In the tech world, talented professionals only shine if their company provides space and events that encourage camaraderie among teams, and creates a standout culture that generates a deeper sense or purpose in the work. But not all cultures are alike. If you are coming to LA with dreams of being the next Brad Pitt of software developers, partnering with the right company is essential to maximizing your talent.
Built In LA caught up with employees from six different companies to ask why their company culture gets them excited to come to work each day. From mariachi bands to fitness challenges, read on to see what these tech companies do to give their teams the spotlight.
Genly helps create attainable growth for companies through an easy and scalable Growth on Demand platform. Internally, the success for growth lies in the company’s approach to prioritizing face time, sharing and shaping new ideas, and giving back to charity. Stephanie Benson, content manager, explains why Genly‘s core values make it different than other tech companies.
How is your company culture here different from what you’ve experienced at previous companies?
My previous role was in the tech space and the biggest difference is how collaborative the environment is here. The development team takes the time to sit with my team and answer any questions we have about the product on an as-needed basis. They really value our input into the technology since we are client-facing, which syncs both teams and makes our goals more aligned.
We all work hard and care so much about the success of our product, but there is also a huge sense of camaraderie and lots of opportunities to have fun together.”
How are employees empowered to help shape or participate in the office culture?
The office culture at Genly is unlike anything I’ve experienced. We all work hard and care so much about the success of our product, but there is also a huge sense of camaraderie and lots of opportunities to have fun together. We have bi-weekly company lunches which is great because it gives me the chance to get to know the co-workers that I don’t work with on a daily basis. We do a lot of really fun company outings (i.e. a very cool Star Wars VR experience). Most of us aren’t from LA, so having a work family that we trust, as cheesy as it sounds, makes living and working in LA infinitely better!
What's your favorite company tradition and/or event, and why? How did it come to be? How does it reflect your company culture as a whole?
As part of our yearly holiday celebration, we are each given the opportunity to choose a charity for Genly to send a donation on our behalf. Gratitude is one of our core values and this is a tradition that allows us all to reflect on the goodness in our lives and to be generous toward others...and it’s just a great reminder that I work with some really quality humans!
As a growing digital and creative e-commerce agency, MuteSix knows how to have fun. Head of Influencer Marketing Sarah Grosz shared with us how MuteSix makes a company of over 150 feel like an intimate party, DJ set included.
How is your company culture here different from what you’ve experienced at previous companies?
Before MuteSix, I was working with a number of different companies, all between 10-15 people strong. What I love most about MuteSix is how connected you feel working with small teams like I did before, but there’s a community of over 150 team members who I can ask for ideas or just hang out with.
I love getting together with my team outside of the office.”
What's your favorite company tradition and/or event, and why? How did it come to be? How does it reflect your company culture as a whole?
Every time someone new joins my team, I take the whole team out to dinner to celebrate and get to know each other. It’s probably my favorite team-building activity One time we saw a mariachi band play at dinner! I love getting together with my team outside of the office. It’s so fun to go see a DJ set and see one of my co-workers spin the decks!
To improve the wellness of its consumers, Golden Hippo believes in a solid marketing strategy. To improve the wellness of its office, Golden Hippo believes in open communication. Hayley Hicks, IT director, spoke with us about how Golden Hippo’s approach to information transparency makes her job more streamlined.
How is your company culture here different from what you’ve experienced at previous companies?
Golden Hippo truly values the role of technology in all aspects of the organization. Great ideas in tech are heard, tested, and adopted on a regular basis here.
Our weekly company meetings are one of my favorite traditions.”
How are employees empowered to help shape or participate in the office culture?
Employees have a direct impact on shaping our culture through weekly company-wide suggestions, frequent culture surveys, and our employees also have the wonderful opportunity to participate in making culture initiatives and events happen.
What's your favorite company tradition and/or event, and why? How did it come to be? How does it reflect your company culture as a whole?
Our weekly company meetings are one of my favorite traditions. The structure of the meeting enables information transparency across the departments. It also provides a great forum to discuss problems and solutions within the business, organization and the kitchen!
