“I won’t hire a PR firm that doesn’t have a water cooler.”
Those words from a prospective client in 2015 could have been a setback. But instead of slowing us down, they became a testament to how far ahead of its time Bospar was when we launched as a virtual-first PR agency. Ten years and 216 awards later, we still don’t have a water cooler — and we’ve proven we never needed one.
In crafting our own anniversary celebration, we leaned into our deep experience orchestrating milestone campaigns for some of technology’s most iconic moments, including anniversaries for Tetris, the invention of the text message, the computer mouse and Dolby. These campaigns not only celebrated history but also informed our approach to our own milestone moment.
Forbes: Remote Work’s Success Story
Bryan Robinson at Forbes highlighted how our model was “prescient” long before the pandemic. Now, a decade after that initial water cooler skepticism, our recent research with Propeller Insights shows just how right we were. Today, 61% of employees report being more productive working from home, while 34% maintain equal productivity levels. Only 5% report lower productivity. Our fully remote model has played a crucial role in driving this success. By prioritizing flexibility and focus, we’ve created an environment where employees can thrive, which directly translates into better client outcomes and business growth. As I told Forbes, “By investing in people and not buildings, you can effortlessly scale your workforce and your footprint.”
U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Remote Growth
In a recent feature, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce explored how companies like Bospar have not only adapted to remote work but used it as a foundation for long-term growth. The article highlighted how intentional hiring, structured flexibility and a results-driven culture allow remote teams to scale efficiently while maintaining high performance.
Authority Magazine Explores the Future
In an extensive interview with Phil La Duke for Authority Magazine about preparing for the future of work, I explained that “In the upcoming years, the trend towards working from home will only accelerate. At Bospar, we’ve seen the tremendous benefits of virtual work – for employees, for our clients and for the climate.” Our virtual-first approach allows us to attract top talent globally, fostering a team that is not bound by geography but united by purpose and results. The piece highlighted our focus on employee well-being and our commitment to addressing climate change through reduced office commuting.
PR Daily Shares Our Recipe for Success
PR Daily dove into our practical insights from a decade of virtual operations. In the feature, I shared that we believe in trusting and empowering employees to do their best work, no matter where they are. We’ve learned that successful virtual work requires clear core working hours, genuine flexibility, and most importantly, a culture of trust over monitoring.
Business Insider Examines Our Growth
Tim Paradis at Business Insider explored how we’ve grown to about 70 people across major hubs including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Texas and Chicago. The article captured a key insight about our culture: while we occasionally bring people together in person, “They want to do all the cultural things, but they absolutely do not want to work” because they’ve found they do their best work independently. This insight underscores how our remote model enables individuals to focus and deliver high-quality results, free from the distractions of traditional office settings.
PR News Celebrates with a Nostalgic Touch
Nicole Schuman at PR News captured one of our most creative anniversary celebrations – the transformation of our website and social media presence with photos of team members as 10-year-olds. This playful glimpse into our team’s past brought a personal touch to our professional milestone, reminding us how far we’ve come while celebrating the journey.
Game Face: A New Chapter
The anniversary also marked the launch of “Game Face,” the first-ever children’s book about PR, which garnered coverage across multiple outlets including Jane King’s NYSE interview show, O’Dwyer’s PR News, PR Week’s Breakfast Briefing and PR News. Inspired by my niece Sloan’s endless curiosity about what I do, the book follows Sloan as she becomes a PR detective, helping her Uncle Curtis and Bospar handle a worldwide video game glitch while learning about public relations fundamentals. As O’Dwyer’s noted, it’s “ideal for the 400,000 PR pros who want to explain to their children what they do for a living.”
AFP Examines Remote Work Leadership
In an in-depth feature for Agence France-Presse that reached audiences worldwide, even making it to broadcast in Taiwan, Julia Jammot explored how Bospar’s decade-long commitment to remote work positions us as a trusted voice in the ongoing return-to-office debate. Speaking from my San Francisco apartment, I shared with AFP why traditional office environments create implicit inequalities and challenges: “Someone gets the corner office with windows while another gets a cubicle, creating friction.” Our remote-first approach eliminates these challenges, fostering a more inclusive workplace. The piece highlighted how our model challenges corporate America’s push for office returns, emphasizing benefits from environmental impact to workplace equality. The story’s international reach demonstrates how the remote work conversation resonates far beyond U.S. borders.
Innovators with Jane King Looks to the Future
In my conversation with Jane King, we discussed how Bospar is expanding beyond our tech PR roots: “We’ve been doing a lot more pharma works. One company came to us said, ‘We love what you do for tech companies. We want that for us.’ And so we’re working with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the country.”
The anniversary celebration generated remarkable results, with the AFP coverage alone securing 171 pieces of coverage and reaching 511,541,307 UVM (Unique Visitors Monthly). In total, the campaign garnered 226 stories across all media outlets. Looking back at this coverage collectively, it’s remarkable how our early decision to build a virtual-first agency has been validated. When that prospect voiced concerns about the lack of a water cooler in 2015, they couldn’t have known that we’d go on to achieve milestones like making the Inc. 5000 list, be named one of America’s best PR agencies by Newsweek, earn recognition from the Financial Times as one of the fastest-growing companies and be named the sixth largest LGBTQIA-plus owned business in San Francisco.
Our anniversary coverage is a testament to how what started as a bold experiment in virtual PR has become a proven model for success. We’ve demonstrated that investing in people rather than real estate isn’t just great for our team—it’s a winning business strategy. And that’s worth celebrating, water cooler or not.
