Category: Agency

Published in August 2025

Block Club co-founder and CEO Patrick Finan finds balance in Brooklyn’s rhythm. When he’s not playing host or taking the scenic route home from work, he’s likely planning his next strategic move for the agency he’s grown over 18 years. In this installment of 37 Questions, a humble nod to Vogue’s 73, he shares insights on everything from his summer reading list to how Block Club became the go-to branding agency for B2B tech companies.

1. What’s the first thing you thought about when you woke up today?

   That I need to find out what’s going to happen next in the book I’m reading.

2. What are you reading right now?

   It’s a perfect summer read about the family of an eccentric tech billionaire who’s recently passed away and what happens when they all get back together on the family’s private island in Narragansett Bay. It’s very Succession-coded.

3. Are you more of a beach reader or a park bench reader?

   Park bench. I get too distracted at the beach.

4. What’s your favorite park in Brooklyn?

   In my neighborhood, Domino Park. But catching the ferry and going to Brooklyn Bridge Park is a close second.

5. What’s your go-to way to decompress after a long day of agency work?

   I love my walk home from work for that reason.

6. How long is your walk, and do you have a favorite route?

   It’s about 25 minutes, and I tend to weave a new-ish route to and from work every day, unless I need to go to the grocery store on the way home.

7. What’s your latest grocery store discovery that you’re excited to cook with?

   I love to cook, and it’s not so much the latest grocery store discovery for me. It’s the tomatoes, eggplant, beans, peppers, berries, peaches. We’re in the throes of summer. It’s all so good right now!

8. What’s the most memorable dish you’ve made this summer?

   I just had a bunch of friends over for dinner on my roof, and I made a huge Niçoise salad with produce from the farmers market and blistered cherry tomatoes served over labneh with grilled bread.

9. How do you balance being a CEO with making time for things like hosting friends and cooking elaborate meals?

   Sometimes I have more free time, sometimes I have less. I have a lot of work this summer, and I can’t take a long summer vacation, so I prioritize things at home that bring me joy, like hosting friends and cooking. I’ve been a part of Block Club (or, Block Club’s been a part of me) for 18 years. Things only last that long if you can find balance.

10. What’s changed the most about Block Club since you started?

    Everything! Before we were a remote agency (with offices in Brooklyn) focused solely on B2B tech companies, we were a generalist agency based in Buffalo, and before that we weren’t even an agency. We started as a magazine way back in 2007.

11. What prompted the move from Buffalo to Brooklyn?

    Personally, I wanted a change. Professionally, a lot of our clients are based in NYC.

12. What do you miss most about Buffalo?

    Summers in Buffalo are close to perfect.

13. How would you describe a Brooklyn summer to someone who’s never experienced one?

    Sweaty. Summer in NYC feels a bit lawless and feral, in all the best ways.

14. What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken with Block Club that paid off?

    In 2020, we shifted the entire focus of our agency to B2B tech, knowing that we could become the best branding and content agency for B2B tech companies. It’s paid off in major ways. But shifting away from paying customers in other industries so you can put all your focus into one vertical is scary. I have a lot of friends with agencies who have been advised to specialize, and they’re too nervous to make that change. It’s one of the best professional decisions I’ve ever made.

15. What was the moment you knew the focus on B2B tech was working?

    It started in the late 2010s before it was our sole focus. We kept winning new work with fast-growing B2B tech companies based on our track record with companies they admired. It was exciting. As we got better and better, we looked at the opportunity in front of us and determined that this would be best for our clients and our team.

16. What’s a piece of work from that era that you’re still particularly proud of?

    I don’t know if there’s a particular piece of work to call out — rather it was the collective body of work that we were producing. And I’m proud that we recognized the opportunity to focus our expertise. There was a moment when we were just like, let’s do this!

17. What’s the most challenging part of being a CEO that people don’t usually talk about?

    I believe in servant leadership management, where I’m supporting my team, and they’re supporting our clients. I never wanted Block Club to be a cult of personality, where everyone just says yes to what I want and puts me first. Clients are first, then the team, then me. Sometimes it’s challenging to make time for everyone, to make sure that everyone is satisfied, and to keep the business moving forward. It can be difficult, but it’s also the reason I love my job. It keeps things interesting!

18. What habit or routine helps you stay grounded when work gets overwhelming?

    Prioritizing what needs to get done versus what I’d like to get done. Also, making a list on Sunday that outlines what I need and want to get done that week. And then doing that same thing at the end of each day, so it’s ready for the start of the next day. I show up ready for work and knowing what I need to do.

