How One Values-Led Agency Builds a Healthy Culture And Screens For Client Fit
Behind the Agency Podcast with Chris Manley, CEO of Engenius
TL;DR – Key Takeaways
Engenius wasn’t started as a “marketing agency dream.” It started as a people-first business idea: care for employees, care for customers, care for community.
Their “zone of genius” isn’t one tactic. It’s a long-term commitment to small businesses—and bringing big-agency thinking to small budgets.
They landed their first real clients fast through existing relationships + showing up in the community, and they’ve kept the same sales philosophy since 2008:
no hard sell → honest guidance → refer out if it’s not a fit.
Culture isn’t a poster on the wall. Chris built it intentionally because he’d seen a ton of management styles (18 jobs by age 21) and didn’t want the “always on” agency life.
They aim for a 40-hour week, even for leadership, and they make policies that force rest (like rewriting vacation rules so people actually take time off).
A practical culture tip: define your values, but don’t dilute them. They started with 19 “core values,” realized that was ridiculous, and narrowed down to 5.
Values affect client fit too: the question isn’t “are they like us?” it’s “can they adapt to how we work?”
Hard line: no tolerance for verbally abusive clients. They’ll offboard rather than sacrifice team wellbeing.
Long-term growth goal isn’t “bigger is better.” It’s role duplication—so one person being out doesn’t create chaos.
Chris sees the market moving toward a trusted marketing partner model: clients want “one call” even if the agency pulls in specialist partners.
Meet the Guest
Chris Manley is the CEO of Engenius, a web design, web development, and marketing shop.
But what makes him interesting isn’t the service list.
It’s the fact that he started the business with a pretty rare goal in agency land:
Build a company that’s good for the people inside it… and still great for clients.
Episode Summary
1) Why he started Engenius: “utopian,” on purpose
Chris says the original motivation was basically a “utopian” idea:
care about employees first
care about customers second
care about the community third
…and still be a strong business
Marketing wasn’t the starting obsession. It was just something he’d been doing since the late 90s (self-taught HTML, selling one-page websites for $100 as a teenager).
The deeper driver was seeing what “corporate America” looked like back then (he name-drops the Enron era) and wanting to build a different kind of company.
2) Their zone of genius: small businesses, long term
This part stood out because it’s a choice most agencies say they care about… until bigger budgets show up.
Chris describes their differentiator as a real commitment to small businesses:
not as a stepping stone
not as practice
not as “we’ll graduate to enterprise later”
They serve about 180 small businesses and love it.
The real value they bring isn’t “we can run ads” or “we can build websites.”
It’s the outside perspective small business owners don’t have time to create:
Who is your audience?
What are you really trying to say?
What will make this attractive to your customer?
And the agency advantage is exactly what you called out in the interview: pattern recognition across many clients.
3) How they got their first clients (and how they still sell)
Their first official client signed 10 days after forming the LLC.
It came through relationships:
a friend connection
a nonprofit foundation that needed help with messaging and positioning (especially how to motivate donors)
They built a simple website, but the win was the thinking:
“What would lead someone to support this?”
Then within the first month, they landed several more clients—mostly starting with websites.
What’s interesting is what hasn’t changed since 2008:
get involved in the community
tell people what you’re doing
offer a conversation, not a pitch
if you can’t help, introduce them to someone who can
That’s the opposite of the “close at all costs” stuff that makes agency sales feel gross.
4) Culture: designing the work life you actually want
Chris’s background is unusual: he didn’t do the classic “work in corporate for a while, then start an agency.”
Before 21, he’d worked 18 different jobs. Not because he was flaky—often he had multiple jobs at once.
That gave him a front-row seat to:
good management
bad management
places that cared for people
places that didn’t
So when he started Engenius, he didn’t have a “default agency culture” baked into him.
He and his co-founder had to ask:
“What do we want this to feel like day-to-day?”
They noticed agencies that were:
answering clients on Sunday nights
taking calls during family events
living in constant “urgent”
And they decided: nope.
So they set a clear target:
40-hour work week (even leadership)
And then they did the harder part:
they made business decisions through that lens, even when it meant tradeoffs.
5) Vacation policy as culture enforcement (this was great)
This is the kind of thing that sounds small until you realize it’s everything.
They rewrote their vacation policy… and added rules that basically force people to take time off.
The team initially reacted like:
“Why so many rules?”
And Chris was like:
“Because I want you to actually use your vacation.”
Even first-year team members.
He paints a normal-person version of vacation too:
If “vacation” is coffee on your back porch on a crisp fall morning — great.
Just don’t work.
This is where a lot of agencies get it wrong:
They say “we care about balance,”
then reward the people who never log off.
Chris is doing the opposite.
6) Values: the “19 core values” mistake and the fix
They tried the classic “core values” thing.
At first, they landed on 17, then realized they were missing two, and rolled out 19.
Someone asked the obvious question:
“Are they really core if you have 19?”
Chris admitted: fair point.
So they split the list:
some became “principles of good business” (important, but not unique)
and they distilled down to 5 real core values that actually define the culture
Then they used them like you’re supposed to:
hiring
evaluations
and yes, even separating from people who weren’t a values fit
Also: one of their core values is “be fun.”
And Chris is blunt about it:
If you hate people having fun at work, don’t work here.
That clarity is a filter.
7) Values affect client fit too
You asked a great question: does culture change who you say yes/no to as clients?
Chris’s answer is basically:
yes—and the key test is:
Can the client adapt to how we work?
Not “are they identical to us,” but “will they give us license to be who we are?”
Examples:
calling employees’ personal cell phones on weekends for basic updates = not okay
unrealistic expectations = not okay
They’re also transparent about imperfection:
If you want a perfect agency, go elsewhere.
They’ll make mistakes, but they’ll fix them.
That honesty tends to create better long-term client relationships.
8) The one client type they won’t refer out
This got darker, but it’s important.
Chris has a low tolerance for verbally abusive clients.
He draws a clean line:
swearing casually in the office isn’t the issue
disrespecting and insulting the team is the issue
And if that behavior is repeated, they’ll offboard.
You nailed why this matters:
Retention goes up when leadership proves it has your back.
Most agencies say “people first.”
This is what it looks like in real life.
9) The future: grow for duplication + become the “one call” partner
Their growth goal isn’t “bigger for ego.”
It’s operational safety:
duplication of roles so there’s backup coverage and less stress.
Then Chris talks about a bigger industry shift:
The old split between:
“traditional agencies” (print, radio, billboards)
and “digital agencies”
…is fading.
Clients want:
one trusted marketing partner
one call
someone who can either do it, or pull the right partner in fast
They don’t have time to vet vendors.
They want the “dream team” assembled for them.
So Engenius is expanding:
not necessarily doing everything in-house,
but being the point person who can deliver or coordinate.
Notable Quotes / Moments
“We wanted to create a business that cared first and foremost about its people.”
“We serve about 180 small businesses.”
“We’re not gonna try to hard sell you… if we can’t help, we’ll help you find someone else.”
“We’re gonna have a 40-hour work week… and then you’re done.”
“I rewrote our vacation policy… because I want you to use your vacation time.”
“Are they really core if you have to have 19 of them?”
“Can a client adapt to the way that we work?”
“Verbally abusive clients… we’re not doing that.”
Connect with Chris / Engenius
Website: engeniusweb.com
Email: chris@engeniusweb.com
LinkedIn: Chris Manley
