Building Diverse, Strengths-Based Teams with Strong Culture (Podcast Recap)

Dominate Your Day with Dana Williams 

Dana Williams hosts the Dominate Your Day podcast, where she interviews business leaders about how they use their strengths to transform their lives. As a Clifton Strengths coach, Dana helps colleagues live their values.

I joined Dana on her podcast to discuss the start of my marketing career. We also walked through the steps that led to the launch of Eyeful Media.

We also talked about building diverse, strengths-based teams and crafting an employee culture built on giving back to your community.

It was a great conversation and we very much appreciate Dana inviting me on. Click below to listen to our fun and engaging discussion during the episode.

Listen, like, and download this podcast episode and every episode of the Dominate Your Day podcast with Dana Williams. 

Find highlights from our conversation on creating a thriving workspace and competent company culture below. 

Snowboarding Magazine and a Passion for Giving Back

Dana Williams: You bring a lot of experience from your roles at JCPenney, Fossil, and others. Did you automatically say, “I am going to start my company, and have a purpose and a mission, and we are going to give back”? How did it all happen?

Antonella Pisani: Looking back on my career, I spent seven years with ProFlowers. That is where I learned a lot about leadership, supporting my community, and the types of people I wanted to attract to my team. 

I first became interested in the nonprofit side of things in high school. My high school required 10 hours of service per year.

I was working at a cafe and I got to know a couple of the regular customers, who were marketing folks from Snowboarding Magazine.

They said, “Hey, do you want to come to work at this event and intern for us?” 

The event was a gigantic fundraiser with the Beastie Boys and all these celebrities. I fell in love with it. 

Instead of doing my 10 service hours that year, I worked in their office three to four hours a day for six months. 

That’s what lit the fire for marketing and giving back.

I also had a professor in college who included a service aspect in each course. For a group communication class, for example, we would find a nonprofit in Austin, Texas, that needed help. We would then figure out what they needed, build a team, and get things done. 

In addition, being part of the nonprofit team at JCPenney by going out and volunteering together was always really important to me. 

I wouldn’t say I set out on Day 1 like, “Hey, here’s the mission and the vision.”

Any time you start a company, the values are your own — but I never set out to found a company. I thought I was going to consult by myself and be a bit of a nomad, which is what I got to do for the first year. 

We grew entirely through word of mouth by giving our all to existing clients and letting them spread the word for us. It’s been an inspiring journey so far. 

Building a Team with Complementary Strengths 

DW: As you grow, where do you want to go with your team, or have you established that yet?

AP: It is interesting. We have a phenomenal leadership team, and we complement each other well. Our StrengthsFinder results show that we each bring something different to the table, which is ideal. 

We had a discussion six months ago about whether we should grow. If we are going to grow, why should we grow? What is the main reason? 

We wanted to create opportunities for our team. We value our people, so we decided that we had to scale to ensure that we could give them career opportunities that ensure they do not want to go somewhere else. 

The team is made up of hardcore learners, and they are all very passionate about giving back. We start our all-hands meetings with, “Here is who is new” and — boom — “Here is who we supported this month.” 

For us, giving back is the reason we want to grow. 

As we continue to scale, we want to be more selective in terms of the companies we work with, making sure that they are aligned with our vision and values. 

When you are an entrepreneur just starting, you are going through this lifecycle where you take on everything you can to build a client base. As you start to scale, you can be more selective.

You better understand who you serve well and how the team can deliver for those folks.

Lessons in Learning and Growth 

LC: What has been your biggest lesson over the past six years as you have been building your business?

AP: The biggest lesson for me has been choosing people who are aligned by a common set of values and purpose. We’re a very purpose-driven organization even though we’re a marketing agency. 

For us, there is so much to giving back, learning, and being coached. (There has certainly been a slew of learnings about finance and things like that.) 

So much of what we have been able to achieve is because of the personalities and making sure that we’re rigorous in terms of hiring people who share those values and traits.

To listen to the full podcast and interview, click here. For more details on Eyeful Media, learn what makes our digital marketing consulting firm unique, and contact us for a consultation.