Sure, video advertising optimization is exciting, but throw in a dose of endorphins, and you’ve got a party. VideoAmp Senior Manager of Talent Julia Saidnia talks about the heart-racing ways VideoAmp encourages physical movement to promote better mental productivity.
How is your company culture here different from what you’ve experienced at previous companies?
We call ourselves Vampers and we work with pride, creativity, and passion.
Our employees are a team across all of our locations and the majority of us participate in fitness challenges, which allow us to do internal networking across all levels.”
How are employees empowered to help shape or participate in the office culture?
Teamwork is one of our values. We have access to an onsite gym with private-trainer lead classes, daily. Our employees are a team across all of our locations and the majority of us participate in fitness challenges, which allow us to do internal networking across all levels. These team-building exercises are what inspire us to get in shape together.
What's your favorite company tradition and/or event, and why? How did it come to be? How does it reflect your company culture as a whole?
Our fitness challenges! Health is another one of the values at VideoAmp and our CEO makes it easy for everyone to participate. We are constantly learning the most efficient techniques to make us feel better, boost our energy, obtain superhuman strength, etc. We also have yoga classes and massages to help us release tension. Finally, we have showers, lockers and a washer/dryer at the office to make it convenient.
As a company whose purpose is to help customers achieve financial success, Albert knows there’s also life outside the paycheck. Lead Mobile Engineer Ergin Yildiz talks to us about how company retreats and the “Albert Olympics” make him a better employee.
How is your company culture here different from what you’ve experienced at previous companies?
At Albert, we trust and value our engineers’ talent and skill sets. We want them to take responsibility and ownership of their work. We are always open if someone wants to implement a new design. Additionally, compared to my previous job I feel that everybody at Albert cares a lot about what they do. It is very easy to see this from the effort they put in and the high-quality product output. This is a fundamental part of Albert's culture — being proud of what you do so the effort you put in motivates others around you to do the same.
We have recently started a weekly meditation class for anyone to focus or relieve stress.”
How are employees empowered to help shape or participate in the office culture?
I've seen Albert grow from 10 to over 50 employees. At Albert, we always value the importance of getting together outside of work. For event organizations, we will send a questionnaire to suggest new ideas and get everyone involved. For example, we have recently started a weekly meditation class for anyone to focus or relieve stress. Another one of the events we do regularly is trivia nights, where we'll mix into teams, create fun team names and costumes, and compete with each other.
What's your favorite company tradition and/or event, and why? How did it come to be? How does it reflect your company culture as a whole?
Our company retreats! I really like the energy around going to a new place and spending a couple of days together. It's a great chance to get to know your co-workers on a deeper level. On our last retreat, we went to this private villa with a huge open space in the Coachella Valley. It had game rooms, spacious bedrooms, and an on-site chef. As a bonus, we participated in the “Albert Olympics”. Overall it was an amazing experience to play and do company orientations together.
There’s no such thing as too many shoes, and there’s no such thing as too many advancement opportunities for women. As a female-forward company, Tamara Mellon makes sure women succeed in the workplace. COO Malindi Davies weighed in.
How is your company culture here different from what you’ve experienced at previous companies?
It’s a very collaborative environment and we encourage each other to speak up and “own our voice”. Everyone has a seat at the table, even the interns, and we make it a practice to assume positive intent from one another.
We also launched Tamara Mellon University (TMU), which is a series of sessions and workshops that support our core values like financial planning, knowing your worth, and owning your health.”
How are employees empowered to help shape or participate in the office culture?
We have Slack to encourage employee participation and channels for “shoutouts”, ordering lunch and even working out together. We also launched Tamara Mellon University (TMU), which is a series of sessions and workshops that support our core values like financial planning, knowing your worth, and owning your health.
What's your favorite company tradition and/or event, and why? How did it come to be? How does it reflect your company culture as a whole?
First, our company traditions have been evolving as the team grows and as new team members bring new ideas. One of my favorite traditions is “TMBDAY”; one of two annual sales events. The whole company participates in chatting with customers during the sale and we all watch the monitor obsessively and participate in the highs and lows, hour by hour, as we look to make sales records.
