20 years, grounded in values
2025 Impact Report
A year of celebration
Twenty years in business is worth celebrating.
Big Sea began humbly, with a small operation and a simple belief that doing business with a people-first mindset leads to better, more lasting impact. That belief shaped how we built relationships, made decisions, and showed up for our clients from the very beginning.
Two decades later, the work looks different, but the values haven’t changed. This milestone gave us space to recognize what has sustained us and to reaffirm our direction forward. We remain committed to investing in people, leading with care, and building impact meant to last.
Becoming a B Corp™ felt like a natural next step. The process asked us to slow down and look honestly at our policies, benefits, and decision-making. It affirmed areas where we’re aligned and highlighted where we still have work to do.
We see this as a commitment, not a badge. One that helps us hold ourselves accountable as we continue building a business shaped by care, responsibility, and long-term impact.
🙌 2025 Highlights
Becoming a B Corp
For years, Big Sea has worked to put people, values, and accountability at the center of how we operate. Beginning the B Corp certification process gave us a way to examine those intentions more closely and to measure how they show up in practice.
View our company profile →
85.5
B Corp Impact Score
Pay Equity in Practice
Fair pay matters. And it needs to be measurable.
At Big Sea, we use a compensation ratio to help ensure our team members are paid fairly and competitively. This ratio compares individual salaries to the industry midpoint for similar roles, giving us a clear benchmark grounded in market data.
We commit to keeping every role within a range of 90% to 110% of the industry midpoint, with 90% as a firm floor. That means no one on our team should fall below fair market pay for their position. We review compensation regularly and take action when adjustments are needed to stay aligned with this commitment.
This policy reflects how we view compensation overall. It should be transparent, equitable, and rooted in respect for the people doing the work.
Supporting Parenthood
We believe supporting parents means more than offering leave. It means supporting the full journey.
At Big Sea, we offer paid parental leave alongside flexible scheduling and remote work options, recognizing that families need different kinds of support at different times. Our goal is to make space for care, balance, and sustainability, both at home and at work.
This commitment extends beyond our team. Big Sea is a proud
Bosses for Babies employer and a Family Friendly Tampa Bay Gold award recipient, reflecting our belief that family-friendly workplaces are better workplaces for everyone.
2025 HIGHLIGHTS
Giving, Together
We believe generosity is stronger when it’s shared.
In 2025, we introduced a Big Sea matched giving program directly through our payroll provider to make it easier for team members to support causes they care about. Through this program, individual giving is amplified by company contributions, reinforcing a culture where impact is collective, not isolated.
This initiative reflects how we think about responsibility. Creating space for people to give, and standing alongside them when they do.
🫶 Our People
A Diverse Team Does Better Work
We believe diverse perspectives make the work sharper, the culture stronger, and the outcomes more equitable. Big Sea is committed to building a team that reflects the communities we serve and creating conditions where everyone can do their best work.
66%
of people in a strategic leadership position identify as a woman
50%
of leadership team identify as LGBTIQ, as having a disability, and/or having neurodivergence
75%
of management team identify as women
By the Numbers
A 90% retention rate is a powerful testament to our “People-First” culture. Under B Corp standards, high retention implies that we are successfully balancing profit with purpose by providing a secure, high-quality work environment that talent chooses to stay with, significantly outperforming industry averages for turnover.
A 25% growth rate is an exceptional indicator of organizational health and social contribution. It implies that as we scale our mission, we are actively creating new livelihoods and expanding our internal “Worker” community. In the eyes of B Corp, this suggests that our business model is not just sustainable, but regenerative—successfully translating commercial success into expanded career opportunities and local economic support.
90%
Team Member Retention Rate
25%
Job Growth Rate
Measuring What a Healthy Workplace Actually Looks Like
Our Pulse Survey tracks employee sentiment across 10 workplace dimensions. In 2025, our Overall Engagement Average hit 8.7, up +0.7 over the year, a statistically significant positive trend that confirms our investments in employee experience are working.
Alignment (9.6) — People understand where we’re going and how their work gets us there.
Satisfaction (8.7) — Team members are broadly happy with compensation, performance practices, and the work environment, with clear room to keep improving.
8.7
Overall Engagement Average
Note: +0.7 throughout the year from 8.5-9.2
9.6
Alignment Engagement Score
8.7
Satisfaction Engagement Score
🌻 Health & Wellness
Supporting Whole-Person Health
Big Sea pays 100% of employee healthcare costs, with comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage. Team members also have access to an Employee Assistance Program for confidential mental health, counseling, financial, and legal support, plus a pre-tax healthcare savings account and a Health Incentive Account for a wide range of medical expenses.
The goal is simple: remove barriers to care before they become barriers to wellbeing.
Wellness (9.3) — Team members feel supported in managing workload, protecting their mental health, and maintaining a sustainable work-life balance.
Happiness (8.9) — People find genuine meaning in their work and feel a real sense of belonging, the kind that doesn’t show up in a paycheck but absolutely shows up in the culture.
9.3
Wellness
8.9
Happiness
HEALTH & WELLNESS
Wellness Wave
We reintroduced Wellness Wave challenges in Q3 as a way to promote wellness from a different perspective each quarter. Q3 focused on tracking positive sleep and movement habits as well and leveraged the Health Incentive Account offered to the team as a way to redeem cash for these activities. Q4’s challenge focused on breathwork and the team was given access to specific tracks to support them at different times of day.
