Arm Candy CEO John Lods explains how fully covered health insurance, paid parental leave, and mandatory rest helped the agency achieve 97 percent employee retention and zero client churn.
John Lods believes the best work inside the office can happen only when employees enjoy and experience life outside the 9-to-5. That’s why, when founding his Dallas-based media intelligence agency, Arm Candy, in 2019, he set out to find innovative ways to make the lives of his employees better.
From day one, Arm Candy has covered 100 percent of health insurance premiums for every employee and their families, even as the team has grown to 55 people, many of whom are raising young children. The company also offers 13 weeks of fully paid maternity and paternity leave. Arm Candy pairs those policies with quarterly bonuses, including a fourth-quarter bonus guaranteed within the same calendar year—an intentional departure from what Lods calls an industry habit of delaying or withholding compensation.
“One of our core values is called finding your balance,” Lods tells Inc. “It’s about getting out and experiencing the world and doing new things, because you bring that energy and happiness back inside the walls when you’re working with your clients and your people.”
That philosophy shows up most clearly in how Arm Candy handles paid time off. Unlimited PTO has become a common perk among competitive companies, but research shows employees with unlimited vacation often take less time off than those with fixed policies, driven by guilt or unspoken pressure. Lods wanted the opposite effect.
Rather than simply encouraging rest, Arm Candy requires it. Employees must take at least 15 days of PTO each year to be eligible for promotions and raises. Since rolling out the policy in 2021, employees have averaged between 22 and 25 days of PTO annually—well above both the company minimum and the private-sector national average of 11 days.
“It sounds backward to some people—like, ‘You’re forcing employees to take time off?’” Lods says. “But it’s logical. You feel the difference in the energy here, and our clients feel it too. Mandatory PTO is one of the few spontaneous decisions I’ve made that I know we got right.”
The series of decisions seems to be paying off. From 2024 to 2025, the company grew its revenue by almost 50 percent. And it is on track to finish 2026 having grown another 28 percent.
Arm Candy reinforces that commitment to rest with long-term incentives. After three years with the company, employees receive a $5,000 travel stipend. At five years, they’re granted a fully paid one-month sabbatical. Lods says he’s already thinking about what additional milestones could look like at eight years and beyond.
That investment in employee well-being has translated into measurable business outcomes. In 2025, Arm Candy achieved 97 percent employee retention. The stability has benefited clients as well: Last year, the firm reported zero account turnover and 100 percent client retention, including long-standing relationships with brands such as the CiCi’s Pizza franchise.
Lods views benefits such as fully covered health insurance and paid parental leave as foundational systems that allow employees to do their best work over the long haul. “When people don’t have to worry about health care costs or rushing back to work too soon after having a child, they can actually focus,” he says. “That security compounds over time.”
For Lods, the connection between culture and performance is straightforward. “Culture makes a difference in your business, and it makes a difference in your people,” he says. “The fact that our employees want to be here—that they’re rested, supported, and invested—that’s the real competitive advantage.”