CEO Richard Blank has a new approach to company culture: pinball machines

At age 27, Richard Blank made the bold decision to pack up and move to Costa Rica to work at a call center for a few months. Fast forward eight years – he opened his own call center with one essential component: pinball machines.

Richard, founder and CEO of Costa Rica’s Call Center, began his business out of his home with just a website and now operates a 300-seat call center.

In this episode, he walks us through the unique culture that differentiates his call center from his competitors, one of those aspects being gamification. Richard proudly compares the workplace environment he’s created to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As the owner of one of the largest collections of restored pinball machines and jukeboxes, Richard strategically placed the games in-house for employees to blow off steam and socialize.

“I just want to help them out on a rainy Wednesday if they’re not feeling very well,” he says, “I’ve seen the difference when people have been in the arcade.”

He talks about the importance of genuinely celebrating his employees’ wins, and giving them a pep talk when they experience a low. It comes down to caring about them, he says, and showing vulnerability as a leader.

Listen to hear more about Richard’s philosophies and how he’s tackled one of his greatest challenges yet: COVID and a work-from-home environment.

Learn more about Richard Blank and Costa Rica's Call Center

You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on Twitter @carolbschultz or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbschultz/.