Inside the House of Insights. Every day, Brandtrust recommends clients take a closer look at its consumers and its own employees to truly understand its brand. With that in mind, Brandtrust turned its appreciative inquiry process in on itself. It required interviewing everyone, from the partners to the newest employees, and revealed that inspiring employees takes more than a well-designed office space - though that doesn't hurt either. Read on to learn a bit more about our culture, including quotes from the "employee respondents" themselves. Use the bar to the right to find out more about any of the talented individuals on our team.

Hiring for Heart. Brandtrust employees are all linked together by a common thread that permeates through the company. While everyone has a unique professional and academic background, Brandtrust's partners look first to an employee's heart. The process can be taught, but a passion for the work can only be caught.

"We recognize the humanity of certain situations. In other large companies, you feel like you're part of the structure. We are able to come together and support each other in different situations. It reinforces the fact that we strive to balance and recognize people as human beings."

"We are really just hiring people based on their personality and character. If they have strong character, they will deal well with certain situations. Because we hire people from different backgrounds, the common thing in everyone is the high character level."

Inspired to Inspire. At Brandtrust, each project often results in a client-employee cycle known as the "Inspiration Effect." As the Brandtrust team reveals deeper and richer insights, the clients become inspired to change the way their organization approaches the consumer. Witnessing and feeling the client's appreciation then inspires Brandtrust to further their work and delight their clients. This is the reason that many employees work for Brandtrust. They have a passion for inspiring others, which leads them to do greater work in the future.

"I am pretty sure that I get a real solid psychic reward from feeling that I and the company have inspired people. The clients are leaving thinking differently about themselves. I want the employees to feel inspired as well. Sometimes they just feel comfortable, not inspired, and that bothers me."

Trust Builds Family. When asked to describe a moment in which they were proud of the company, many employees opted to tell a story about Brandtrust on a personal level rather than professional. From running half-marathons to probono work done on behalf of a single employee's passion, these references represent Brandtrust's commitment to work as a family for something outside of business objectives. This trust is not just an expectation for employees, however; it also represents a model of what clients come to expect from Brandtrust.

“We repeatedly show that we don’t have anything to hide. We leave it open for the clients to interpret or judge. We don’t try to craft it one way or another. We try to build trust in us as a firm and as a group of people that are not keeping secrets. We are always willing to show a price sheet, line item by line item. It is all the same price for every company and that makes a difference for our clients.”

Growth and Learning are not Cliches. Woven into the DNA of Brandtrust is a continual commitment to personal learning and growth. Employees describe Brandtrust as a small classroom, except there are no teachers and everyone is a student. This commitment to growth also spurs them on to learn new techniques that can perfect their current services - or create new ones. The market is growing and there are plenty of ideas out there, yet to be discovered, that can help shape it. In the eyes of the Brandtrust employees, they are the likely candidates to come up with these ideas.

“As we grow, we try to stay as true to our research approaches and values as we can. We try to grow in smart ways. We are not trying to do it overnight and we are not doing it for growth’s sake. If it is done in a thoughtful way with attention to the bottom line, it is more about the people.”

“Everyone enjoys the work because they are learning. You learn a lot about yourself from watching people be interviewed and how they relate similar to you.”

“The goal is to grow the company in a way that they keep doing great work. The object is to do this in a way that the people grow and have a good time. We are not seeking world domination. We are also not committed to growth at the cost of hurting the people. This is not a sweat shop and miserable. We are committed to growth and to learning as a company and as individuals.”

Join Us. There are a number of ways to run a business. We believe the best way is to hire the smartest people and let them run it. If you'd like to learn more about the Brandtrust culture and potential opportunities for you to join it, please send us an e-mail at info@brandtrust.com.