Participation Rates:
- Q3: 72.7%
- Q4: 22.7%
🌿 Growing Together
Supporting our team’s wellbeing also means creating room to grow and to feel invested in the work. We offer opportunities for professional development, pathways to earn commissions, and ways to share in the financial success of the company. These supports are part of how we build trust and sustainability over time, recognizing that people thrive when they feel valued, supported, and included in what they’re helping to build.
Employee Commission Opportunities
Team members can earn commission by introducing Big Sea to new clients, sharing in the success of relationships they help bring to life through ongoing income tied to the first year of work.
Professional Development Stipend
We believe long-term growth comes from curiosity and a commitment to learning. After one year at Big Sea, team members are eligible for an annual professional development stipend they can use for courses, conferences, books, and other learning opportunities. This investment reflects our belief that when people continue to grow, the work grows with them
Time to Live
Big Sea’s flexible time off policy is built on a simple belief: people do their best work when they have real space to rest, travel, and show up for their families. No accrual caps. No guilt. Just the freedom to take the time you need.
New in late 2025, we began offering paid volunteer time off, something we’re excited to push forward into the future.
$35000
spent on professional development
46
certifications earned across the team
239
hours spent in professional development
325
days taken for any reason
4
days taken for volunteer opportunities
⚡️Intentional Partnerships
We Choose Our Clients Carefully.
Our values guide who we work with and who we don’t. We partner with organizations whose missions align with our commitment to care, equity, and long-term responsibility, and we draw clear boundaries around work that causes harm to people or the environment. This policy helps ensure our time, talent, and influence are used in ways we can stand behind.
8
Board Seats Held
47%
Non-Profit & Purpose-Driven Client Engagements
53%
For-Profit Client Engagements
33
Purpose-Driven Collaborations
12
New Purpose-Driven Clients Added to Our Roster
5
New Social Impact Clients Added to Our Roster
Award-winning work that makes a difference
We don’t chase accolades. We chase impact. The recognition just proves what happens when bold ideas meet purpose-driven partners.
Client Executive Sponsor Initiative
Our client partnership include an executive sponsor to ensure leadership-level accountability and long-term alignment. This structure supports stronger relationships, clearer communication, and shared responsibility for the health and success of each partnership.
86.83%
Client Satisfaction Average
We truly appreciated the opportunity to collaborate on the development of our organization’s website. Big Sea developed a genuine process to enhance the end-user experience, particularly in guiding the patient’s journey on the new website. We greatly appreciated the team’s creativity, professionalism, and responsiveness to feedback. The new website design reflects a fresh, modern look that aligns well with our mission and vision, and we are very pleased about the outcome of the project. It was a true collaboration from inception to implementation!
Cheryl PollockChief Advancement & Community Engagement Officer, Premier Community Health
🐙 Rooted in Community
Our work doesn’t stop with our clients.
We believe being part of a community comes with responsibility. That responsibility shows up in how we invest our time, our resources, and our skills beyond paid client work.
Annual Wavemaker Grant
Through our annual $30,000 grant, we partnered with Free the Pill, a division of Ibis Reproductive Health, to support their work expanding access to reproductive care. Our team helped create marketing videos and supported Free the Pill Day through social media campaigns, partnership communications, and tools designed to help their network extend the reach of the message.
This work reflects what the Wavemaker Grant is meant to do. Share expertise. Strengthen capacity. Support organizations working on issues that directly affect people’s lives.
Supporting Local
We believe where we spend our dollars matters.
Big Sea prioritizes working with local suppliers and service providers in our home communities of St. Petersburg, Florida, and Asheville, North Carolina By choosing local partners whenever possible, we support small and medium-sized businesses, strengthen community relationships, and reduce the environmental impact associated with travel and transportation.
This approach reflects our belief that community investment starts close to home.
128
Hours Invested in Community
$13,680 Financial Equivalent
$37911
In-Kind Donations
44
Agency Community Service Hours
44
Individual Service Hours
10
Small business supported at Annual Retreat
$21000
Invested in Local Business at Annual Retreat
✋ Our Commitments for 2026
- Fair Compensation Initiative: State our goal and time period in which we want to ensure that every team member is at 90% of the industry medium for their role and then report on progress next year
- Internship Program: Over the course of the program, interns will develop a deep, working knowledge of the client’s business, audience, and full marketing ecosystem, contributing meaningful, hands-on execution along the way.
- Wellness Wave Challenge Participation Targets for 2026: 60% participation annual average
- Social Impact Education and Training Targets:
- Deliver four teach-ins agency-wide
- Commit 85 hours agency-wide to education and/or training specific to social impact
Purpose-Led Growth
Our goal is for 80% of new client partnerships to be with purpose-driven organizations. This includes nonprofits and mission-led businesses working to improve lives, strengthen communities, and address systemic challenges.
This target reflects a deliberate choice about where we invest our time and expertise. It’s about aligning growth with values, and ensuring the work we take on continues to move in a direction we believe in.
We’ll also develop and launch an inclusive talent acquisition and workplace culture strategy that increases candidate diversity, documents internal equity practices, and supports inclusive onboarding. This effort supports our vision to have a team that reflects the diversity of the communities and causes that we serve.
Our 1% Commitment
This is a commitment to invest 1% of our annual revenue back into the communities we serve. This is measured through a combination of direct financial donations, “pro-bono” professional involvement, and team volunteer hours.
This goal reflects our belief that a business’s success is inseparable from the health of its community. By pledging 1% of our top-line revenue, we ensure that as our agency grows, our social impact scales proportionally, moving us closer to the B Corp ideal of “Business as a Force for Good.”
- Complete 176 hours of volunteering agency-wide
- $15,000 in Community Investment (Funds and/or effort contributed to community causes)