What I Love Most About My VidMob Role
In March of 2021, I, along with many at our company and others around the world, faced a situation I could never have imagined. In addition to dealing with an unexpected global pandemic and all of its repercussions, I had to ponder what it would mean to join a new company while working from home. As my first new job in over 7 years, my initial anxieties and the ever present fear of the unknown eventually led to a sense of gratitude and excitement. I was thankful to be healthy and lucky to have the chance to work when so many could no longer. I realized that given all that the world was going through, I had something tangibly positive to be excited about. Something I had not felt in a long time. The new job prospect gave me a renewed sense of optimism. But it wasn’t just any new job, it was a new job at VidMob.
A close friend has been an employee at VidMob for more than four years, someone we like to internally dub, an “OG VidMobber.” Through many conversations with her, I heard about a leadership team and a company that went beyond smart business decisions and revenue growth. When it came to treating employees right, VidMob leadership walked the walk and empowered them to participate in building an organization that strived to redefine what culture at a great company could be.
Our CEO, Alex Collmer, has written and spoken extensively about building a stakeholder-driven company. That there is a “real opportunity for companies like VidMob to define the model of the future.” What has made VidMob stand out in a sea of sameness is that Alex believes that employees are the stakeholders. Sure, we have shareholders, investors, clients; all of whom have an important voice and role to play in the development and trajectory of the company. But it is the employees, the individual VidMobber if you will, who feel the greatest weight to make a great company. And it takes a certain type of person to take on that weight every single day they come to work.
Employees are Motivated and Involved
“Coming to work” was a complicated notion considering the circumstances of the past year. How do you motivate workers to feel involved, to take on that weight as a team when their everyday environment is now literally the comforts of home, where we feel safest? Well, first step: you give them something worth caring for. At VidMob, this means a lot of things. A company working to create a new space in the marketing and advertising world and building a successful business that has seen constant growth for over four years. A group that is building a whole product vision, while also expanding around the globe. Identifying a real, deep industry friction to solve for and a belief that we can work together towards a goal – a solution – that will change an industry. Most importantly, a leadership team that entrusts us to do so – not just looking to sell the bells and whistles.
But we know it’s more than just easily definable metrics that live in a deck or a spreadsheet. To build that great business in the company of people you admire. To know that the foundation of your relationship with those people is built in trust and respect. That even given an unforeseen event like a global pandemic, strong, everlasting bonds of collegial friendship are born out of that respect. That is the thing that elevates a company to greatness. That is what empowers an individual to overcome overwhelming external forces and remain diligent and determined to participate in a shared goal of building what a great company can be in today’s world and beyond.
So after an intense, comprehensive virtual onboarding experience, I began to see life at VidMob from my own point of view. My first in-person interaction with the company, just a few weeks after I started, was a small gathering at our co-founder’s home just outside of New York City. I was welcomed as part of the VidMob family and felt instantly at home. This certainly felt like a start to experiencing great company culture for myself, but it was a celebration, not a work day.
The Community Bond Among Customers, Creators, and Innovators
It’s become critical in today’s world for both employees and clients to witness how VidMob brings this to life, and now I’m beginning to feel the full weight of what all those who have come before me have built through deep respect and trust in one another. A recent McKinsey Survey found that 82% of employees feel it is important for a company to have a purpose, while only 42% believe that their company’s purpose drives impact. At VidMob, that impact is felt not just internally, but in our interactions with clients as well.
As a Strategic Client Manager, I work closely with clients every day and see how our values are imbued in everything we do. Clients consistently express that not only is our work helping their business in new and innovative ways, but that their daily interactions with our client service teams are the highlights of their weeks. VidMob’s employee stakeholders are clearly more motivated to ensure that our purpose is driving more impact for our business.
Through these interactions, that optimism I felt when I was hired is now being fulfilled in ways I couldn’t have even imagined. I have now witnessed firsthand that all of the work we do is based in a deep sense of high moral value and desire to define success not just through tangible metrics, but through intangible measures of happiness, pride and admiration and the opportunity to add value through our own personal experiences. For me personally, it’s the opportunity to take risks knowing the leadership team and my colleagues will have my back, and that we’ll all learn from it to build a better company and culture. Because culture is not defined by any one set of perks, or behaviors from above, it’s built from the inner workings of the quietest employee spending time learning from the most boisterous sales person. Culture at VidMob is building a company with soul, not just character.
I’ve learned so much in these past months, and frankly, this past year and a half. The situation unexpectedly forced me to look deeply at what I value most; Family, friends, health, and of course, safety. These are the most universal and valuable things that we all fall back on as we face hardship. But now I have something more than that. I have a new group of colleagues, friends, and family at VidMob that I can rely on – folks I respect, admire and want to do great things with. Because working at VidMob has made me realize that building a great company is worth nothing if you haven’t done it in great company.
Check out the VidMob Careers page to view open opportunities to join our community.