A small part of the Textio team at the Best Places to Work awards ceremony
We are celebrating at Textio today! Last night our team, surrounded by a group of fellow Washingtonians all of whom are employed by the 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2018, was called up to the stage to talk about what being the #1 best midsize company in Washington means to us. One of the amazing things is that this is the first time Textio entered this competition. This is a huge honor for us and validates all the hard work our team has done since we opened for business in the fall of 2014.
Here are a few things that got us up on that stage last night.
The first time I walked into the Textio office, I noticed something different — something special. The space was clean, bright, simple, yet anything but boring. I could tell someone was paying attention to the smallest of details. I was given a cute little branded business card with the wi-fi password. “Welcome to Textio, Rachel!” was drawn on the whiteboard in the meeting room, and I was gifted with a card signed by the Co-Founders along with a Textio t-shirt. I sure felt welcomed! Nothing was over-the-top, and yet I was able to observe an intentionality about how things get done here. There was an apparent thoughtfulness that resonated with me on that first visit to Textio.
As I sat down with Textio’s CTO and Co-Founder, Jensen Harris, for the first time, he helped me understand how Textio’s platform was created and the vision for how it will change how businesses write. He also told me how he wants Textio to be an example of “what a modern company looks like.” Hearing that from someone outside of a People team was a bit surprising and very refreshing. It confirmed to me that the welcoming environment I had walked into that day wasn’t an accident — it was designed that way from the company’s beginning.
What Textios say
My experience here hasn’t been an anomaly — trust me, I checked! I was lucky enough to sit down one-on-one with every Textio during my first few weeks on the job. When we met, I asked each Textio why they decided to work here and what keeps them coming back every day. Here are some of the things they had to say:
“I was interested in working at Textio because of the product, but I joined because of the people.”
“This is a place where you are trusted to do your job.”
“It’s the most amazing place I’ve ever worked. How did I get here!?”
“Textio is the best place I’ve ever worked on the tech side & the human side — we talk the talk, and walk the walk.”
Textio employees love the autonomy they are given to do their jobs. They trust not only one another, but also the leadership. They love that they’ve been given opportunities to try new things and learn new skills — in fact, many of them are doing the job they are in now for the first time ever. Textio has been able to spot the talents they bring and helped them change careers right here in our very office. Textios form meaningful friendships with their colleagues and feel lucky to work on the teams they do. By far the most common thing I was told in these meetings is that people are excited to work on a product they find interesting, innovative, and impactful in the world.
We will just keep getting better
With our brilliant Co-Founders leading the way, Textio is a place where people come together to do things better. We push each other to build smarter products. Decisions are made in intentional and thoughtful ways — how we talk about our product, the design and language on the signs outside of our restrooms, our compensation and benefits philosophy, and so much more. We are working every day to ensure we are a workplace where people with diverse and varied backgrounds and experiences can come to the office and know they belong here. We place so much value on learning, experimentation and growth that love of learning new things is not a nice-to-have to work here — it’s a must-have! (Go check out our job posts — you’ll see it there.)
Textio will always be learning, improving and growing. We will always strive to do better — but today, we can rest knowing that for at least one night we were called up on stage and recognized as the BEST. ❤
Congratulations my lovely Textios!! You all deserve to celebrate today.