Skills
About
Chris Denny is the Founder and President of The Engine Is Red, an award-winning advertising agency with a unique operating model that goes against the grain of the traditional way agencies serve brands. Celebrating it’s 10 year anniversary in 2019, the agency has grown rapidly, recently opening an office in Minneapolis, helping brands like Tesla, Medtronic, Kendall-Jackson and Rombauer Vineyards. The Engine is Red is a team of outsiders, technologists and creatives, pursuing a better way to collaborate with clients. Better for the work, better for the client, better for the team. They seek out relationships with clients that is built on earned trust that’s strong enough to push beyond the expected to create meaningful, memorable work. Chris is driven by the creative process, constantly working to better understand and improve it. He has found that the best work comes when you bring talented people together with radical candor and transparency. Since Chris founded The Engine is Red, he has been listed on Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 and has been featured in various media outlets, including Business Insider, Adweek, AdAge, Digiday, Entrepreneur, CNN, and USA Today. Chris grew up in South Florida where he attended a small private arts school before transferring to the University of Iowa to study entrepreneurship and design. After moving to California in 2005, Chris was hired as a designer in the marketing department for a SF startup. A few years later, he launched Santa Rosa-based agency The Engine Is Red with no advertising agency experience.
Chris Denny
Published content
expert panel
To achieve lasting success, company owners and leaders must learn how to establish long-term relationships with customers. As a business owner, you want every interaction customers or clients have with your business to be a positive one. While most successful businesses develop policies and procedures to try to ensure stellar service, building outstanding customer relations doesn’t stop there. Leaders can’t simply assume that the services and support they’ve developed are exceeding customer expectations. To know for sure, you have to go straight to the horse’s mouth—you have to not only listen to what your customers say to and about you but also track to see if they continue to choose your business in the future. While you may not be able to ask each of your customers personally for their opinion of your company, there are metrics you can monitor to ensure you’re on the right track when it comes to offering outstanding customer service. Below, 12 leaders from Fast Company Executive Board share the metrics their organizations track to help them develop long-lasting relationships and a strong community of fans around their brand.
expert panel
New entrepreneurs often approach their hoped-for mentors first, but successful industry leaders can and should proactively reach out to help the next generation of professionals, leaders, and business owners. Often, new and young entrepreneurs are advised to seek out a mentor. Their eagerness to learn and humility when asking for help can be a huge asset in their entrepreneurial journey. However, they shouldn’t always have to do the leg work to forge a successful mentorship. Rather than waiting for an up-and-coming professional or budding entrepreneur to contact them, established business owners and leaders can be proactive and give the next generation a leg up by sharing their experiences, insights, and assistance. There are several opportunities for successful leaders to pay it forward, and it doesn’t have to be through one-to-one mentorship (although that can provide amazing insights and opportunities for both parties). Whatever the time commitment they’re able to give, leaders can and should find ways to help the next generation as they begin their journey. Below, 15 members of Fast Company Executive Board share ways to do just that.
expert panel
A culture of adaptability has helped many organizations not only survive but thrive through the challenges of the past year and will set them up for future success. Founding and leading a business or organization comes with many unknowns, but one thing seems certain: At some point, leadership will have to guide the team through a crisis. While every crisis won’t have the global reach and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, every crisis can cause disruption, lost momentum, and even failure—if leaders haven’t created a culture of adaptability. With the right guidance and preparation, businesses and their team members can quickly make important decisions and pivot when and as needed—even in the face of a crisis. However, adaptability doesn’t happen accidentally; it’s a skill and a mindset that must be intentionally developed and cultivated every day within an organization. Below, the members of Fast Company Executive Board share 15 practical ways leaders of any business or organization can build a culture of adaptability.
Company details
The Engine is Red
Company bio
The Engine is more than an integrated creative agency. We’re more than the sum of our parts. We’re a tribe of creators and strategists, builders and collaborators, learners and students. Over the past eight years, we have built a reputation of collaborating with our clients to push the boundaries and create inspiring work. We believe the best work comes from an empowered and independent team, free to drive their projects in their own way. We push ourselves to refine processes that bring transparent predictability but resist the urge to control or confine. We trust each other - knowing each of us is talented, honest, and dedicated. We believe life outside of the studio is a deep source of inspiration, rest, and drive. We’ve streamlined the typical agency processes. No time sheets. No change orders. Rather, a simple and transparent flow based loosely on the principles of Agile development. We seek exceptional clients and talent that believe in joining a passionate, egoless team that is building something bigger than themselves. We insist on having fun and aspire to create ground-breaking work together.