Culture, Commitment, and Community

Culture, Commitment, and Community

Posted by Sarah Kinsler-Holloway on

This blog is inspired by Dr Bronner's.  Yes, the castile soap with the weird labels! 

As I grow my business, and hire more team members I've really become obsessed with company culture.  Just as I created client advocates in my spa business I want to do the same with the people I bring on my team. 

I think it's so important for the success of a business to have happy employees. When employees are happy they want to see and help their employer succeed. They go above and beyond and take initiative.

Far too often I see employers doing the bare minimum, yet expect top performance.  There has to be humanity in the workforce.  Okay, back to Dr Bronners....

It was late at night, and I was doom scrolling on my phone when an ad for Dr Bronners popped up.  The ad was about their company culture and how they cap the total compensation of the highest-paid employee executives at five times that of the lowest-paid fully-vested position. 

Some keyboard warrior responded saying "sounds great, but show me the math" to which a rep from Dr Bronner's replied:

The starting wage for all full-time permanent employees is $27.78 - 70.5% higher than Californias 2024 minimum wage. All employees receive 10% of their salary paid annually into a retirement/profit-sharing plan, up to 10% of their salary as a bonus, and a no-deductible PPO health insurance plan for their families - meaning we pay 100% the complete health premium and all deductibles so there's no out-of-pocket cost for employees.  We view health holistically, which is why we also provide for our employees daily organic vegan meals, dental and vision. 

We also cover half the cost of approved childcare venues - up to a total of $7500 for each family, infertility assistance, pet insurance, toastmasters training, and a $1,000 rebate for purchase of an electric vehicle. Our philosophy: treat employees as we would treat our sisters and brothers - create a healthy environment and programs that encourage personal wellbeing and growth - promote from within whenever possible - give employees every opportunity to thrive and take pride in their contributions to the broader world community through their work at Dr Bronner's.  Finally, Dr Bronner's is a dog-friendly workplace for office employees!

I was floored by their response, and it really got me thinking about how when we start to grow and scale our businesses how might we can take some of these principles with us. 

It can be easy to fall into a scarcity mindset, and of course its important to not be too financially top heavy, but I do believe that when we pay more we attract the right type of employees. And when we take the time to create a company culture that fosters support that transcends outside of the workplace, we create a healthy ecosystem that is able to grow and flourish.

Anyway, just some food for thought. See you in the treatment room!

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  • I learned something. This was an excellent read. I’d want to work for/with you.

    A’Star Flake-Johnson on

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