19. Do you do your Sunday planning in a specific spot, or is it more flexible?

    Flexible. If the week isn’t super busy, I’ll do it on Friday so it’s ready for the following week.

20. What’s one thing that’s always on your “want to do” list but rarely makes it to “need to do”?

    The list is too long to share! Haha!

21. What’s something you’ve been putting off that you’re actually excited about tackling?

    We’re launching a cool new project where we talk to marketing leaders at B2B tech companies about the importance of brand as AI flattens product feature differentiation. We think that brand is going to become more and more important for companies as it becomes easier to copy the features that are typically the backbone of GTM strategies. These conversations are going to be shared in a variety of mediums. It’s been fun to chat with so many smart people and hear their thoughts on the subject and how that’s informing their marketing strategies.

22. How do you decide which new projects Block Club takes on versus which ones to pass on?

    It’s all chemistry and capabilities. Is there the right fit between teams? And are we the best equipped team to help the client?

23. What’s your gut usually telling you in the first client meeting—can you sense the chemistry right away?

    Sometimes! But first meetings can be more surface-level. It’s usually in the discovery meeting when you can really start to sense the chemistry, the back-and-forth, the flow. We want to make sure it’s mutual, too!

24. What excites you most about where Block Club is headed in the next year?

    I’m rolling my eyes at myself a bit as I type this, but everything. This has been such an exciting year for the agency in terms of how we’re collaborating, how we’re pushing ourselves to do more consequential work, how we’re using AI. This is a transformational time for agencies and I want to come out on the other side with Block Club as the definitive leading brand and content agency for B2B tech companies.

25. How are you and your team experimenting with AI in your work?

    We’ve got an AI training curriculum that the whole team participates in. Each department has their AI tech stack mapped out. And we’ve rebuilt our org chart with AI in every department.

26. What’s been the biggest surprise about implementing AI across the agency?

    The excitement that comes from not stagnating. Things are changing for every person on a very regular basis. We’re moving faster, collaborating better. And at times you can feel like a superhuman. It’s allowed us to think about where we should be spending our human time and energy versus what a machine can do. And it’s getting us in the habit of constantly reevaluating that as things change so fast.

27. What’s something you thought AI would be great at that turned out to still need that human touch?

    Hmm, I didn’t think AI would be great at it, but I thought AI might help with some of the time required in managing relationships. Our business is very consultative and while AI can summarize meeting notes and generate a list of to-dos, it doesn’t take the place of the human-to-human relationships that are critical when you’re convincing a company to change its position, or launch a new campaign, or rebrand. AI can help back you up, but selling those ideas takes time and takes a very human relationship.

28. What’s a recent example of when that human relationship made all the difference in a project?

    It’s not a single project, it’s all of them.

29. What quality do you look for when hiring someone who will be great at building those client relationships?

    Baseline: You’ve got to love working with people, and you’ve got to love the work that we do — and be good at it! You’ve got to be curious and interested, you’ve got to be someone who likes solving problems, and you’ve got to be okay with chaos. We’re a very organized company but the work can be chaotic. Companies are hiring us to solve complex problems. It’s not always smooth sailing.

30. How do you personally recharge when the chaos gets to be too much?

    I usually stay pretty calm when everyone else is freaking out (and then I’ll freak out later). But a walk always helps!

31. Where’s your favorite place to walk when you need to clear your head?

    Along the water is always nice. The East River is close to my apartment.

32. If you could have dinner with any entrepreneur, who would it be and what would you ask them?

    Jane Fonda in 1982, right after Jane Fonda’s Workout launched. She changed the fitness industry in a huge way. I’d like to talk to her about how she decides which lamé jump suit to wear and how she picks the music in her videos. And then maybe she can show me a move or two!

33. What’s your own workout routine like these days?

    Weightlifting and bootcamp a few days a week. I like it!

34. What words do you live by?

    Life is for living.

35. What’s the best thing someone on your team said to you recently?

    That they love the people they work with

36. What’s your favorite thing to cook for yourself when no one else is around?

    An omelette. I’m not afraid to break a few eggs to make something good.

37. What’s one thing you know now that you wish you’d known when you started Block Club 18 years ago?

    Good things take time.

Updated in April 2025

As Block Club’s director of strategy, Caitlin Hartney can clarify complex ideas, draw out the story within any piece of content, and, if necessary, power-walk her way through a meeting. A historian by training and a writer at heart, she’s spent the past seven years shaping stories in fintech—starting with Plaid and now leading strategy at Block Club.

