Instilling and Creating Company Culture with Jamie King of Flex & Flow
Episode 453: Show Notes
Today on the podcast we have Jamie King, the owner of Flex & Flow PDX (originally Fit Approach) joining us! Together with her cousin/business partner, she has built a successful online fitness community, but that’s not what we are talking about today. Nope, we discuss company culture, how to establish it based on who you are as a human being, integrating it into your business, and how you can maintain it even when you have a virtual team.
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We also talk about the evolution of our company culture and what our business values are. We have often alluded to company culture in our conversations, but since it is something that seems abstract and isn’t necessarily featured on the everyday to-do-list, we tend to easily forget about it. For a long time, we let our company culture be what it was and watched the evolution of it over the years, but now we are trying to give it more direction. We aim to cultivate a relaxed, easy-going culture that promotes independence and functions on a trust basis. But company culture does not happen overnight either; it develops when you show up consistently over time. At the same time, company culture is in everything you do: every social media post, every graphic, every email you send out—so be mindful about it. We had such a great conversation with Jamie today, so be sure to listen in!
How Jamie Goes About Creating Company Culture
Jamie owns a yoga and fitness business, so she works with a lot of different people, from instructors to community members and beyond. Throughout this strange time, she has been working with her instructors virtually and their classes have all been online. She has learned that company culture is something you create that aligns with your core values and that you stick to, and while it seems obvious, it is something you have to be intentional about. Reading the book Traction helped us to define our values for Boss Project. But defining what is most important to you requires trial and error since this is the only way you will know what you want to prioritize in your company culture. Jamie and her team recently went through a big rebranding and the importance of company culture was highlighted again as they felt some of their core values got lost in the noise of everything else that was going on. They realized they weren’t loud enough with the core values, also in the context of the Black Lives Matter movement. Aside from doing a rebrand, you can think about doing internal audits, making sure you frequently revisit your mission statement, and communicate those things in your company. This is equally applicable to small companies with small teams or people who only work with contractors. You can still showcase your values in different ways and lead with them.
Establishing and Maintaining Company Culture in the Virtual World
Since people barely get together physically for a meeting these days, company culture can no longer be left for in-person gatherings; it has to be dealt with in the virtual space. This requires that you have prominent messaging throughout all your external communications so people are constantly confronted with it. This also allows potential business partners to gauge whether you would be a good fit for them and the right people will naturally be drawn to you. Remember everything you do already reflects your company culture, from the language you use on social media to the stock images you select. Your company culture is not a single mission statement stuck up on a wall. There also needs to be a direct connection between who you are as a person and the brand image you wish to convey, so the messages you send out need to paint a clear picture of the authentic you. We at Boss Project have always prioritized family above all, so we give ourselves and other people the chance to take care of sick kids or be at the hospital, for example, and to make time for those urgent family commitments without paying a price for it. It is always difficult when someone is just not aligned with your values because it does create a ‘poisoned well’ scenario, so you also have to address that when it comes up. Most of us have hired or collaborated with people whom we thought aligned with our values only to realize that, when push comes to shove, they don’t, but this is part of the process.
You Get to Decide Which Rules Your Business Lives By
The cool part about your company culture is that you get to choose the rules it operates by! If you want to do refunds no questions asked—cool. You can choose a return policy that works for you, not the one someone else is using. You are the boss, so you get to decide and make the call when a human decision is more appropriate than a business one. Your values might not always work for other people and companies, but you have to stick to your guns and make sure that you feel comfortable with what you are putting out there. Now, this can be tricky for empaths and people who have trouble confronting others. As a leader, it feels good to inspire your team and make plans with them but it can be difficult to sort through issues or give someone a slap on the wrist. It might be too easy for you to overlook their mistakes or see their side of the story when they really need to be reprimanded. Business owners need to be serious about not only having discussions on company culture but having documentation for it and reporting problems when they arise. Balancing the business and the human side can be tricky!
Find Someone to Talk to and Bounce Ideas Off
While it’s great to have a business partner to help you make decisions, not everyone has one. Still, you need to find someone with whom you can talk things through and who can give you another perspective so the burden of being a business owner does not become too heavy. It doesn’t even have to be someone who works for you. But have a pre-conversation about this with the person so they know you have selected them as the one whom they will talk business to. This person will help you to see past the emotions and get to the facts because reacting out of your emotions can have devastating consequences. And when you do have a partner, there are things you can do that ensure a productive discussion. Jamie will first send an email relaying her thoughts to her partner, and while it might not be what she will ultimately do or communicate, it will convey where she is at with the issue. Her partner will then share how she might respond and then they hop on a call to talk it through. Jamie would then rewrite the message so that it is communicated in the right way to the people involved.
The Consequences of Lacking Leadership and Company Culture
Facebook groups are good examples of where you can see how the leaders of a group are performing in terms of their brand or company culture. Some groups prohibit selling and promoting, for example, and would restrict any posts that infringe upon that rule. This is good since the owners stick to their values and what they stand for, otherwise the members of the group would constantly be spammed. Things like controlling the content that goes around in your community is an important part of expressing your values and setting the tone for the culture you wish to create. While a massive Facebook group might seem impressive at first, a closer look might reveal that the content is of low quality — which puts your company in a bad light. Even if you are community-oriented and want community members to help shape the culture, you still need to guide and provide some leadership, otherwise, it will all just become a bit blurry.
Quote This
I think culture starts with you and the mission that you put out there but then you also have to embody that because people can tell if you are not authentic.
—Jamie King
Highlights
How Jamie Goes About Creating Company Culture. [0:05:16.1].
Establishing and Maintaining Company Culture in the Virtual World. [0:10:13.1]
You Get to Decide Which Rules Your Business Lives By. [0:24:32.1].
Find Someone to Talk to and Bounce Ideas Off. [0:29:50.1]
The Consequences of Lacking Leadership and Company Culture. [0:37:50.1]
#TalkStrategyToMe [0:41:17.1]
Establish your core values and hold yourself accountable.
Foster strong connections with team members and clients.
Be a good learner and listener.
ON TODAY’S SHOW
Jamie King
Flex & Flow PDX
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Jamie King is the owner of Flex & Flow PDX. She launched Flex & Flow (formerly Fit Approach) in 2011, and opened Flex & Flow PDX in 2016. She believes that each person who walks into Flex & Flow PDX should feel a sense of belonging and leave feeling empowered through movement and community. She is a 500-hour RYT yoga instructor, RCYT 95 hour kids, teens, and trauma certified instructor, creator of Flex & Flow’s signature HIIT & Flow workout, and competitive ultra runner. Jamie enjoys challenging students to move with their breath, build heat and strength, and find their power within. She loves bringing people together on the mat and out on the trails - where she loves to encourage everyone to climb a little higher. After Jamie graduated in 2004 from UC Berkeley, she started a career in high tech marketing and public relations where she got bit by the entrepreneur bug. Through her own transformation through movement, she quickly realized her purpose in life was to inspire everybody to move and feel freer in their bodies. Jamie is an accomplished instructor, teacher training lead instructor, podcast host, and speaker.
