What it really means to build a place people want to work.

You can have the trendiest office space, a stocked kitchen, and the best swag bags. But if people don’t feel seen, heard, or valued, you don’t have culture. You have perks.

Real company culture isn’t surface-level. It’s not something you roll out at a team meeting or slap on a poster. It’s the energy people walk into on a Monday morning. It’s how they’re treated when they make a mistake. It’s the level of transparency in your decisions, the way feedback is handled, and whether people feel safe being honest.

Culture is built in the small, consistent moments. Not the grand gestures. It’s in how a team communicates under pressure. It’s how birthdays are acknowledged, how wins are celebrated, and how challenges are handled without blame. It’s the integrity behind closed doors when no one is watching.

This year, we added a simple but meaningful perk — giving everyone their birthday off. It’s not about the day itself, but what it represents. We want people to feel appreciated not just as employees, but as humans. It’s one of those small choices that says, “We see you. We value you.”

And the truth? Culture starts at the top. Leaders set the tone, whether they realize it or not. You can’t expect trust, collaboration, or accountability from a team you don’t invest in. It’s not about micromanaging or being everyone’s friend. It’s about creating an environment where people are empowered, supported, and aligned with the bigger mission.

At some point, I realized that building a company people want to work for meant shifting the focus from perks to people. It meant asking for feedback and actually listening. It meant being clear about expectations and even clearer about values. Most importantly, it meant modeling those values every single day.

Great culture can’t be bought. It’s built one interaction, one conversation, and one decision at a time. And when it’s right, it shows up in how your team shows up.