In this edition of 37 Questions, a humble nod to Vogue’s 73, Caitlin reflects on childhood idols, the podcasts she can’t stop listening to, and her relentless quest for a higher step count. She shares her love of history, her secret vice (a perfectly crisp Diet Coke), and her other secret vice (Love is Blind). Read on to get to know Caitlin—including her forever-favorite bakery and why her retirement plan involves a shovel, brush, and shaking screen.

1. Who were your childhood idols?

   Jo March and Jane Goodall

2. What about them inspired you?

   I guess I like a woman who does her own thing.

3. How did their influence shape your values or aspirations?

   I think they made me eager to buck expectations, and they made me want to do big, important work. I also went to college and lived in New York City for a while, which may or may not have been subconsciously influenced by Jo.

4. What books were formative for you growing up?

   Jane Eyre

5. What inspires you?

   Good long-form journalism

6. When you have writer’s block, who or what do you turn to to get unstuck?

   I think time is the cure. So, when I’m stuck, I stop and make a plan to get back at it another time, usually before dawn, when my family is still asleep, and my mind is clearest. 

7. How do you know when a body of writing is finished?

   When it’s due. Otherwise, it’s a work in progress.

8. Aside from writing, how do you creatively express yourself?

   I don’t have another medium. Writing has always been my outlet. I used to practice it in all sorts of forms outside of work—but these days, my time is more constrained, so my writing is strictly professional.

9. Do you have a favorite podcast, book, or TV series?

   I’ve become a Criminal junkie. It’s a remarkably well done true crime podcast that teaches you as much about the justice/injustice system, human nature, and society as it does the individual crime events at the center of each episode. The once-aspiring historian in me especially loves the stories set in bygone eras. 

10. Do you have a routine you’re adamant about keeping up?

    I walk as much as possible. I probably take 80% of my internal meetings doing laps around my neighborhood. Topping last year’s average daily steps is a minor obsession of mine.

11. How long have you written for fintech?

    For seven years at the time of publication. I cut my teeth with Plaid.

12. Can you share a pivotal moment that led you to your current role as director of strategy at Block Club?

    Before becoming a director, I was Block Club’s only copywriter and content strategist. The inflection point came when we consistently had more work and more opportunity than I could feasibly do on my own. It was clear we needed a team, and I was charged with building it.

13. Do you have a favorite Block Club memory?

    Dare I say, I have some nostalgia for our in-office days? Don’t get me wrong, I prefer working remotely. But I also fondly remember the social benefits of being together in person.

14. What did you study in school?

    History and politics at the undergraduate level and history at the graduate level

15. How has your past education or academic background influenced your career?

    Completing an advanced degree program honed my ability to parse complex materials and subject matter, reach astute conclusions, and build clear arguments, and nothing serves a writer/strategist better.

16. What would be your career in an alternate universe?

    Public historian, long-form journalist, or archaeologist. In retirement, I plan to volunteer for digs in the UK to scratch the last of those three itches.

17. If you could have a dinner party with anyone, who would you invite?

    My maternal grandparents passed away before I was old enough to really appreciate what I could learn from them if I took the time. I would take a couple hours with them in a heartbeat. 

18. What brings you joy?

    My three-year-old daughter, in all her unfiltered, precocious glory

19. What brings you contentment?

    A clean home. So, I am content for about 5 minutes a month. 🙃

20. What is the best book you read this year?

    I loved North Woods by Daniel Mason. If the history of place is at all interesting to you, it’s a must-read.

21. What’s a fun fact about you?

    About 20 years ago, I was one of those normal people selected off the street to appear in a fashion magazine feature about dressing for your body type. (Anyone remember Lucky?)

22. If you could have any superpower for a day, what would it be and how would you use it?

    What superpower would you need to stop the world from hurdling toward destruction? 

23. Do you have any pets? Tell us about them.

    I have a German shephard/shar-pei mix named Maya, and she owns me.

24. What makes you laugh?

    When it’s past my bedtime, and the fatigue-inspired delirium has set in, and I am unwisely scrolling though reels on social media, videos of dogs doing silly things make me giggle out loud.

25. What makes you nervous?

    Public speaking

26. What’s something you’re bad at?

    Folding laundry

27. Do you have any vices?

    A cold, crisp Diet Coke from the can, no ice. These days, it’s a once in a while treat.

