Which do clients prefer – big firms with deep benches and huge resources, or small agencies with experienced owners who can pivot on a dime?
The answer is…it depends. On a lot. So, Proven Media Solutions founder Dustin Siggins hosted a wide-ranging discussion about it with Evan Boyer, founder & CEO of Leaders PR who was until this summer a Senior VP at FleishmanHillard; and Dave Dziok, managing director at Narrative Strategies with prior experience at Edelman.
Together, they broke down what clients, leaders, and staff really gain — and lose — depending on agency size.
From the Client’s Seat
Big agencies impress at first glance. They attract seasoned pros, sometimes with decades of experience, and they have the analytics arms, global media lists, and heavyweight closers clients crave in high-stakes situations. When a multinational CEO needs crisis counsel, the big firms have lots of people who have been there before.
But clients also often discover that those senior names in the pitch aren’t the ones handling their daily calls. Work gets delegated to junior staff while retainers soar. That’s where boutiques thrive. A smaller shop may lack the flash — no 60-slide decks or armies of junior staff — but they move faster, pivot easier, and put principals directly on the case.
Yet many small agencies try to match the “flash” of the bigger ones. All the panelists agreed that it was the wrong move. As Siggins, who runs a seven-person company, put it, “You’re not going to waste time with us. We set clear goals before the first meeting and then go straight to execution.”
The Agency Leader’s Lens
For agency leaders, the trade-offs are stark.
At Narrative Strategies, Dziok has watched headcount quadruple in four years. Growth brings opportunity — new verticals, new specialties, new credibility — but it also forces structure that the company didn’t have in prior years.
For Boyer, leaving a global giant to launch his own shop meant trading vast resources for control and freedom. He’s back to building media lists himself, pitching reporters directly, and enjoying the scrappy side of PR he hadn’t touched in years. Meetings took him away from what he loved.
The upside is agility; the downside is that he’s figuring out exactly what is the best use of his time with so many needs handled by just one person.
And for Siggins, growth has been about resisting the urge to look bigger than reality. “Specialization,” he said, “is the small agency’s superpower. You can’t do everything, but you can do one thing better than anyone else.”
Life for the Staff
The strengths and weaknesses of small and big agencies are also acutely experienced at the staff level.
At a big firm, the path is often siloed. Young hires enter through healthcare, energy, or tech teams — and quickly become subject-matter experts. But that expertise can also be a cage. Many find themselves in “meeting hell,” managing instead of executing, and rarely touching work outside their niche.
At smaller firms, staff wear every hat at once. One week it’s pitching reporters, the next it’s drafting op-eds, the next it’s analyzing coverage reports. That variety accelerates growth, but there’s a ceiling — only so many titles exist in a shop of five or six.
For ambitious professionals, this creates a real tension. At a boutique, the broad exposure can sharpen judgment and build resilience faster than at a big agency. But the lack of clear ladders can be frustrating, pushing talented staff to jump ship after a few years. Conversely, large firms offer structured career paths and world-class training — yet those benefits can come at the cost of creativity, autonomy, and the simple joy of executing the craft.
Dave Dziok pointed out that this is the tightrope leaders must manage. Narrative Strategies launched an “accelerator program” to give staff mentorship and growth opportunities outside their silos. “We want people to touch many different issues,” he said, “but as we grow, we also have to bring in subject-matter experts who can go deep. It’s a balance between keeping people versatile and giving them a clear path forward.”
Both paths demand trade-offs that are as personal as they are professional. Some thrive in the predictability of scale; others want the messier but more flexible environment of a smaller shop. In the end, the “right” agency for staff isn’t about prestige or size, but about whether the culture matches their appetite for risk, responsibility, and growth.
The Takeaway
Big agencies bring stability, resources, and credibility. Small agencies bring agility, intimacy, and focus. Mid-size firms straddle the line, offering scale without losing every ounce of speed.
There is no single “winner” in this debate. The right choice depends on whether a client values reach or responsiveness, breadth or depth.
Because in PR, agility and a deep bench aren’t opposites. They’re trade-offs — and agencies help clients determine which ones clients need most.
Watch the full discussion below:
