Celebrating 17: The Privilege of Independence

By Amy Castelda

Tomorrow, June 1 marks our seventeenth year since opening the doors of W5 at our first office in Charleston, SC. We’ve since moved to our current headquarters in Durham, NC, watched the economy go up…then down…then up again, worked with hundreds of brands and agencies, and hired the brightest minds in our industry. Through all this the one element that has remained consistent, in addition to our name, is our independence.

Influenced by the entrepreneurial spirit of our founders, W5 prides itself on our ability to grow on our own terms. Independence keeps W5 agile, flexible, and able to adapt quickly to changing business environments. Our lack of corporate hierarchy is advantageous for us, and our clients, allowing W5 to put efforts towards solving clients’ needs as opposed to appeasing shareholders.

Independence means we can do all this while remaining 100% true to ourselves.

Clients who work with W5 understand this unique advantage and see the value of our independence in the work we deliver. As stated by Managing Partner Jeremy Crisp of independent agency NAIL Communications, “being independent makes for better work, happier staff, and repeat business from clients whose trust is critical to our growth.”

Perhaps most importantly is the people fiercely independent companies attract, often those who value empowerment, accountability, and entrepreneurism. It brings together a tight-knit group of brilliant individuals bound by a common curiosity to understand human behavior and what makes people tick. Basically, the profile of any W5er.

Thank you to our clients, partners, employees, and vendors who enabled us to chart our own path and maintain autonomy for the past seventeen years. We are excited to see what the next seventeen years have in store…

Cheers!