Local Birmingham businesses have been on the edge of their seats in anticipation of Birmingham Business Journal’s announcement of their 2021 “Best Places to Work” honorees, and we’re beyond excited to share the news: Telegraph made the list! In addition to being recognized for our stellar work environment, we also received The Advancement for Women Award in the small company category. This is an incredible accolade acknowledging our dedication to empowering and equipping the women on our team.  We’re  honored to be recognized among the best of the best in the Magic City for our commitment to creating a work environment in which our team members can be the best version of themselves while doing meaningful work with people they enjoy.  

You might be wondering: what qualifies Telegraph as a “Best Place to Work”? We’ve got a few reasons why we think we’re deserving, but here’s just a few that stuck out to the BBJ. 

Our Culture

At Telegraph, our culture is everything. This starts with hiring the right kind of people —people who are committed to getting a little bit better every day. Our most popular culture-building initiative is the TeleGames—a company-wide, Olympics-style competition that encourages personal and professional growth. Tele employees are split into teams and log points through our very own TeleGames app for basically anything related to growing personally or professionally, from working out, listening to podcasts and reading, to attending a conference, learning a new skill, or serving in the community. The team with the highest number of points at the end of every quarter wins a prize (and kudos for out-performing the rest of us). 

Our Commitment to Collaboration

One of Telegraph’s core values (which we call The Tele Way) is courage. It takes guts to throw out creative ideas that push the envelope and might get shot down, but might also be brilliant. It also takes courage to give candid feedback to your colleagues, and it takes humility to receive constructive criticism that could improve the quality of work we do for our clients. This collaborative process is deeply ingrained in everything we do. 

Our Client Obsession 

Everything we do, we do for our clients. “Client-obsessed” is a phrase our leadership coined and has worked to infuse into the very fiber of our company. Being client-obsessed means approaching our work with the client in mind every step of the way.  Another core value in The Tele Way is intentionality. Every creative element, from graphic designs and videos to strategy documents and copy, are thoughtfully and intentionally created with our client’s needs at the center of every decision. We create art with a job to do. It’s not enough to create something artistically beautiful—which we do. It also has to move the needle for the client by solving their problems and helping them reach their business goals. The intersection of incredible creative work (art…) and business KPIs (…with a job to do) is where the magic happens. If you’re starting to get the idea that our client obsession is a fundamental part of who we are, we would have to agree!

Our (Super) Cool Office Space 

A sick office space isn’t necessary to get the work done, but we think it’s a fun perk of being a part of the Tele team. Our open-space renovated warehouse located in Birmingham’s well-known Pepper Place district is an incubator for great ideas and good times. It’s designed for collaboration and ideation—complete with an interior amphitheater (we call it The Stadium), a street-facing conference room, open desk spaces, a studio for our video and photography team, and an upstairs game room for when we need a brain break to jumpstart our creative juices. When 5:30 rolls around and the rest of Birmingham is making their end-of-day commutes, take a drive down 2nd Ave South, and we guarantee you’ll see some Tele team members still hanging out in our creative oasis.

Above all, the thing that truly makes Telegraph Creative a “Best Place to Work” in Birmingham is the group of people that fill our office every day. Our team is committed, courageous and intentional in all that we do, and we have the best time doing it. Work doesn’t feel like work when the work you do is with people you respect, admire—and above all—care about.