LIMITED-EDITION HARDCOVER AVAILABLE NOW

A new book from the founders of Whiteboard

Agency

The Antidote to a Culture Obsessed with Self

By Eric Brown & Taylor Jones

Limited-edition hardcover. Free shipping on all orders.

Read with a friend: 2-Pack for $30,
10-Pack: $150, Case of 24: $300

Also available on Amazon Kindle

Agency is a must read for anyone seeking to engage the joys and tensions of vocational life with wisdom and balance.

Christy Vines, President and CEO of Ideos Institute

If you are burnt out, struggling with vocational fulfillment, feeling indifferent to your work, or simply at the stage of life when you’re asking, Is this all there is? then you’ll want to read this book.

Dr. Shelley Prevost, Big Self School

Interested in living a more balanced and fulfilling life? Interested in leading with a refined purpose and ambition? Interested in clarity, self-discovery, and transformation? Then Agency is for you.

Brad Lomenick, Founder, BLINC and Author, H3 Leadership & The Catalyst Leader

Agency, a word you often hear, may hold within it a powerful finding for unlocking effectiveness and growth – in life and work.

Elizabeth Dixon, Author, Speaker, CEO Trilith Foundation and CEO Slumber Sleepwear

It’s been incredible seeing Eric and Taylor overcome obstacles to build a purposeful, people-first agency over the years, and, as Agency proves, it all starts with their mindset.

Uli Becker, Business Executive, Investor, and Former CEO, Reebok

If you’re trying to do work that has purpose, help others, be great at what you do, and accomplish your own goals and dreams—we’d love to share this book with you.

The Backstory

We started making websites in a dorm room back in 2007. In September 2010, we decided to take a chance on an idea we called “Whiteboard,” a creative agency that has since worked with over 400 organizations in more than 20 countries building solutions for Fortune 500s, scrappy startups, global non-profits, and individuals willing to take a risk on their idea. In a world rich with resources about leadership, self-help, management and marketing, we began to wrestle with the word that defines our industry: agency.

“Agency” is a word often taken for granted. A byline we glance over in an email signature. A word often associated with ego, overwork, and exploitation.

But what does agency really mean? What does it mean for us as individuals, for our work, and for our families? Can we reframe the importance of agency in our hearts and imaginations?

Wrestling with these questions has been a cornerstone to our work for nearly fifteen years. Practicing agency requires balancing tensions of purpose, expertise, advocacy, and ambition. If you’re feeling burned out, ineffective, isolated, or even vain (a common trait in an influencer-driven society)—we’d suggest that your posture of agency may be out of alignment. We know that because we’ve been there, too. More times than we can count. And we finally found our way through.

That’s what this book is all about—finding your way through the tensions of working on behalf of others to a sense of personal fulfillment and flourishing.

In this book, Agency: The Antidote to a Culture Obsessed with Self, we call these tensions the Agency Axis. We demonstrate how the antidote to burnout, ineffectiveness, isolation, and vanity is to practice agency in our lives and work.

From young professionals to seasoned CEOs, from the self-employed to those working in major enterprises, the insights in Agency resonate broadly. We hope you’ll be inspired and empowered as Agency takes you on a journey of self-discovery and transformation.

This book is more than a career guide; it’s a roadmap to living a more balanced, fulfilling life.

If you’re trying to do work that has purpose, help others, be a great at what you do, and accomplish your own goals and dreams—we’d love to share this book with you.

Limited-edition hardcover

Read with a friend: 2-Pack for $30
10-Pack: $150
Case of 24: $300

Eric and Taylor are inspiring leaders who live by their values and set an incredible example of how to care for others while honoring their convictions. In this book, they give us an honest look behind the scenes when things go south, and they provide an encouraging road map for anyone who’s struggling to achieve their vision or find balance. This book is a must-read for entrepreneurs, leaders, and anyone looking to have agency in serving others!

Ashley Jones

Founder and Executive Director, Momento Foundation

From two partners who started at the bottom, we receive an invitation to reclaim our preferred—but possibly unknown—natural state: the redemption of everyone through effort and empathy.

Blake Canterbury

Founder and CEO, Purposity

Without a vision for your careerpotential, limiting views can suck you into the status quo and hold you back.Eric Brown and Taylor Jones are here to help with Agency.

Brett Hagler

Co-founder and CEO, New Story

In Agency, my friends Eric and Taylor did everything I hoped for when they took on this project. Combining storytelling, experience, and self-reflection, they provide a practical guide that can help you become a master of your craft through the most unlikely of virtues: Empathy. As a result, Agency is a must read for anyone seeking to engage the joys and tensions of vocational life with wisdom and balance.

Christy Vines

President and CEO of Ideos Institute

Taylor and Eric have guided countless others through the complex work of aligning vocation and personal fulfillment. Both this book—and their elegant use of the Agency Axis—show us how to walk the messy tightrope between sustaining ourselves and giving to others. If you are burnt out, struggling with vocational fulfillment, feeling indifferent to your work, or simply at the stage of life when you’re asking, Is this all there is? then you’ll want to read this book.

Dr. Shelley Prevost

Big Self School

Agency, a word you often hear, may hold within it a powerful finding for unlocking effectiveness and growth – in life and work. Eric and Taylor share insights to help us all find greater meaning and connection while making a difference with our lives.

