong friendships.