How Hospitality Drives Client and Audience Success

I recently was invited to sit down with Matthew Hancock, Principal at Praxis Consulting Group, to reflect on and discuss the heart of CI’s work and how a renewed focus on hospitality has strengthened client partnerships. Keep reading for a deeper look at this people-first approach and the ripple effects it could have on industry growth—or watch the full conversation on YouTube.

Matthew: Before we jump into details, tell me about your career trajectory and what brought you to your role as President of CI.

Priya: I got my start in Broadway marketing and learned about CI through its annual conference, Boot Camp. My previous employer sent me to the conference, and I was so impressed by the firm that I made some connections and weaseled my way in as a digital marketing analyst back in 2016.

I spent four years at CI building my portfolio and even speaking on the Boot Camp stage—a surreal full-circle moment. Eventually, I relocated from New York to Los Angeles for a lifestyle change and stayed with CI remotely until 2020 when I took a brief hiatus to lead client services at another firm in San Diego.
In early 2021, CI’s founder Erik Gensler called me with an unexpected offer: he was ready for his next chapter and wanted me to step in as President. He convinced me to give it a try, and I came back in July of that year, and I’ve been leading the firm ever since.

Can you tell me more about your personal upbringing and journey as a leader?

Absolutely. The arts were a big part of my upbringing, starting with South Asian arts like classical Indian dance and music, and eventually transitioning to musical theater. By high school, musical theater consumed my life, which led me to pursue a degree in it at Ithaca College.

A couple of years into college, I realized the life of a performer wasn’t the stable life path I wanted. But, I was still deeply passionate about the arts and their power to change people’s perspectives and inspire more empathy and compassion in the world. So, I explored other roles in the field and ultimately found my way to Broadway marketing. Moving to New York at 22 to work for a Broadway producer felt like a dream come true. I helped open a Broadway show and even attended the Tony Awards. It was a very sparkly and exciting start to my career.

My first leadership role came during my second year at CI, where I led a team of up to six people and managed a portfolio of about 20 clients. Later, during my hiatus from CI, I stepped into a bigger leadership role as the head of client services at Raindrop. I managed a team of about 10 portfolio managers and was the go-to for handling client strategy and challenging partnership situations. That role certainly prepared me for my current position as President, but I do think I jumped over a couple more levels than I would have expected to get here.

Theater is such a great foundation for leadership. You learn teamwork, self-awareness, and how to lead yourself before leading others. How did your theater training prepare you for your role as president?

One big takeaway from my theater training was learning about my “blank canvas.” As actors, we had to understand ourselves—how we move, think, and react—before we could take on a role. That introspection taught me to recognize my own defaults as a leader and adjust them intentionally. For example, am I listening to respond, or am I listening to truly hear someone?

Being on stage also built resilience and flexibility. In live theater, anything can happen; you have to adapt in real time and be highly aware of your surroundings. That ability to think on my feet has been invaluable in leadership. And, of course, theater helped me feel comfortable in the spotlight, whether it’s speaking at our annual conference or navigating other high-visibility moments. Clear communication and staying present are skills I carry with me every day.

It’s fascinating how the different threads in our lives might seem disconnected—like theater and digital marketing—but then other times they come together and we realize how all of those experiences added up to something.

For sure. I think in conversations with new people, it’s easy to say “I went to school for musical theater” and have that not make sense. But to me, it makes perfect sense.

One of the unique things about CI is its ownership structure. Our team at Praxis started working with CI after it transitioned to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), helping to distribute your annual statements and providing context to CI staff. Can you talk about the ESOP and how it came to be?

Absolutely. CI started in our founder, Erik Gensler’s, Brooklyn apartment, driven by his passion for the arts and digital marketing. Over time, the company grew organically—initially through Erik’s network and later through the leadership team he built. This strong team was crucial in helping CI evolve to serve over 270 organizations, host an annual conference for over 600 people, and grow to nearly 100 team members at its peak.

When Erik was ready for his next chapter, he wanted a transition plan that honored both his and the team’s legacy. This led to a two-part process: identifying a new leader who could help the firm grow (which is where I stepped in) and transferring ownership in a way that preserved the company’s values and culture. After considering different options, Erik landed on an ESOP, which allows CI employees to collectively own the business through a retirement plan. It was the perfect solution to protect what makes CI special while ensuring its long-term sustainability for both the team and the industry. 

In what ways was CI’s culture already prepared to embrace employee ownership? Were there elements that needed to change to support the transition?

Many aspects of CI’s culture were already well-suited to an ESOP. First, we’ve always prioritized staff training, hiring for values-fit rather than hard skills, and investing heavily in onboarding through what we call “CIU” (Capacity Interactive University). New hires are given time to learn and grow, which fosters a strong sense of capability and alignment with our culture.

Second, transparency has long been a core focus in our culture. We very openly communicate about the company’s performance and strategic goals, helping everyone understand the business’s broader picture. This additional information comes with additional responsibility; being at the table to discuss these topics requires individuals to step up and engage deeply with topics that are far from black and white.

Finally, we cultivated autonomy and shared ownership long before becoming an ESOP. Our team is encouraged to take initiative, identify areas for growth, and lead new efforts. This approach is purposefully not top-down; instead, it is informed by frontline insights from our consultants, creates better solutions, and reinforces a culture where ownership and accountability are shared across the organization.

Business author Daniel Pink wrote that employees are usually motivated by three things: mastery, autonomy, and purpose—the chance to hone a skill, take initiative, and connect to a higher purpose. It seems like CI emphasizes all three levers, whether intentionally or not.