28. What’s your favorite place to eat?

    I first knew I’d spend the rest of my life with my husband (then boyfriend) while we were eating jam- and butter-filled biscuits at Tandem Bakery in Portland, Maine. So, that place will always be special to me.

29. Where is your favorite place in the world?

    Paris

30. Who should everyone be following on social media?

    Blakely Thornton and Merriam-Webster, both on Instagram

31. What are you proud of?

    My daughter, who is shaping up to be the most extraordinary human, in my totally biased opinion

32. What is the last thing you googled?

    “kids manicures williamsville”

33. Where do you do your best thinking

    On long walks

34. Have you binged any good shows lately?

    Only if you consider Love Is Blind “good”

35. What is something you’d like to accomplish that is outlandish yet feasible in this lifetime?

    That big, important work I aspired to as a child? I would still like to have that under my belt.

36. What are your goals for the next few years?

    Make it out alive with at least some of our rights still intact. Call me an optimist.

37. What’s your impression of yourself after reading this interview?

    I am the elderliest of millennials.

If you contact Block Club any time after, say, 6 p.m. on December 23, you shouldn’t expect a response until the following year.

It’s not that we don’t care about your e-mail/phone call/Facebook message; we do! We just won’t be around to field it. Not a single one of us.

That’s because Block Club completely shuts down between the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, with full pay for every team member.

To an outsider, that may just seem like a nice company perk. But really, it is a rational business move. Here’s why.

Creativity and productivity demand downtime.

As designers, writers, and strategists at a busy branding and strategy agency, we’re obligated to flex our creative muscle all day, every day. But studies show that placing that sort of demand on our brains isn’t conducive to optimal output. Like your quads, hamstrings, or any other major muscle group, our grey matter becomes stressed and fatigued with exercise. Without recovery or restoration, cognitive performance, especially as it relates to problem-solving, declines—sometimes dramatically.

According to experts, time off in the form of short breaks and long vacations fuels creativity and focus and replenishes our willingness to work, which can lead to success. Just how and why is a matter of intensive research, with many pointing to our brains’ default mode network (DMN)—a synchronous communication circuit between disparate brain regions that seems to fire when we are at rest—as the cause. According to research, as reported in Scientific American, “the mind obliquely solves tough problems” while engaged in DMN-mechanized daydreaming, and the network is especially active in creative people. If you’ve ever had an ah-ha moment in the shower, you can probably thank your DMN.

Standard PTO isn’t actually downtime.

You could argue that a generous allotment of paid time off would provide staff ample opportunity to break away and engage in some extended DMN action. But the reality of PTO is that it’s stressful unto itself. Getting ahead of your work in anticipation of your departure and then catching up on missed work upon your return requires seemingly as many hours in overtime as you took off in the first place. And let’s not forget the propensity to check our email and fret about the workload waiting for us while we are supposed to be relaxing.

When you shut down the office and everyone has off at once, you mitigate that problem. There are no compiling tasks or convoluted email chains to catch up on when you return. It’s time away uncompromised.

It supports our company vision.

At the outset of 2018, we wrote a five-year company vision. In that vision, we aspire to continual improvement and providing a great workplace for our team (among other things). In service of those goals, Block Club is committed to fostering employees’ opportunities to develop and have new experiences outside of the office, so we can all stay fresh and informed.

One way we do this is through our Residency Program, which sends employees to live abroad for 6 to 8 weeks at a time. Our holiday break is another. With so many uncompromised days off, people have additional incentive to experience something new. For some members of our team, that experience will take the form of travel; others of us will devote the time to our hobbies, passions, and activities of wellness, contemplation, and introspection that build competence, buffer stress, and otherwise satisfy our psychological needs. If all goes according to plan, each of us will return in 2020 better—that is, happier, energized, sounder of mind and body, and with new perspectives to apply to our ever-improving body of work.

It’s not for everyone, but it could work for you.

We recognize that shutting down for an extended period isn’t a viable option for every company. We have the luxury of being small and nimble (not that some large companies don’t do the same thing). It also helps that much of the work we do requires approval and feedback from decision-makers at client organizations who, themselves, are out of the office during the same period. Once upon a time, when we were open between the holidays, projects would inevitably stall, and productivity would slow, tipping the balance further toward closing.

For the most part, our clients are very understanding of our decision to go off grid temporarily, and there are always special circumstances that require us to relax the absolutely-no-work policy we try to instate. In instances where work we perform can’t go completely on hold—social media management, for example—we do take measures to ensure continuity of service. And in cases of dire branding emergency, one of us will jump back online to address the problem or concern. But those instances are very rare.

