
Scaling Culture, with Ambrosia Vertesi
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12/18/19 • 46 min
Scaling Culture, with Ambrosia Vertesi
Numerous organizations face a common dilemma: how to maintain their foundational culture and values while experiencing tremendous growth.
In this episode, Damon Klotz sits down with Ambrosia Vertesi, co-founder of HR Open Source and former Vice President of People at Duo Security, to discuss the why and the how of scaling culture.
Ambrosia shares many of the lessons she learned during her time at Hootsuite and Duo Security and gives us insight on how to support managers during big company changes.
Later in the episode, Molly Graham, Co-Founder of &Then, invites us to dive deeper into what it actually means to “give away legos”, and the vital role that humility plays during fast growth.
Lastly, we get to hear Chloe Sesta Jacobs’ running boots on the ground. Chloe is Head of People and Culture at Deputy, a scheduling software company that is experiencing tremendous growth.
As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering our Culture Crunch Report, a comprehensive collection of trends in employee engagement, organizational design, company culture, leadership and management, and their differences across varying company maturation phases.
If you enjoy this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review!
To download the Culture Crunch Report or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/scaling
To connect with Ambrosia Vertesi, go to https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ambrosiavertesi
To read Molly Graham's article on sharing legos, go to https://firstround.com/review/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups/
To find out more about Deputy, visit https://www.deputy.com/
To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.
Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz.
Production: Sarah Lessire.
Assistant Production: Ayla Cleworth
Editing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster.
Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan.
Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo.
Video: Kyle Doan.
Original music: Sarah Lessire.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Scaling Culture, with Ambrosia Vertesi
Numerous organizations face a common dilemma: how to maintain their foundational culture and values while experiencing tremendous growth.
In this episode, Damon Klotz sits down with Ambrosia Vertesi, co-founder of HR Open Source and former Vice President of People at Duo Security, to discuss the why and the how of scaling culture.
Ambrosia shares many of the lessons she learned during her time at Hootsuite and Duo Security and gives us insight on how to support managers during big company changes.
Later in the episode, Molly Graham, Co-Founder of &Then, invites us to dive deeper into what it actually means to “give away legos”, and the vital role that humility plays during fast growth.
Lastly, we get to hear Chloe Sesta Jacobs’ running boots on the ground. Chloe is Head of People and Culture at Deputy, a scheduling software company that is experiencing tremendous growth.
As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering our Culture Crunch Report, a comprehensive collection of trends in employee engagement, organizational design, company culture, leadership and management, and their differences across varying company maturation phases.
If you enjoy this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review!
To download the Culture Crunch Report or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/scaling
To connect with Ambrosia Vertesi, go to https://ca.linkedin.com/in/ambrosiavertesi
To read Molly Graham's article on sharing legos, go to https://firstround.com/review/give-away-your-legos-and-other-commandments-for-scaling-startups/
To find out more about Deputy, visit https://www.deputy.com/
To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.
Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz.
Production: Sarah Lessire.
Assistant Production: Ayla Cleworth
Editing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster.
Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan.
Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo.
Video: Kyle Doan.
Original music: Sarah Lessire.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Previous Episode

Relationships at work, with Esther Perel
In this episode, Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist Damon Klotz sits down with psychotherapist and best selling author Esther Perel to explore what makes up the fabric of work culture: relationships.
Esther shares ways to develop relational intelligence in the workplace, explains where trust originates and how to cultivate it, and gives us insight into how cultures of innovation can be fostered.
You’ll also hear the lessons Wade Foster (CEO and Founder of Zapier) and Courtney Seiter (Director of People at Buffer) have learned when it comes to creating fully remote Culture First companies.
Listen in at an Ampersand event and meet CEO and Founder Elizabeth Eichorn to learn about how she’s helping others deepen relationships at work.
As a gift to our podcast listeners, we’ve partnered with Esther Perel to offer you a highly valuable tool to engage relational intelligence: “8 questions you should ask when hiring someone, by Esther Perel”.
To download these questions or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/relationships
To learn more about Esther Perel, go to https://www.estherperel.com/ or https://howswork.estherperel.com/
To find out more about the Ampersand Dinners, visit https://www.ampersanddinner.com/
To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.
Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz.
Production: Sarah Lessire.
Editing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster.
Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan.
Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo.
Video: Kyle Doan.
Original music: Sarah Lessire.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Next Episode

Designing for love and magic, with Oshoke Abalu & Chinedu Echuero
How do we foster love and magic within our organizations? This is the question on which architect Pamela Oshoke Abalu and serial entrepreneur Chinedu Echuero founded the Love & Magic Company.
Their job is to help change-makers develop enthused and powerful business solutions. In this episode of the Culture First Podcast, Damon explores with them what it means for work to be “love made visible”.
They discuss the concept of seeing your customer or employee as your beloved, designing for your mother, and empathy as fuel for innovation.
Later in the episode, Erika Kuhl, former VP of Community at Salesforce, talks to us about her journey building a 3 million+ member thriving Salesforce Trailblazer Community where members go to connect, learn and give back. We learn about her journey having the company recognize the community’s value, and the role that deep listening played.
As a gift to our podcast listeners, we are offering Oshoke and Chinedu’s “How To Bring Your Idea To Life”, a profoundly valuable playbook presenting a systematic and scientific approach to organizing teams and innovating.
If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and leave us an honest review!
To download the “How To Bring Your Idea To Life” Playbook or read this episode's transcript, head to www.culturefirstpodcast.com/love
To learn more about Oshoke and Chinedu's work, go to https://loveandmagic.company/.
To find out more about Erica Kuhl, visit https://www.ericakuhl.com
To watch this podcast's video teaser, get an update when new episodes launch or find more information, head over to www.culturefirstpodcast.com, and to learn more about Culture Amp, visit www.cultureamp.com.
Host: Culture Amp’s Work Culture Evangelist, Damon Klotz.
Production: Sarah Lessire.
Assistant Production: Ayla Cleworth
Editing: Nick Jaworski at Podcast Monster.
Design: Nicole Dominic, Amelia Chieng and Christine Tapawan.
Culture Amp Data: Vivian Woo.
Video: Kyle Doan.
Original music: Sarah Lessire.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
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