A new hire should be able to tell if a company has a strong culture by their second day on the job. We say the second day because realistically, day one is filled with getting answers to questions like, “Where is the bathroom,” and, “How do I log into my email?” Regardless of the time it takes to get settled, the impact of a company’s culture should become apparent to a new joiner once they start working.
Take Stephanie Cho, for example. Cho didn’t have to wait long after arriving at SimplePractice to see how the company’s value “make an impact” would affect her work. Cho, VP of product marketing, market research and monetization, joined the healthtech company after spending years in the slow-moving corporate world and said she was surprised — “in the best way” — by how fast things happened at SimplePractice.
“I was able to join in and help shape the future strategy and direction of our organization almost right away, which was incredibly exciting and fulfilling,” Cho said.
The full benefits of SimplePractice’s culture aren’t just reserved for employees with tenure, and the same is true for the three other Los Angeles tech companies featured here. Continue reading to hear from employees at each about their earliest experiences with their company’s culture.
Therapists, nutritionists, chiropractors and more healthcare professionals use SimplePractice’s care management software to handle everything from scheduling appointments to billing and implementing telehealth services.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about SimplePractice’s culture?
As a newbie to SimplePractice back in the spring of 2022, what stood out to me was the ability to make an immediate impact. Coming from working in large, behemoth organizations, I thought things would move more quickly here. I underestimated the sheer velocity I was met with — in the best way possible. I was able to join in and help shape the future strategy and direction of our organization almost right away, which was incredibly exciting and fulfilling.
This opportunity for internal impact directly connects to the external impact we hope to make, to simplify the world of people driven to help others or themselves so they can focus on giving and receiving quality care.
I was able to join in and help shape the future strategy and direction of our organization almost right away.”
How long have you been with SimplePractice, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I’ve been with SimplePractice for just over a year, and in that time I have experienced tremendous professional growth. While everyone has clear areas of responsibility, the collaborative culture coupled with the size and scale of our organization allows people to work extremely cross-functionally and naturally fosters deep peer-to-peer connections. I’ve learned an incredible amount from each and every person I interact with and I’ve had the opportunity to lean in and help shape areas of the business that interest me.
To help put this into perspective, the amount of growth I’ve experienced in just the past year here is similar to the growth I experienced in three or four years in prior organizations. And that’s just the start. The potential to grow here feels limitless.
Reformation is a fashion company focused on sustainability that produces dresses, shoes, jeans and more.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about Reformation’s culture?
I started with Reformation a year ago after close to 10 years of working at big multinational corporations. Yet, the Reformation team is the first I’ve been a part of that is committed to investing in people and staffing in order to achieve our ambitious goals. I am still surprised when our hard work is wholeheartedly recognized by the leadership team and when I am asked by my manager if I need any additional support to achieve my objectives. For the first time I know I have a whole team behind me.
Reformation team is the first I’ve been a part of that is committed to investing in people and staffing in order to achieve our ambitious goals.”
What’s the coolest project you’ve worked on recently, and what skills did it help you develop?
I had the chance to join the team a few weeks after we replatformed to Salesforce. I was part of the massive push to make the most out of this new platform in order to maximize our conversion rate. While being a steep learning curve for everyone, we designed an agile roadmap that enabled us to sustain growth, even in this tough context. Because I was there since the launch, I was able to move the needle on a number of KPIs and became more efficient at delivering impactful features for the business.
Consensus Cloud Solutions develops software for regulated industries that leverages natural language processing, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation to help teams work more efficiently.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about Consensus Cloud Solutions’ culture?
The thing that stood out was Consensus’ culture of innovation and, well, consensus. We have a business and technical direction that are compatible, and we work together to achieve the goals that are put before us. Consensus is a dynamic place to work, with new initiatives constantly being developed to improve our existing products and build new ones. I have been fortunate enough to be involved in a number of new initiatives over the past few years, and that keeps things fresh in terms of technology, product design and teamwork.
I have been positively challenged to grow my technical and design skills, specifically in the area of distributed system design.”
How long have you been with Consensus, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I have been with Consensus since its inception over a year ago and was with its predecessor for 13 years before that. Since Consensus was spun-off from its parent company, I have had the opportunity to move into a leadership role and am leading an excellent team of developers while at the same time contributing to the overall technical architecture of our service offerings. There is plenty of room for growth, and I have been positively challenged to grow my technical and design skills, specifically in the area of distributed system design.
NAX Group helps companies increase their liquidity by working with them to discover, develop and launch new asset-backed products and ventures.
Think back to your early days on the job. What surprised you or stood out to you most about NAX Group’s culture?
NAX has an incredible way of bringing people with diverse backgrounds together, taking in their unique viewpoints and unifying them into a single, coherent vision. This is particularly impressive given that our team includes venture capitalists, designers, product managers, growth hackers, management consultants and technology leaders. This piece of the culture permeates every day-to-day experience as each of these backgrounds are necessary to help structure a venture, get it into market and grow it into an industry-leading organization.
NAX has the unique ability to recognize potential and allows individuals to rise to meet the moment.”
How long have you been with NAX, and what professional growth or development have you seen in that time?
I’ve been with NAX for three years now, and in that time I’ve quickly progressed from a senior associate to team lead, then to a senior venture lead and now I’m a director. In each of these levels I was given the opportunity to grow thanks to the trust of leadership. I’ve been able to go from managing a workstream to a project, from a project to an entire venture and a multimillion dollar profit and loss report, to now managing multiple ventures and projects at once.
Each of these undertakings required unique skill sets and growth in many areas ranging from vendor management, leadership, stakeholder management and budget ownership. I was always eager to learn and NAX provided me that opportunity. NAX has the unique ability to recognize potential and allows individuals to rise to meet the moment, something not offered at most firms.