Assuming your organization doesn’t provide a critical service, you might likewise find that the benefits of closing between the holidays outweigh the costs. What’s more, we suspect you and your business might be better for it.

A cloudless summer sky.
Deep Caribbean waters.
Smurfs.

These are just some of the pleasing images that come to mind when we think of saturated hues of blue. But which tints are preferred by the Block Club team? We reveal our favorite Pantone shades of blue. Which one’s your fave?

“Growing up there was this one house we use to drive by that was this bright shade of blue, similar to Pantone 2382 C. It was the only house on the street painted a bright color. The rest of the houses were plain white or colors that had no character to them. This blue house had nothing else special about it, just a particular bright shade of blue that made me happy.” – Tim, designer

“This isn’t my personal favorite slice of the spectrum here since these types of colors always feel like boring corporate America to me. However, I’ve recently been learning to love blues from studying classic French signage and packaging. That being said, my favorite is Pantone 7461-U because it is a bit more gray, more natural, reminds me of fancy china or a rich sky blue sky (credit to Jeff Tweedy).” – Ryan, designer

“I’m going towards the darker end of the spectrum and picking Pantone 2726 C. It reminds me of my favorite grape-scented Mr. Sketch marker I used in art class in elementary school. You know, before I moved on to the hard stuff like licorice and cinnamon.” – Pat, brand manager

“My pick is Pantone 2172 XGC, which mirrors this recent lovely 4-star rated day from the Awl’s “Weather Review” column. I started reading these bizarre, little slice of life / little-slice-of-apple-baked-into-the-hot-summer-sidewalk weather reviews a year ago and just can’t quit. ” – Margaret, brand strategist

“I like Pantone P 112-7 C. It reminds me of the water at this crazy beautiful shallow beach I love in Puerto Rico called Playa Sucia (“Dirty Beach,” yes). I’ve been daydreaming about it a lot lately during these stifling strings of 90+ degree days.” – Julie, designer

“I’m drawn to the Mediterranean tones of Pantone 2935-C. I visited Spain about 20 years ago and saw so many beautiful blues there, no doubt inspired by the sea. The famous Spanish tiles had this kind of dark, warm blue, too. Such a beautiful color.” – Ben, content strategist

“Pantone 2192 C for me. My grandparents had a set of children’s utensils in this color when I was younger. I really loved the color and design of them and have a ton of great memories sitting around the dinner table using them to eat my grandmother’s delicious food.” – Steve, brand manager

“I’m going with Pantone 2195U. As far as blues go, it’s the most amazing blue. We’ve had some of the worst blues this country has ever seen for eight years. When I am President, we’ll have the best blues, reds and greens, and only I can get them. Trust me.” – Dave, director of business development

April can be a depressing month outside, as we curse gray skies in hopes of sunnier spring days. But gray can be a beautiful color, too, so to kick off a new blog series the team is sharing their favorite shade of gray from Pantone for some neutral inspiration.

“Warm Gray 7 is incredibly close to a shade of paint I used in one of my previous apartments. It was a shape-shifting gray that seemed to change from purple to brown to gray as the sun moved throughout the day. It’s cozy and calming, and I will definitely use it in my next home.” – Pat, brand manager

“Cool Gray 8 is the color of my cat, Aggy, recently renamed Gray Phillip. It is also the color of my room if it is very late afternoon and a thunderstorm rolls through.” – Julie, designer

“I really enjoy Cool Gray 8, too—nice and stormy, but with a slight, green hope of spring.” – Margaret, brand strategist

“My pick would be Cool Gray 1 because it’s probably the lightest tint of gray in the bunch and I’m always amazed by how effective even the lightest weakest gray can be, especially with web and interface design (not that you would use PMS colors for web design but that’s outside of the point). When I see a subtle gray used in good interface design, it always surprises me just how to close to white it actually is, yet the eye really responds strongly to it in an almost subconscious way.” – Ryan, designer

“This Folkestone Gray (18-3910 TXC) makes me smile. My favorite grays remind me of natural blues, found in stones and near the water. Slate shades take me to the beach, where I am always happy.” – Ben, content strategist

“Cool Gray 6 is my favorite. Gray is my favorite color in general, and this color reminds me of my favorite pair of Nike sneakers that I owned back in the day.” – Steve, brand manager

“Cool Gray 11 is about as dark as Pantone grays go and it’s very close to the gray we’re using in our wedding stationery.” – Brandon, creative director