In 2014, American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) formed a new corporate entity after splitting from its parent company American Express.

I never thought I’d end up starting (or working at) an agency. In 2008, when I left my job at a start-up, I viewed agencies as parasites hell-bent on trying to sell you stuff you don’t need, making big promises against which they couldn’t deliver. And actually, I still feel that way about most agencies. So many of my team members have shared their horror stories about life at other agencies and so many of our clients…

Over the course of RF-SMART’S history, we have been intentional to define and encourage our culture in specific ways, and the results have been significant: extremely high team member retention (94% last year), consistent revenue and profit growth (Inc. 5000), and award-winning engagement (Best Places to Work). So…how did we shape our culture? Our technology company was founded in 1982…

A few years ago, independent filmmaker Tony Shaff made a documentary about Highlights magazine called 44 Pages. The film follows the creation of the 70th anniversary issue of our iconic children’s magazine and introduces viewers to the small, cheerful, and admittedly quirky team that passionately plans and produces each monthly issue.

Creating culture is challenging. Creating culture and replacing entrenched habits and ways of doing things? That’s the kind of multi-year challenge that edges closer to near impossible. Which is why we’re all in.