Agency Profile: Praytell

Published on November 11, 2019, at 11:02 p.m.
by Heather Griffith.

Six years ago, Andy Pray, the founder of Praytell, was working out of his Brooklyn apartment when he received a phone call from a former client inviting him to submit a request for proposal. Pray promptly “pulled together some folks as quickly as possible, flew out to California and somehow, someway, won the pitch,” according to Pray. And just like that, an agency went from a one-man-band to an agency with momentum, momentum that continues to this day.

These days Praytell considers itself a “modern creative communications agency for brands that matter and clients that get it.” It’s also a five-time recipient of PRWeek’s Best Place to Work award — one trophy for each year the agency has met eligibility requirements.

Certainly, there are many factors that contribute to this award-winning record, one of which is an obsession with company values. In Praytell’s case, it all starts with “do the right thing.” “It’s easy to say but hard to do. We work hard to start and finish with ‘Do the Right Thing’ in mind, making sure our work brings our collective morals, integrity and character to bear,” said Pray. This honest but hard-working attitude has earned Praytell a number of awards that recognize its commitment to its employees.

On top of the accolades, the point of view has served Praytell from a business side, too. The agency has gone from a handful of employees in 2013 to more than 150 people across six offices in 2019. With this growth came new clients, new employees and a plethora of new ideas.

“It’s bananas. We’ve never hunted; everything we’ve ever worked on has come through word of mouth,” Pray said. “The growth comes from the work. You do great work, people notice, and people talk about it. It’s not rocket science. Just nail it and when you don’t nail it, tell them and get it right on the second try. Our agency growth is a realization and recognition of the work our people do every day.”

One of these people is Grace Kang, Praytell’s associate creative director, who has been with the company since April of 2013. “My favorite part [of working at Praytell] has been how quickly we’ve changed and grown. I feel like I’ve worked at five different agencies,” said Kang. “Every year has felt very different. We have different kinds of work, different clients. Also, the culture feels very different; it’s evolved — in a good way.”

In order to have a growing agency, you have to have people who want to work for you. This often means creating a company culture that people enjoy and that makes them want to continue working there. This shaggy dog culture, as Pray describes it, has led to a staggering 96% retention rate among its employees, compared to the industry standard of 55%. Speaking of people, how in the world does Praytell continue to employ innovative people who do impeccable work and keep them?

Take one look at Praytell’s Instagram, run by Kang, and it’s apparent that the people who work there actually enjoy their jobs — crazy, right? It’s not content that’s tailored to make it appear like employees are having fun; instead, it’s actual Praytellians enjoying their everyday work lives. “I want to feel genuine. With Instagram, the spot we’ve hit is highlighting our culture and our voice. It’s not super serious; it’s not really boring or basic; it’s more about highlighting people who work here and the things we find interesting,” said Kang.

The people at Praytell continue to work there because they genuinely enjoy their jobs. From day one, Pray strived to create an inherent culture that allows people to thrive. Praytell does more than wheel around a trolley filled with ice cream every week or take its employees to happy hour at the end of each month. It doesn’t force culture on its employees; instead, it lets them define it through their actions.

“Culture is giving good benefits, listening to your employees, giving them the chance to be promoted, being fair, admitting when you’re wrong — that is culture. Culture is not gimmicks; it’s bigger than gifts,” said Pray. “I am dead focused on giving people an environment that they think is healthy and fair and listens to them, and organically we let people define our culture for them.”

However, there’s more than just culture that makes Praytell a top agency for which to work. In an industry that is overwhelmingly employed by women, it’s always astonishing to hear how few women are employed in positions of leadership. That’s not the case at Praytell. One of the three top leaders at Praytell is a woman, Beth Cleveland, and she’s not the only woman in a position of leadership at Praytell. Many agencies spend too much time discussing how the PR industry can make improvements to be more diverse and employ different people in positions of leadership, but few actually take action, making Praytell stand out even more.

The leadership at Praytell is not only diverse, but they truly care about their employees. All members of the leadership team at Praytell work hard to foster an environment in which employees thrive.

“It’s ambitious. They are always trying to push us to think about what’s next and what’s the agency we’re trying to be, especially as we’re growing bigger and bigger. They’re very invested in internal priorities like culture and development,” said Kang.

Leadership at Praytell isn’t some faraway idea; it’s a person who is merely an email, phone call, Slack or text away. Pray provides each employee with a personalized book recommendation every year, demonstrating just how much the leaders at Praytell care about their employees as people and not just workers.

In addition to great leadership and genuine company culture, Praytell encourages employees to give back to communities through an initiative called Passion Project. “We have a mandate for employees that they’re going to give a percentage of their time to nonprofits or doing pro-bono work,” said Pray. “It’s been a part of our culture from the very beginning; it’s something we think is very important. It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.” This project is just another one of the little things that keeps Praytell employees happy and returning to work every day.

Praytell is an agency that gets it. It gets that employees need to be happy in order to do great work. It gets that culture needs to be created by the people who live in it every day. It gets that working for the good person is more important than working for the person that everybody knows. It gets that you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Praytell is an agency that gets it.