Culture Didn’t Just Save My Business. It Saved Me
Everyone says culture matters. Here’s what it actually looks like when it’s the only thing standing between you and closing the doors.
I nearly closed the doors to my business.
Everybody says that culture is so important. But it seems like they miss the opportunity to actually dive deep and say why it’s important and what happened to them. And we’re going to talk about that today.
At the time, I was fighting through postpartum depression that I didn’t even fully realize I had. Some days it was a real struggle just to get out of bed. To get dressed (from the chest up-thanks to working from home), get my hair and makeup done, and show up. I felt locked at home, breastfeeding around the clock, not getting nearly enough sleep. The world outside felt very far away. But during the worst of it, I was barely keeping the doors open.
I told my team that I didn’t have the funds to keep the business running the way it was, so I was going to start applying for jobs. I told them that if they saw any resume emails going out or interview times on my calendar, not to be alarmed. I also entertained the idea of someone to buy my business. I asked my team members one-on-one to help take over certain parts of the business. My plan was to find another job and pay my employees out of that paycheck.
Somehow, I didn’t lose a single employee. They all had my back.
They said: whatever you need to do, we’ve got you. You’ve worked so hard on this business. You’ve got such a passion here, and so many people need your services. We won’t let this go under. We’ll pull through, work together, and make it happen no matter what.
They helped me stay on track when the PPD was hitting hard. They were the voice of reason when I needed to send out invoices or update my contracts. They helped present a steady face to the outside world when things were anything but steady inside the business.
I am so grateful for a large contract that came through and really helped us out. We were contracted to get paid at the 45 day mark once the employee started, and we worked incredibly hard to meet and exceed every expectation for that company. We always want to do our best, but we couldn’t let anything happen to this contract. It was the light at the end of the tunnel for us!
We learned. We grew. We worked together. I got stronger, my team got stronger, and we pulled through. We paid off debt, got a new bookkeeper, fired them, then found a better one. We went to the DeW Conference and got revitalized all over again.
If I hadn’t created the culture within my company, I wouldn’t be writing this article today.
So how do you actually build it?
The culture I’m describing didn’t appear overnight and it didn’t come from a handbook. It was built through years of showing up for my team the same way I needed them to show up for me. Here is what that has looked like in practice.
You empower your team. You share and get vulnerable with them. You lead them and show them how capable they are. You invest in them and share the wins. You share the losses and ask how they think things could have gone better. You let go of the team members who aren’t helping and bring in people who work well with everyone. Get rid of toxicity fast and hire people who will help move the needle.
What this looks like in real life
My newest team member Reza made a mistake and was terrified to tell me. She spoke with other team members first, then brought the issue to me directly. I calmly walked her through the solution and showed her how to avoid the same mistake going forward. She thought she might get fired over something small. I see issues like a leader, not a dictator. When mistakes happen, my team feels comfortable coming to me. They fix the issue, they tell me what they did, and we move forward. I am grateful it doesn’t happen often, but I love that they trust me enough to be honest.
My team member Destiny has a goal to write a children’s book. When she brought it up in a meeting, I asked what her next step was. She said she needed to write the words. I coached her on how to get started and shared what helped me when I wrote my first children’s book. I asked if she had an illustrator and encouraged her to have her daughter draw the illustrations. Later, I blocked time on her calendar during work hours and labeled it: “Don’t talk to Destiny, she’s writing her children’s book.” I look forward to hearing that my team members have achieved their goals, no matter how big or small. I want to support them.
Charmaine has been with me for over two years. During her interview, she mentioned she had always wanted to create a VA agency. So now she is spearheading exactly that, with the security, coaching, and safety net of Career Elevation behind her. It is a very rewarding process to help these VAs find the work they have always wanted. We hear time and time again that there are so many unkind bosses out there, especially in the Philippines, and that VAs get taken advantage of. We are building this agency with ethics at the top of our core values. We hear from VAs that they are expected to perform like a queen but get paid like a peasant. Not with us.
My team member Alyssa had a Wednesday off and was planning to work a half day on Thursday and Friday while she and her family visited a neighboring island to see a new temple opening. She said she wanted to make sure the team felt supported while she was away. I thanked her for her generosity and voluntold her to take all three days fully off. I reassured her that nothing would catch fire while she was gone and that she could enjoy her family time completely. While she was away, I sent her some extra cash so her family could enjoy the trip without any stress. When she returned, there was no pile of digital sticky notes waiting for her. It was smooth sailing all around.
Seeing the drive that my team has is incredible. And it is not a coincidence. It is the result of years of intentional investment in the people around me.
You can build this too
It takes time to build the culture you want, but everything you do inside your business should be intentional. You want people lined up waiting for an opening on your team. You don’t want to spend thousands of dollars searching for the right candidate. You can create this kind of culture in your own practice and the word will spread. Post about it on your social media, your website, and in the groups you are part of. Share what you are doing with your team without bragging. Boast about how incredible your team is when they are not in the room. Your team wants to know you are only ever saying positive things about them behind their back.
You are the leader. You are the one who shapes the culture. If you have someone on your team who doesn’t fit, let them go today. Don’t wait for a replacement. Your team will pull together. They will work a little harder and stay a little later because they want to keep working with a great leader. It is hard to let someone go, but if the whole team knows that person needs to move on, you are not doing anyone any favors by waiting. You are only hurting the rest of your team by keeping the toxicity in.
Ask how your employees’ families are doing. Ask how their vacations went. Ask what drives them and where they see their future.
I don’t expect my team to act like owners. They shouldn’t have to, they are not the owners. But in every move they make, I can see the entrepreneur in each of them. They know our mission:
Our mission
“To help dental professionals create longevity with their team members and offices. Fostering better workflow, collaboration, and cohesion between the two parties. Allowing dental professionals to grow with continuing education. We are dedicated professionals and we reflect what we want to see in the world of dentistry.”
That last sentence is the one that matters most. We are dedicated professionals and we reflect what we want to see in the world of dentistry. When we are clocked in, we are 100% committed to that mission.
Culture starts but it never ends. It is cultivated day after day, month after month, and year after year. And here is what I know for certain: if you invest in your people the way I invested in mine, the day you need them most, they will show up for you in ways you never expected. Build the culture now, before you need it to save you.
Wendy Aldhamen is the proud owner of Career Elevation a dental-specific recruiting company. She’s a mom to two young children, a wife to an amazing husband, and a team member to a rock solid team.