Culture as a Competitive Advantage: How to Build Culture from Day One with Stephanie Smith

Most often, clients come to Talent Elevated when they haven’t been paying attention to their culture and have reached the point of needing a total overhaul.

So when founders come to us with an eye on proactively developing their company culture from the ground up, it’s an ideal scenario.

For my guest today, building culture into the roots of the company has yielded tremendous success in employee retention and satisfaction, even through the struggles of COVID and shifting to a remote workforce.

Stephanie Smith is the co-founder and former COO of Eolian, an energy investment and infrastructure company, who also happens to be my sister. In our conversation, she shares why she knew culture had to be a priority from the beginning; how Eolian took the leap and built a connected, collaborative remote workplace; and their unique approach to employee management and feedback.

Stephanie is a Senior Advisor to American Clean Power while she takes a career break to travel and recharge. She is the co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer of Eolian, an innovative energy investor and energy storage company. Prior to Eolian, she was an executive coach and the founder of Smith Strategic, as well as the COO of two other energy companies, Greencastle, and Sol Systems.

Outside of the office, Ms. Smith loves to sail, travel, host dinner parties, and mentor women in the energy sector. She also serves on the board of Real Options for City Kids

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why prioritizing culture can be challenging for startups to mid-size companies, and why it’s as vital as your revenue plan
• The key factors that drove Eolian’s commitment to a remote workforce, and how they’ve structured a culture that supports collaboration and connection even with distance
• Why culture has to be an ongoing, dynamic project
• How Eolian implemented conversation days to generate valuable, honest feedback between employees and management
• Why making people feel seen and that their work matters is a key piece of sustaining a supportive culture

Learn More About Stephanie Smith:

• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn More About Heather Smith:

• Talent Elevated

Resources:

• The Alliance: Managing Talent in the Networked Age, Reid Hoffman, Ben Casnocha, Chris Yeh