It’s definitely intentional. Purpose is something we actively hire for. CI isn’t just any digital marketing agency; we’re dedicated to advancing arts and culture through digital marketing. Everyone on the team is driven by that purpose in their own way, and it’s prevalent in conversations from the very beginning of someone’s journey with CI.

You’ve mentioned the role of hospitality in giving CI a competitive advantage. Could you elaborate on what hospitality means to you and how it plays a role at the firm?

The idea of hospitality really took hold for me in late 2023 after reading Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara. At its core, hospitality means delivering an exceptional experience to whoever you’re serving and making that your number one priority in every interaction. 

For our business, it means offering clients more holistic solutions and anticipating their needs before they even articulate them. It’s about deeper listening—reading between the lines or noticing side comments about the stress they’re experiencing—and figuring out how our services can help alleviate those stresses and offer solutions to all of their problems, not just the ones we’ve defined as “in scope.” Ultimately, this approach leads to better outcomes because we’re addressing clients’ actual needs, not just their assumed or prescribed ones. 

Hospitality has always been at the heart of how we consult at CI, but during the pandemic, some of that heart got covered up because we were all in panic mode. We became more reactive, responding to the urgent needs of our industry. As the sector began to recover, there remained this intense pressure to rebuild revenue and attendance, leaving both our clients and team hyper-focused on the dollars. 

Now that the landscape has stabilized (as much as we can say in a post-pandemic world), it’s harder than ever to get people off their couches and into arts institutions. With so many entertainment options and the ease of streaming, offering great art isn’t enough—organizations need to deliver exceptional experiences. We saw an opportunity to step up as strategic partners, helping clients think ahead and address these challenges. 

That’s what brought us back to this idea of hospitality: going beyond surface-level solutions to take a holistic approach to growing audiences. So early last year, we made hospitality a core focus for the firm and have continued to prioritize it. This commitment is one of our differentiators as a firm and makes the client experience the best it can be.

It sounds like there’s a parallel between how CI uses hospitality to deliver exceptional client experiences and how the industry could use it to enhance audience experiences. How are you encouraging the industry to embrace a more hospitable approach?

Last year, we made hospitality the theme of our annual conference because it’s a core focus for audience retention. We invited both industry and non-industry leaders to share perspectives on hospitality on stage, sparking conversations about making audience experiences more welcoming and memorable. 

For example, what does it mean when 80% of the audience for a show is new to the organization? Are they receiving a personalized welcome? Is there something special waiting for them, like a treat on their seat or a warm greeting from staff? When they recount their evening, are they focused on positive moments—like thoughtful touches or exceptional service—instead of frustrations like parking or venue restrictions? 

Since the conference, we’ve had a number of clients talking to their consultants about this idea of hospitality and how it intersects with marketing. It’s begun infiltrating conversations, and I hope it continues to grow and expand.

CI’s focus has always been helping arts and culture thrive. At the time of our founding, digital marketing was the biggest focus of that. Right now hospitality is key. Audience retention is a significant challenge at the moment, especially when it comes to encouraging first-time visitors to return. By prioritizing hospitality, we can foster deeper connections with audiences and build the long-term engagement needed to sustain the arts.

What are some concrete ways clients experience hospitality while working with CI?

To me, hospitality is about being adaptable and intuitive—listening closely to what clients say (and don’t say) and responding thoughtfully. It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach; it’s about reading the room, understanding the challenges they face, and finding ways to support them, even beyond the agreed scope of work.

It’s also about fostering genuine human connections. When we start a call, we don’t immediately dive into the agenda. Instead, we spend a few minutes checking in—asking how they’re doing, noting their energy, and connecting on a personal level. We celebrate milestones, like client anniversaries or renewals, to honor the relationships we’ve built over time. If a client has a birthday, we acknowledge that. 

We’re all human beings. I never want any of our clients to call us a vendor. I hate that word. We are humans interacting with one another with a shared goal. These little moments fill out the relationship and really define hospitality to me.

How do you sustain this culture of hospitality at CI, and what role does being an employee-owned company play in that?

The connection between the success of the company and the success of the employees became more direct when we became an ESOP. We all have the power to shape CI’s future, and that creates a collective responsibility and collective benefit. Hospitality plays a key role here because it sets us apart from competitors and makes working with CI feel different. This leads to long-term benefits for CI.

In terms of longevity, it’s all about repetition and connecting to the big picture. We’ve integrated hospitality into our day-to-day practices, including in our internal communications. For example, we created a Slack channel called “Thank you for your hospitality” to celebrate moments of hospitality amongst our team. It’s a small but impactful way to keep this focus alive and inspire others.

We also hold ourselves accountable by budgeting for client hospitality. This year, there’s a (small) line item dedicated to making client relationships more hospitable—and it’s up to our portfolio managers to determine how they want to use that. This reinforces the value we place on hospitality and keeps it a priority.

It sounds like leadership is important for both creating an expectation of hospitality and inspiring people around that vision. I’m also hearing the importance of hiring the right types of people, investing in their skills, and then giving them space to lean into those values in a way that’s authentic for them. 

Yes, absolutely.

I think there’s a lot of similarities between Praxis and CI in the sense that we’re both purpose-driven. You’re deeply committed to the role of the arts in the world, and we’re deeply committed to helping businesses that are sharing ownership do that more effectively so that they can have an even bigger impact on the world. And so I’ll close by saying thank you for allowing us in a small way to contribute to your ability to create a more empathic and compassionate world.

Thank you, Matt. This has been such a lovely conversation and I’m just incredibly grateful for all of the support Praxis offers Capacity and other ESOPs.