Our approach to company culture inevitably has to make some shifts when experiencing significant growth. What works for twenty employees in one location doesn’t have the same impact when it’s spread across multiple cities and hundreds of employees.

My guest today, Stephanie Henderson, has been through exactly that experience over her nineteen years at her former customer-service based company and now leads her own company, Impact Driven Partners, to help other businesses scale up with culture at their core.

She’s sharing how she navigated setting the foundations of company values and culture while scaling way up. Stephanie also has some unique insights about hiring for culture in a college town, where employees are younger and turnover is consistent, and how helping front-line staff think like their customers creates positive experiences for both customers and employees.

Stephanie Henderson is a seasoned executive, business strategist, and culture transformation expert with more than two decades of leadership experience, including serving as CEO of Carpet Tech, where she helped scale the company to a multi-million dollar success.

As the founder of Impact Driven Partners, she combines executive coaching with strategic advisory work to help organizations strengthen leadership, elevate culture, and scale with clarity and confidence. Known for her relational approach, operational depth, and passion for helping organizations grow, Stephanie specializes in taking a leader’s vision and turning it into a clear, actionable reality. She equips teams and organizations to thrive with purpose, alignment, and measurable impact.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• How company culture was reflected in the customer experience and feedback
• How an unexpected interview question was a great predictor for culture fit
• How metrics like customer retention and crew expenses became clear signs of culture at work location by location
• Why clarity about roles, processes, values, and culture is essential to scaling up
• How values and culture inform decision-making from process changes to staffing to entering new markets
• Why leaders need to let go of the “family feel” mindset and build compassionate teams

Learn More About Stephanie Henderson:

• Impact Driven Partners

Learn More About Heather Smith:

• Talent Elevated

Resources:

• Entrepreneurial Operating System

When companies achieve significant growth, a strong cultural foundation is key to the long-term success and sustainability of that scale.

My guest today, WoundCentrics COO Stuart Oertli, saw culture eroding after significant company growth. As WoundCentrics expanded, they also saw employee turnover rise to over 50%, and that churn was eating into energy and resources, negatively impacting the culture and morale of their teams.

Over the last few years, Stuart has focused on developing a strong company culture that will set the foundation for continued growth. He has found that while culture might seem like a soft skill, it is absolutely connected to and significantly impacts the bottom line.

Today, we’re talking about the systems he has put in place to improve communication throughout the company, gather better-quality feedback, and a surprising process from hospital settings that they’ve adapted across all their teams.

After receiving his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch, Stuart Oertli spent ten years at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in progressive rehabilitation leadership roles. Upon completing his graduate degree in clinical practice management, he left the Texas Medical Center to experience a variety of acute and post-acute care leadership roles including Director of Rehabilitation at Blessing Hospital in affiliation with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, as a regional manager for HCR ManorCare, in rehabilitation leadership at St. David's HealthCare and as Executive Director of Post-Acute Services for Covenant Health. Stuart joined WoundCentrics in 2015 as Chief Operating Officer, leading expansion into 12 states, more than 100 facilities, and 400 employees, including 65 medical providers.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• The direct impacts of cultural problems on finances and operations
• How the Influencers Council has positively shifted decision-making and communication processes away from a top-down mentality
• Why turnover rate is a key metric of the success of cultural changes
• How town halls and specific training for more effective staff meetings have improved internal communications
• How “hospital rounds” have been adapted for all staff for check-ins, feedback, and recognition
• The impact on team members of receiving simple but personal thank yous from leadership
• The biggest trap for implementing cultural changes that a leader can fall into

Learn More About Stuart Oertli:

• WoundCentrics
• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn More About Heather Smith:

• Talent Elevated

Resources:

•  Sands Leadership Assessment for Values

Many people talk about and recognize the importance of employee culture. But when it comes to identifying and defining what employee culture is, a lot of people struggle.

At Talent Elevated, we define culture  as shared attitudes, norms, behaviors, and beliefs. This is a broad definition, but it covers the many ways we bump into each other within organizations.

As my guest today, executive coach Dr. Kathy Crockett shares, the teams she works with will describe issues in relationships or in character or misalignments between people, but don’t necessarily describe those in terms of employee culture.

In our conversation, we’ll talk about why fostering an employee culture that supports strategic goals is vital to success and sustainability, how respect and trust lay the foundation for relationships at work, and how executives can empower their teams to take individual action towards intentional culture.

Dr. Kathy Crockett is an executive coach and partners with organizations in customized strategic planning, employee leadership development, speaking and training. She has served as a university professor in business for over 25 years. She also served as Interim President for an organization that had an unexpected crisis and worked to transition the organization to new leadership. Kathy is chair of the board for the Pure Hope Foundation and an executive board member for Parkridge Medical Clinic and Mission Lazarus.

Listen to the full episode to hear:

• Why culture is at the core of sustainable results, even through challenging times
• How intentional culture supports strategic decision-making throughout an organization
• Why organizations need to be able to document culture as well as performance
• How executive fatigue and overpacked schedules get in the way of culture building
• How trust, or lack thereof, impacts leaders and organizations
• How leaders can facilitate productively considering strategy and culture together

Learn More About Dr. Kathy Crockett:

• Kathy Crockett + Co
• Connect on LinkedIn

Learn More About Heather Smith:

• Talent Elevated

Resources:

• FranklinCovey
• The 13 Behaviours of High Trust - FranklinCovey
• BRAVING Definitions - Brené Brown