Every morning at 9 am, Bhargava Chiluveru, CEO and Creative Director of Chil & Co., strikes a gong and says something like "Avengers, assemble!" or "Go, go, Power Rangers!"

Within seconds, the whole creative team comes running into the main meeting room for standup. But here’s the catch: No one physically moves. It all happens inside their virtual Gather office. There’s no commute, no meeting links or scheduling. It all happens naturally, remotely. 

A close-up view of the Chil & Co. team in a meeting room for morning standup.

It may sound like a silly habit, but for Bhargava, it’s an important ritual that sets the tone for the rest of the day. 

“Work should be fun. People should enjoy their jobs, even when they’re working from home. Gather solves a lot of that for us.”
Bhargava Chiluveru, CEO & Creative Director of Chil & Co.

Meet Chil & Co., an award-winning creative agency

Chil & Co. is an Atlanta-based creative agency that offers strategy, social, design, photo, and video. Bhargava started it 13 years ago with a simple belief: creativity thrives when people are in the same room. He built a local team of freelancers and a 3,300-square-foot studio to match.

That belief held strong for several years, but then COVID hit, and Bhargava had no choice but to adapt his agency to remote work. 

Zoom became the first “virtual office,” but the team never loved it

The team set up Zoom rooms, and labeled them like a real office: one for design, one for each department, one for standups. It worked, for a while.

“We had virtual rooms on Zoom, but when nobody was in a call, it felt like staring into a void. Everyone was tired of being on Zoom.”
Bhargava Chiluveru, CEO & Creative Director of Chil & Co.

Chil & Co. moves fast, and when designers or videographers need feedback, scheduling links or long Slack threads can really disrupt creative flow. The team’s number one complaint was Zoom fatigue. 

At the same time, however, they really came to appreciate the flexibility of remote work. Bhargava didn’t necessarily want to return to the studio full-time, but wanted a way to bring in-person collaboration and energy to their remote setup. 

Enter Gather: The best of in-person and remote work

When Bhargava discovered Gather virtual offices in November 2025, his first reaction was, “This is exactly what I wanted. This is exactly what my agency needs."

A full look at Chil & Co.'s virtual office on Gather. The team is in a meeting room for the morning standup.

Chil & Co. started their free trial, and Gather was an instant hit. The creative team dove in first and immediately began customizing their avatars, desks, and the virtual office. The operations team was a little hesitant, but once they got in and started talking to people, they felt the difference. 

“My team immediately loved Gather. It just felt lively, like it had character. Being able to just walk to somebody’s desk or Wave at them feels really good.”
Bhargava Chiluveru, CEO & Creative Director of Chil & Co.

The biggest shift was in how feedback happens. Instead of scheduling a meeting or untangling a long message thread, the creative team simply walks up to each other in Gather to review work on the spot. 

Quick questions stay quick: 70% of Chil & Co.’s Gather conversations are under 10 minutes, and the typical one lasts about 4.

Culture you can walk through

You can tell a lot about a team based on their workplace, and virtual headquarters are no different. 

At Chil & Co., everyone has a personalized office. Bhargava's has a pirate flag and a basketball. Tolli, the Operations Manager, keeps it simple with a welcoming yellow couch and fish tank. Dana, a Senior Creative Project Manager, turned her office into a plant lover's paradise.

Three examples of personal office rooms, originally shared on Chil & Co.'s LinkedIn page.

The team even created their real-life Studio in Gather, so whenever their studio manager is physically on set, he also sits in the Gather studio, so everyone knows where he is without a single “Where’s Jordan?” message. 

A side-by-side view of Chil & Co's in-person studio in Atlanta and their virtual studio in Gather.

And this time of year, you’ll find plenty of Halloween decorations around their office. They often redecorate for the season and enjoy making the space their own. 

A coworking area in the middle of Chil & Co.'s virtual office, decorated for fall with pumpkins, hay bales, and a scarecrow.

How a hybrid agency actually works

Today, Chil & Co. is about 20 people (designers, project managers, operations, and the video team) who all work together in Gather day to day. They don’t treat their virtual office as a replacement for in-person time, however. Bhargava’s goal is to get the full team together twice a month in person, typically for team-building and social activities. 

That includes activities like: 

• A monthly team breakfast for announcements and awards

• Happy hours and team outings

• Studio shoots and client meetings

• Open coworking in the studio 

This gives their agency the perfect balance: meaningful in-person time with Gather as their everyday headquarters for more natural remote collaboration. 

The Agency Team area in Chil & Co.'s virtual Gather office. Everyone has their own unique desk, including more Halloween decorations for the season.

Brainstorm, iterate, iterate, iterate

Agencies can sometimes fall into a “production line” trap, where work moves from copy to design to video in a very isolated way. Bhargava is very intentional about NOT operating like that; for him, rapid collaboration is critical to the creative process. 

“For an agency to be effective, we have to turn art into a scientific process. Thanks to Gather, we’ve been able to do that remotely without feeling isolated. We can brainstorm, then iterate, iterate, iterate, without scheduling every single review.”
Bhargava Chiluveru, CEO & Creative Director of Chil & Co.

Put an end to Zoom fatigue

Bhargava built Chil & Co. on a simple belief: creativity thrives when people are in the same room. Zoom rooms got the team through the early remote years, but they grew exhausted from staring at a lifeless video grid.

In Gather, the room is virtual, but it works like the real thing. Your team is always near, feedback is a Wave away, and the typical conversation lasts less than 10 minutes. 

Chil & Co. never gave up on being in the same room. They just made it possible to be creative together from anywhere.

Ready to bring your team into the same room? Start a free 30-day trial of Gather.