Highly efficient management, really listens to employees and actively solves problems - Anonymous employee Blue Flame Thinking Employee Review

Having worked for a number of agencies in Grand Rapids, I can confidently say that Blue Flame Thinking is the full package. Their motto “Find Your Better” isn’t just some feel-good marketing fluff, they truly apply this practice to all things and it shines through their quality of talent, projects and client partnerships. The team is full of passionate, loyal, masters of their craft that never fail to go above and beyond for clients. I believe all of their success is attributed to great leadership; Josh Stauffer (CEO) is the smartest, most genuine person I’ve ever met, and to watch the agency grow under his leadership has been so rewarding. Flexibility is a huge perk - whether you’re sick, have kids with complicated schedules or need to work remotely for various reasons, BFT works with you and is incredibly generous in finding a solution that works for everyone. If you are someone looking for employment or a business looking for a new agency to partner with, do yourself a favor and take a chance with these guys. You won’t regret it.

Since culture is such a huge (amazing) part of the agency, a wrong-fit hire really rocks the boat and creates chaos. My hope is that BFT can identify this early on and take action before it causes too much stress on the team.

As the title mentions, there's a lot of wonderfully talented people at BFT. Some of the best I've worked with in my career, who care immensely about doing great work that brings results to their clients. Total compensation is competitive, with a decent bonus structure and generous healthcare contributions from the company. Both locations have beautiful office space and offer a fair amount of flexibility and work from home perks.

Executive Leadership is out of touch with their employees and their clients, caring most about profit when they should be focused on bringing solutions that actually benefit their clients' businesses. Very important business decisions are made based on emotion and 'gut' feelings without anyone paying attention to long-term impacts or the core reasons behind the visible symptoms of failure. Employees are disrespected, lied to and lied about (to both other employees AND clients) as a matter of course in order to preserve a false sense that without the brilliance of the leadership team the place wouldn't survive. Meanwhile some of the best and brightest employees are mistreated, thrown under the bus and generally bullied until they either leave or stop caring. There's enough ego in the executive team to fuel 100 Madison Avenue shops. For an agency that was on an upward trajectory, it's sad to see. And clients are noticing, too.