Reading Time: 6 minutes

Stories Inc. has been named Best Agency Partner at the 2026 Rally Awards. This one means so much to our team!

The award recognizes agencies that build strategic partnerships with clients, aligning closely with recruitment goals to help employers achieve meaningful talent attraction, engagement, and hiring outcomes.

When reviewing submissions, the judges noted that “Stories Inc. operates as a true partner,” highlighting our ability to “consistently evolve to meet the changing needs of employer brand leaders” while combining “deep employer brand expertise with a highly collaborative approach” to create a “lasting impact on the employer branding and recruitment profession.” 

As we reflected on that feedback, one theme stood out: our story has always been one of ultimate client service and collaboration.

Our Core Beliefs

Since Stories Inc. was founded in 2012, our belief has remained remarkably consistent: the most effective way to bring workplace culture to life is through authentic employee stories.

Not testimonials. Not scripted talking points. Real stories shared by real employees.

We created a methodology rooted in behavioral interviewing and psychological safety, and then improved upon it every year as organizations shared their culture and stories with us. We’ve interviewed thousands of leaders and team members, uncovering meaningful stories from every person, every time.

Our content strategists build trust with storytellers before and during the interview, conduct interviews that feel like good conversations, and create the space for genuine moments to emerge on camera.

Our content strategists build trust with storytellers before and during the interview, conduct interviews that feel like good conversations, and create the space for genuine moments to emerge on camera — like this unexpected Father’s Day story that emerged from one storyteller conversation.

While the employer branding industry has changed dramatically over the years, our commitment to authentic storytelling has never wavered.

Evolving as our clients’ needs changed

While our philosophy has stayed the same, our support has evolved alongside the needs of the practitioners we serve.

Scaling Storytelling Around the World

When one of our clients needed to activate their employer brand consistently around the world, we expanded our storytelling capabilities globally. This allowed us to capture authentic employee stories around the world while maintaining the same quality, consistency, and storytelling approach our clients expect.

This video about Social Impact from Dell Technologies features storytellers from five different global offices, one in her native language, sharing how working at the company has given them the opportunity to be a part of something better. 

Capturing work where it happens: virtual, hybrid, in office

Throughout the last several years, where work happens has changed, from in person, to virtual, to hybrid, and then return to office. 

We were there to capture high quality stories and footage no matter where work happened. 

Using the same conversational interview style that defines our work, we developed a virtual storytelling process that allowed organizations to continue capturing authentic employee experiences without the need for in-person production crews.

What started as a solution to a global challenge quickly became a valuable addition to our service offering, helping organizations tell stories across geographies, schedules, and budgets.

Helping clients build momentum before launch

Innovation doesn’t always mean creating something entirely new. Sometimes it means listening closely to a client’s challenge and building a solution around it.

In 2025, Loews Hotels wanted a way to generate excitement ahead of a larger storytelling campaign launch. Together, we created a new “Coming Soon” video format—a lightweight, high-impact asset designed to build anticipation and create momentum before the full campaign debuted.

Today, that format has become another tool we offer clients looking to maximize the value of their storytelling programs.

Preparing Organizations for the AI Era

Today, we’re seeing another shift in the employer brand landscape.

As organizations race to adopt AI, many are discovering a new challenge: AI systems are only as effective as the data they’re trained on. While AI can generate content at unprecedented scale, it struggles to understand the unique culture, values, and lived experiences that make one organization different from another.

Rather than viewing AI as a replacement for storytelling, we saw an opportunity to apply our expertise in a new way. Enter, Stories Data Solutions.

Through monthly human-led interviews with employees, we capture the authentic stories that define an organization’s culture, purpose, mission, and values. We then transform those stories into structured, machine-readable data that organizations can use to align their internal AI systems with the human realities of their workplace.

Just as we’ve helped employer brand leaders scale authentic storytelling for candidates, we’re now helping organizations scale and protect their culture through AI.

Best Agency Partner: Growing Alongside Our Industry

Over the past fourteen years, we’ve had the privilege of growing alongside employer brand leaders as they launched EVPs, rebuilt career sites, entered new talent markets, navigated uncertainty, adopted new technologies, and elevated the strategic importance of employer branding within their organizations.

Being recognized as Best Agency Partner is an incredible honor that we see as a reflection of the partnerships we’ve built together.

To our team, clients, storytellers, and friends across the employer branding community: thank you for helping us grow, evolve, and continue doing the work we love.