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Black Propeller

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Black Propeller Reviews

3.8

58% would recommend to a friend

(16 total reviews)

John Thornton

61% approve of CEO

40% positive business outlook

Black Propeller has an employee rating of 3.8 out of 5 stars, based on 16 company reviews on Glassdoor which indicates that most employees have a good working experience there. The Black Propeller employee rating is in line with the average (within 1 standard deviation) for employers within the Media and communication industry (3.7 stars).

Reviews by job title

16 reviews
1.0
24 June 2021

Does not care about you at all

Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

- A ping pong table!!!!! - Good way to learn and gain experience since you wear many hats AKA a great stepping stone to a better job. - Will form a great relationship with coworkers from bonding over how terrible management is.

Cons

- Absolutely horrible management. There is zero communication, support, leadership or resources. Will say one thing and do the complete opposite and will tell you to "google" everything if you have a question. Accounts and job titles change constantly - transitions are very unsmooth and are most of the time not even communicated. Management has no clue what they're doing but you will be the one at fault. - Micro-managing to the extreme. Will listen in on all your client calls and will slack message you what to say while you're trying to talk to a client. Will also constantly ask for updates on tasks until it is completed and will message you if you don't respond within 5 minutes. - Shady business conducted and cash accepted under the table. - Has violated their non-compete policy. - Very low salaries, unfair bonuses and no work-life balance - everyone is overworked and underpaid. - No respect or team environment. Will throw you under the bus to clients for something that was not your fault. - Dismisses or completely denies any concerns brought to attention. - Constant cycle of client and employee turnover. There's a reason they're a small agency.

1.0
21 Jan 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

There are still a few great people here. But outside of that, read the cons.

Cons

Black propeller used to be a great agency. A local, mid-sized agency that prided itself upon how they treated their employees and serviced their clients. Unfortunately I didn’t work there during those times. This was all until the agency was acquired by an Indian AI company, named Pixis. Pixis started by forcing their awful AI product into all of the clients ad campaigns and the result was terrible. The AI literally ruined so many campaigns that managers quietly removed the AI from the campaigns and Pixis already was planning their next product launch. The founder/CEO of Black Propeller stepped down in which a new CEO stepped in that let Pixis walk all over everyone and everything. From there, people were denied raises, denied promotions, were forced to offshore all account work to their team in India, and everything black propeller was known for, was gone. Pixis then went on to layoff half the company. The culture crumbled and then managers, department heads, directors, and coordinators began to leave every week. The agency now only has a few “OGs” left who are all awesome. The company is now fully ran by a couple people from Pixis who actually surprise everyone on how out of touch they are and how many simply bad business decisions they make. Do not be fooled by the pictures on the website. 75% of those people are gone. You will be forced to manage dozens of clients while relying on the offshore team to do the work.

5.0
13 Oct 2021
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

John Thornton, owner and founder, was willing to take a chance and invest in me. I was fresh out of college with many ideas and information but I lacked experience. During my time at Black Propeller I was able to receive multiple certifications and attend training classes. I worked with clients in a variety of locations and industries. I learned to make a client successful in a various ad spend brackets. My time at Black Propeller was filled with opportunities to learn and grow. I definitely miss the flexibility and opportunity to try new things and grow in exciting ways.

Cons

Some of those opportunities to grow can be uncomfortable. There were times I didn't feel like I had the right answers or the knowledge to move forward in certain situations. The company was in the early stages of growth and development. There will always be growing pains as a company grows, finds their niche, and improves the services it offers. The work load was also a little much at times. The rapid growth we saw during my time meant that each of the staff members was overloaded.

Viewing 1 - 3 of 16 Reviews

Glassdoor has 17 Black Propeller reviews submitted anonymously by Black Propeller employees. Read employee reviews and ratings on Glassdoor to decide if Black Propeller is right for you.