NO. 3 MIDSIZE COMPANY
4-TIME WINNER
SPECIAL AWARD: Top Midsize Company Leader Frost Prioleau
Frost Prioleau says the unofficial motto at Simpli.fi is “Work hard and be nice.”
It’s a winning combination.
The Fort Worth-based producer of localized programmatic advertising garnered the No. 3 spot, up from a sixth-place finish in 2018. And its 233 area employees voted Prioleau CEO of the Year among our midsize companies.
“We try to treat people the way that we would like to be treated,” says the 58-year-old.
Prioleau co-founded Simpli.fi with its chief technology officer, Paul Harrison, in 2010.
The company helps brands, agencies, local media groups and networks get the most bang for their high-volume digital advertising bucks.
That means hiring and retaining bright minds who can keep up with today’s innovations that will quickly become tomorrow’s digital discards.
“As we have gained a higher profile as a successful company in our space, we’ve become the target of many more recruiters who call our folks on a regular basis,” says Prioleau, whose name is pronounced PRE-low.
The answer to that challenge, Prioleau says, is to create a work environment where team members know that the company has their best interests at heart — even if that means helping some of them get better jobs elsewhere.
“Sure, there are company goals,” he says. “But hey, everyone has personal goals. So we try to do all that we can to help people achieve those. We do a ton of training. We promote from within. We help people expand their skill sets so that they can progress at the pace and direction that they want.
“We believe in servant leadership. What that means to us is: ‘What do we need to do to help our team be successful?’ We do a lot of thinking about that.”
Another key to Simpli.fi’s culture is an open door policy across the entire company. Employees are encouraged to share ideas, solve problems and get advice from their peers and the leadership team.
One happy Simpli.fier says,: “I get to work with technologies that are interesting to me and solve complex problems, all with full support of the company.”
Simpli.fi also has some nifty perks.
It provides free lunches and breakfasts for employees twice a week, free drinks and snacks in its 24/7 bistro, monthly happy hours and frequent parties for clients and employees on its rooftop patio overlooking downtown Cowtown.
Employees can unplug from their workstations and work remotely throughout Simpli.fi’s offices, at standing desks or from the game room, patio or bistro areas.
