How We Built a Company Culture That Drives Innovation
I’ve had countless conversations with clients, vendors, and peers who ask me about our company culture. These questions are revealing — not just about their curiosity, but about their own organizations. When someone is asking how to build a strong culture, it often means they sense an opportunity to strengthen their own.
At Evolving Solutions and Keyva, culture is the foundation of everything we do. It’s a mindset that permeates both companies. A strong culture doesn’t happen by accident — it requires leadership, intentionality, and continuous reinforcement. Over the years, we’ve built a culture that has created a flywheel of momentum, fueling tremendous growth and positioning us for long-term success.
Given the consistent interest in how our culture drives everything we do, I thought it would be helpful for me to share how we do it.
Why Culture is Essential for Innovation
Culture defines who we are as an organization. Without it, we risk becoming a collection of individuals rather than a unified, high-performing team. In addition, innovation isn’t confined to our technologists. We want everyone in the organization to innovate. Whether it’s operations, sales, or customer support, every role contributes to how we create value for our clients. When we fail to prioritize culture in everything we do, we become stagnant — and stagnation is the enemy of innovation.
The Core Values That Guide Us
We’ve built our companies on three core values:
- Do the right thing
- Be a team player
- Be humbly confident
These values shape our daily decisions and interactions. From our hiring process to our client relationships, they serve as a filter for how we operate, and we reinforce them continuously. We include them in every presentation, we recognize employees by them, they’re the basis of our annual reviews, and they play a significant role in promotions.
When a company’s values are more than just words, they become a source of alignment and motivation. Our values and culture foster integrity, collaboration, and innovation while empowering our team members and enabling them to drive meaningful impact for our clients.
My Role as a Leader in Shaping Culture
As CEO, I believe my job is to inspire and reinforce our culture at every level. I don’t believe culture is something you dictate from the top down. It has to be cultivated organically, but with intentionality. My leadership style is best described as servant leadership, which means three things:
- I lead by example – If I don’t live our values every day, why should anyone else? My actions must be consistent with what I expect from the team. I model our core values daily, which creates trust and accountability.
- I empower my team – My role is to empower every employee across the organization to evolve.
- I foster transparency – The power of culture is that it encourages open communication, which is a basis for a culture of transparency.
Hiring for Cultural Fit First
Building our culture has been an iterative process that has evolved over time. At first, we didn’t know how to integrate the meaning of culture into our interview process. Now we know early in the process if someone will be in alignment with our culture.
We’ve learned that cultural alignment is more critical than technical skills or work experience. During our hiring process, the first question we ask is, “Does this person align with our culture?” If the answer is no, we don’t move forward, no matter how strong their resume is.
On their first day, new employees go through a core values overview with me. We ensure they understand not just what we do but how we do it. Over time, this approach has helped us build a team that isn’t just skilled but deeply committed to our mission.
The Challenges of Maintaining Culture
Sustaining culture isn’t easy. Two of our biggest challenges have been:
- High Growth Periods – When a company grows rapidly, it’s easy for culture to become diluted. We’ve added 15% more employees in the last few months alone, which means we have to be even more intentional about onboarding and reinforcing our values.
- Remote Workforce – We’ve had full-time remote employees for many years, and we’ve learned it’s harder to create an emotional connection with them. So, we go the extra mile to ensure our remote team members feel included and understand that they are an integral part of our culture.
If we don’t focus on these challenges, we risk losing what makes us unique. Culture must be actively nurtured, not assumed.
How Culture Gives Us a Competitive Edge
Our culture is our differentiator because how we speak about, and leverage culture is unique. I know that because people tell me. It attracts top talent and strengthens client relationships. For instance, a prospective client who attended one of my presentations later told me that our culture and values are unique to Evolving Solutions and Keyva. They saw our passion and alignment, and that resonated with them. That conversation eventually turned into a long-term business relationship. It’s proof that culture can be a competitive advantage.
My Advice to Other CEOs
For leaders looking to build and sustain a strong culture, here’s my advice:
- Don’t just hire for skills — hire for culture. Find people who excel at their jobs and enhance your company’s values.
- Make culture an ongoing conversation. It’s not a one-time, annual, or quarterly initiative. It’s something you reinforce daily.
- Empower your employees to be cultural ambassadors. When team members believe in the culture, they naturally pass it on.
- Never stop improving. I wake up every day thinking about how we can not only maintain our culture but strengthen it.
A Strong Culture Is Rare — But Not a Luxury
As leaders, it’s our responsibility to create an environment where people are empowered to innovate, collaborate, and grow. The best way to do that is to develop a culture that facilitates those characteristics. The work of building culture never stops, and when done right, it can become the foundation for excellence and growth. A strong company culture isn’t a luxury — it’s a necessity for innovation and long-term success. It’s not just about what we do, but how we do it. I encourage you to begin working on developing your company culture today and commit to nurturing it every day.
