STRANGE BIRDS
Founders: Anna Hetzel (they/them) and Janel Torkington (she/her)
Industry: Marketing and Consulting
Website: www.strangebirds.land
In one sentence, how would you describe your cooperative?
Strange Birds is a marketing cooperative that specializes in helping organizations evolve without losing what’s working — or pausing growth.
What is the mission of your cooperative and what do you hope to achieve?
We are brand new baby bird cooperative. Anna ran Strange Birds on their own for nearly 6 years, with a dream to turn it into a creative cooperative someday. Since Janel joined nearly two years ago, we’ve been functioning on a cooperative basis, but hadn’t made it official. Finally, that day is here! Strange Birds is about making outstanding creative work possible by creating the right container for it. We believe the best ideas can come from anywhere, and that strategy, creation, and execution all matter equally. That’s why we practice equal pay for different creative disciplines, whether someone is developing a high-level messaging strategy or laying out a beautifully clear case study. We see our work as an ecosystem, where every piece supports the whole.
What are the types of member classes in your cooperative?
We have one member type. Strange Birds is a small cooperative; right now we plan to cap at 5 members. Members are full-time employees, with no distinction between founders and new members. We are all on a level playing field. Today, there are two of us. When we are ready to expand (and the business can support another member), we have a clear on-ramp process for a new member of the flock.
What are the benefits for individuals/businesses who become members of your coop?
Working as a co-op enables us to help good people and good organizations share their work with the world in a way that feels honest, joyful, and grounded. We deeply believe in putting humans first: building relationships over transactions, valuing care and clarity, and setting a pace that’s actually sustainable. That’s as true for our clients as it is for ourselves. We also like to think we’re pretty fun! And pretty darn strange.
How do you keep things fun and exciting for your members while still running a business?
We always find ourselves coming back to the following three questions: How might we make this more fun? How might we make this easier? How might we make this more generous? Keeping those guidelines at the heart of Strange Birds has yet to lead us down a boring, yawn-inducing path. We are fervent about our ‘humans first’ approach to running a business. If someone needs to take time off last minute because of a family need… or they just really need ice cream… they do it. We keep each other in check, reminding ourselves we’re not here to hustle. We’re here to make cool stuff with cool people. Also, we have a super nifty custom-built Notion where we do all our work. To send a project over to the other person, we just hit the 🏓 button. And the ✨ button to mark it as done. It’s the little things that count.
What challenges have you faced in running your cooperative, and how have you addressed them?
One of our biggest early challenges was figuring out how to make decisions in a way that reflected our values without grinding the business to a halt. We’re deeply inspired by the Quaker model of consensus, where decisions aren’t voted on, but reached jointly through deep listening, care, and a sense of shared clarity. It took a lot of time and conversation to land on a process that honors the spirit of consensus without sacrificing momentum! For the type of work we do, full participation is important. It’s why a voting structure didn’t make sense. We need everyone to be fully onboard to big decisions, not leaving that one person over there who voted ‘no’ in the dust. We’re building this coop not just for who we are now, but for where we want to grow in the not-too-far-off future.
What makes your cooperative stand out in terms of services/products?
There frankly aren’t enough creative marketing co-ops in the United States. That’s strange, for one. For two, Strange Birds is built to be a collective strategic brain that can adapt to how each client thinks and operates. We’re unusually collaborative, unusually fast at getting up to speed, and unusually good at the unsung parts of content, like analyzing and reshaping existing materials into something that boosts your business into its next evolution. For three, we specialize in both marketing and retention, making sure our clients maintain the balance of growth and sustainability. Most agencies specialize in one or the other. Coming at the equation from both sides helps us create even better work that creates actual lasting impact, not one-off wins.
If your cooperative had a theme song, what would it be?
We have a whole channel in our Slack dedicated to music. This question is a tricky one! Janel says it would be I Don’t Feel Like Dancing by the Scissor Sisters. Anna says it would be Red Alert – Jaxx Radio Mix by Basement Jaxx. We both say it would be Lights and Music by Cut Copy. Or Work It by Marie Davidson/Soulwax. Actually. It’d be Whoomp! There It Is by Tag Team. Obviously. (let us not forget Rasputin, the Eurovision hit by Boney M. and G. Mart)
How is your coop helping to “Build a Better World?”
Strange Birds is us putting our beliefs into action: that good business can be done differently. Shared ownership, equal pay across creative disciplines, decision-making that centers care, and a pace that’s sustainable for actual human beings. We’re building a business that reflects the world we want to live in. And we’re doing it out loud, on purpose, and together.
Each month in 2025 we will spotlight a different cooperative as part of our celebration and support for the UN’s International Year of Cooperatives.