Elizabeth Dixon

Author, Speaker, CEO Trilith Foundation and CEO Slumber Sleepwear

As we devoured Eric and Taylor’s book, Agency, we were reminded of a quote by Andy Stanley:"The value of a life is always measured by how much of it is given away." This book provides a clear description of how to live that out: by being an agent, someone who advances someone else's mission. In a self-serving world, this is a concept that could literally change culture. Agency is unsettling and challenging, practical and applicable, inspirational and hopeful. We've worked alongside Eric and Taylor for years—Aro wouldn't exist without them—and we can speak firsthand that they embody every word in this book, in work and daily life. We couldn't recommend their book more highly.

Heath Wilson and Joey Odom

Co-Founders of Aro

What if I told you I just read a bookthat gave deeper meaning and language to my purpose? Well, I did. It’s this book. If you hope to help others in any way, I recommend you read it.

Jeff Shinabarger

Author of Love or Work and Founder of Plywood People

Eric and Taylor have been “behind the curtains” with prestigious brands across the country. I’ve had the privilege to watch their adept navigation of these opportunities to help leading brands and identify the impact executives have on their teams. Their gleaned insights have not only shaped their mission, leadership, and bond but are now generously shared in 'Agency.' I hope to apply more of these inspiring principles into my leadership. What if you do, too, and become an advocate for agency in your relationships?

Marija Zivanovic-Smith

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, IEX Group

This book is infused with the same spirit of service, brilliance, joy, and love that I’ve come to experience in my work with Whiteboard and my friendship with Eric and Taylor. They have taken the hard and worthwhile path of integrating their deepest values with the work they do. This book is both a testimony of their pursuit of integrity and a guide to help us follow the same path.

Michael Wear

Founder and President of the Center for Christianity and Public Life and Author of The Spirit of Our Politics

This book is about more than those who prefer to be self-employed; it describes the freedom, power, and perspective of being in control of your life and your career, no matter what job you have.Eric and Taylor explain the ways people abdicate this control . . . and the resulting effects, and they brilliantly point readers to the vision of genuine fulfillment through personal responsibility. Read this book, and give a copy to a friend. It’s transformative. 

Rudy Cline-Thomas

Founder & Managing Partner MASTRY, Inc.

In reading this book, I have two governing thoughts: First, they’re right. Eric and Taylor are naming, celebrating, and advocating for something deeply true, necessary, and too rare in this world. Second, they’re exemplary. Having watched them lead Whiteboard for a decade as a friend and client, I’ve never met anyone so cheerfully intuitive and skilled at living out this vision of agency in an organizational context. I’m grateful for them and for this manifesto of their life’s work.

Scott Kauffmann

Partner, Praxis

Eric and Taylor’s practical, experience-backed approach to becoming an agent of change in someone else’s life is a breath of fresh air. I highly recommend Agency for anyone who wants to change the heart of their career, enhance their relationships with others, or reinvent their organization.

Stephanie Harbour

Executive Coach

Many leaders in businesses and nonprofits have a vision for profit and impact, but they lack a clear vision to inspire their teams. In Agency, Taylor and Eric provide a roadmap forCEOs, presidents, and team leaders to create a dynamic culture that brings out the best in each person. If people report to you, learn from Taylor and Eric...and don’t settle for anything less.

Ted Alling

Co-Founder, Dynamo, Prep Public Schools, and Brickyard 

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If you are burnt out, struggling with vocational fulfillment, feeling indifferent to your work, or simply at the stage of life when you’re asking, Is this all there is? then you’ll want to read this book.

Dr. Shelley PrevostBig Self School

On a crowded shelf of leadership books, Agency offers fresh concepts we need in the conversation. Eric and Taylor will transform your leadership, as they are doing for me.

Jake BlandPresident and CEO, Youth For Christ USA

If you’ve ever felt stuck, discouraged, or distracted (and haven’t we all)—you are holding the answer in your hands. Agency is a pragmatic blueprint for a more fulfilling future.

Garrett GravesenWorld Traveler, Author, and Speaker

In this book, they give us an honest look behind the scenes when things go south, and they provide an encouraging roadmap for anyone who’s struggling to achieve their vision or find balance.

Ashley JonesFounder and Executive Director, Momento Foundation

In Agency, Taylor and Eric provide a roadmap for CEOs, presidents, and team leaders to create a dynamic culture that brings out the best in each person.

Ted AllingCo-Founder, Dynamo, Prep Public Schools, and Brickyard 

Having watched them lead Whiteboard for a decade as a friend and client, I’ve never met anyone so cheerfully intuitive and skilled at living out this vision of agency in an organizational context.

Scott KauffmannPartner, Praxis

If you are burnt out, struggling with vocational fulfillment, feeling indifferent to your work, or simply at the stage of life where you’re asking, Is this all there is? then you’ll want to read this book.

Dr. Shelley PrevostBig Self School

Interested in living a more balanced and fulfilling life? Interested in leading with a refined purpose and ambition? Interested in clarity, self-discovery, and transformation? Then Agency is for you.

Brad LomenickFounder, BLINC and Author, H3 Leadership & The Catalyst Leader

Without a vision for your career potential, limiting views can suck you into the status quo and hold you back. Eric Brown and Taylor Jones are here to help with Agency.

Brett HaglerCo-founder and CEO, New Story