We explore how Animalz scaled a fully remote content agency to global impact without losing quality or burning people out. I’ll share the systems, habits, and cultural choices that make deep work possible and growth sustainable.
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Episode Transcript
Hello everyone, it's Alex Wilson Campbell again here.
Welcome back to the RemoteWorkcraft Podcast, the show
where we explore the people,ideas, and companies shaping the
future of work.
Today we're talking aboutanimals, a fully remote content
agency that's become quite apowerhouse in B2B SaaS
(00:21):
marketing.
What's fascinating about animalsisn't just the quality of their
work, it's how they've managedto scale a creative,
knowledge-driven business tomore than 100 people across the
world, all while keeping thatsense of focus and craft that
usually gets lost as agenciesgrow.
Animals was founded to solve asimple but stubborn problem that
(00:45):
most B2B content is well dull.
The founders believed that greatcontent marketing should feel
more like journalism thanadvertising.
They started small with justthree people, producing
long-form articles for SaaSbrands that needed thoughtful,
credible writing.
(01:05):
Fast forward a few years,Animals has grown into one of
the most respected names in thecontent space, working with
clients like Notion, Intercom,Airtable, and Wistia, to name a
few.
Their team now numbers around130 fully remote professionals.
That might be more, it might beless.
Writers, strategists, andeditors spread across multiple
(01:29):
time zones.
What's really impressive istheir internal structure.
They built an agency thatthrives on asynchronous
communication, strongdocumentation, and trust.
Meetings are rare, deliverablesare precise, and the culture
rewards independent thought.
They're proof that you can scalecreativity if you build the
(01:51):
right systems.
Now, what really stands outabout animals is how they've
managed to productize somethingas subjective as content.
They've developed frameworks forstrategy, research, and editing
that keep quality consistentregardless of who's writing.
That's incredibly hard to doremotely because you don't have
people sitting together in anoffice reviewing copy or
(02:13):
bouncing ideas off each otherover coffee.
Instead, animals built aninternal knowledge base that's
almost like a living textbook onhow to write great SaaS content.
Every process is documented fromtone, calibration to source
attribution to editorial flow.
(02:33):
That's what allows them to hireglobally and onboard quickly.
You could be a former journalistin Portugal or a marketing
strategist in Kenya, and withinweeks, you're working at the
same standard as somebody who'sbeen in the company for years.
Culturally, they've donesomething rare for agencies.
(02:54):
They've kept burnout in check.
Remote agencies often fall intothe trap of always on work.
But Animals has embraced a calmwork philosophy, asynchronous
updates, generous flexibility,and a focus on deep work rather
than reactive hustle.
And I think that's part of whytheir growth from a handful of
(03:18):
freelancers to 11.5 million inrevenue feels sustainable and
not forced.
From my own experienceinterviewing remote founders,
the ones who thrive long termare those who find rhythm.
That balance between autonomyand connection.
And I think animals might havenailed that quite early on.
(03:40):
Now it's not perfect.
Some employees have notedchallenges with scaling
communication or maintainingconsistency across teams, but in
an industry that's notorious forchurn, animals has created
something genuinely durable andincredible.
So what can we learn fromanimals?
First, that creativity scaleswhen systems support it.
(04:04):
They didn't try to managewriters like factory workers.
They gave them frameworks thatenhanced their freedom.
Second, that remote work doesn'thave to mean isolation.
When you embed transparency andknowledge sharing into your
culture, you replace proximitywith clarity.
And third, that an agencydoesn't have to chase constant
(04:27):
growth to be successful.
Animals has stayed profitable,respected, and lean by focusing
on mastery rather than volume.
For any founders listening,especially those building remote
service businesses, there's abig takeaway here.
Your systems are your culture.
If you design your processeswith care, you don't need to
(04:48):
control every minute of yourteam's day.
You just need to trust the teamand trust the people that you
hire.
Make sure that they have whatthey need to do their best work.
And as somebody who's built acareer around remote work, that
resonates really deeply with me.
Because when remote is doneright, it gives you time back.
Time to create, time to think,and time to live.
(05:11):
That's the freedom that drew meto remote work in the first
place.
Listen out for the next episodeof the Remote Work Live Podcast.
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