B.Y.O.S.: Bring Your Own Self to Work
What Asking Employees to Be Themselves at Work Looks Like at Plum Organics
Great work perks are just that — great. But to truly harness each employee’s potential, diverse outlook and to give them a space to become their best self (and thus, the best employee they can be), Plum Organics has integrated the core value of Bring Your Own Self into its company culture. And that means a lot to the company’s employees.
A former U.S. Naval officer who now leads an innovation team for a baby and toddler food company. A Moroccan immigrant pursuing her dream of making delicious organic food products to improve childhood nutrition. A health and nutrition coach who leads brand engagement and marketing communications. Meet a few of the employees of Plum Organics, a Certified B Corp and leader in organic baby food that “makes the very best food from the very first bite.”
Plum Organics has about 100 employees sprinkled across the country, from their Bay Area headquarters to a satellite office in New York. The company recognizes the value of the experiences those employees have from their outside-of-work hours, as parents and husbands and sisters and snackers and storytellers (who like to bring their dogs to work sometimes).
One of Plum’s core values is B.Y.O.S. — Bring Your Own Self. For potential hires, the value is laid out this way: “When you walk through our doors, we expect you to bring your whole, real, delightfully original self. Bring your quirks, your colors, your talents, your passion, your experience and your pride. You’re the person we hired. No one else will do.”
This includes a handful of perks, to be sure, including welcoming kids and dogs (“fur babies”) at the open-office headquarters. The perks are regularly evaluated by — you guessed it — the employees, and modifications are made based on employee feedback. And the commitment goes deeper, all the way to the company’s creation of a Workplace of the Future guide, including downloadable worksheets, for businesses hoping to integrate more employee development, satisfaction and inclusion.
And for the employees, the work-life balance and integration can be a game-changer. It turns out, being respected and seen as a full person at work provides opportunities to contribute in unexpected ways. (Remember that U.S. Naval officer on the innovation team?)
Below are a few examples of how bringing their own selves to work has helped Plum employees’ lives, and how it has fueled the company’s success. You can meet more of Plum’s employees on the company’s blog.
From Food Philosophy to Brand Engagement
Katie Sobel
“I’ve always been fascinated by the fact, that when you really start to think about it, a child is built by what their birth mother eats. And, from the very beginning, food plays such an integral role in all of our lives,” says Katie Sobel, vice president of brand engagement and marketing communications for Plum. “I am a trained health coach and one of the very first hires at Plum.”
“When I first joined Plum, I was intrigued by the potential of the space. As somebody who had so many early childhood food issues, I loved the idea of working for a company that was going to tackle it from the beginning. I truly understood that if you don’t set your child up from the start, it’s an uphill battle from there.
“I follow the food — I work a lot on the position and brand strategy and ultimately what we want to offer to the consumer. Then i get to follow that product all the way through to when we communicate it out through our marketing. I get to be passionate about food — especially early childhood food — and being a part of our community. The parenting space, the early childhood wellness space, is in this incredible moment in time where there’s a lot of illumination around it, so I really feel like I’m part of something that’s impacting a lot of lives.
“And, now, as an expecting mom, it just feels full circle.”
From Morocco to R&D Technologist
Bouchra Nafi-Krause
“I am an immigrant from Morocco who moved to the U.S. in 2008. I believe that dreams come true with continuous hard work. While enrolled as a full-time student at a community college, I was working three jobs and had no time to rest. These restless years led me to want to learn more about nutrition and health, so I could better take care of myself.
“After I transferred to California Polytechnic Institute in San Luis Obispo, I decided to join a field where I can make a better/healthier product and studied Food Science. I believe this work is very important to health because prevention is better than a cure. Today, I am the R&D Technologist at Plum Organics where I use all I have learned to make healthy, delicious food for little ones.
“Plum Organics consumers are the reason I joined the team. As I was preparing for my interview with Plum, I read about the mission and the food philosophy and I couldn’t picture myself working for any other company. One of the questions I asked myself while looking for a new job was, ‘How do I find myself a job I love that also pays a decent salary to afford life in the Bay Area and pay off my student loans?’ I found it difficult to be motivated when I worked for a company that was only aiming for profit. Getting out of bed was hard because there was no purpose, and doing it only for the money was not fulfilling.
“Today, I am blessed to say that Plum had given me the opportunity to look at R&D from a different angle. I want to give the best of me so that the little ones can enjoy the very first food from the very first bite starting from ingredient selection all the way to recipe development. Working for a B Corp company was the answer to make myself proud and to make my soul rich and happy.
“Life isn’t always perfect. Some work days are more stressful than others and this is where having a company with a social mission and a whole-self commitment to its employees come in place. During the difficult times, I often find myself going back to why I chose Plum. The warm feelings, the respect, the recognition, the motivation, the love and care we have for one another here at the workplace and for the community makes me want to be a better person everywhere I go.”
From the Navy to Director of Innovation
Marla Metz
“I joined Plum right after completing my MBA at Harvard Business School, prior to which I was an active-duty officer in the U.S. Navy. During the majority of my time in the Navy, I served aboard ships that deployed to the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea. I also completed a tour at the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, where I worked as a liaison officer to the Colombian Navy.
“As Director of Innovation at Plum, I lead the innovation team that is responsible for identifying new products to launch and then commercializing them; we essentially drive the entire development process from concept ideation to a physical product that sits on shelf.
“The Navy helped me develop strong leadership, execution, and problem-solving skills that are central to my role at Plum. The innovation role is highly cross-functional and requires an ability to define and clearly communicate the best path forward for a project team. I think the skills required to do that are very similar to those I used to lead a team of sailors to accomplish a mission, whether it be navigating a ship through a complex, dangerous environment, or coordination/direction of multiple sailors’ work streams during a combat drill, for example. Secondly, projects often encounter challenges and roadblocks. There is a certain creativity in thinking required, as well as an ability to solicit opinions of others to design a solution, that draws upon experiences in the Navy where I was looked upon to provide direction to others while maintaining view of the overall larger, strategic picture.
“It feels great knowing that we are part of the broader B Corp movement that is dedicated to redefining what the goals of big business should be: We do better by creating value for multiple stakeholders, versus just one (shareholders). In addition to helping babies whose parents buy and feed them our organic food, we are empowered to structure our internal activities and resources toward serving the babies who benefit from our donation product, and serving our employees who benefit from a higher quality of life. That type of take on traditional business is exciting and makes the work I do feel more meaningful.
“Plum embraces a flexible workstyle that demonstrates that leadership cares about my wellbeing and happiness. The flexibility and autonomy we are given has greatly increased my work-life balance, which has made me happier both at work and outside of work. I love that I can leave the office to attend a fitness class in the middle of the day or work remotely on a Thursday/Friday to maximize time spent during a trip back home. Additionally, Plum supports modern initiatives which have made my relationship with work more positive, such as diversity & inclusion training and cool professional-development opportunities.
“It’s easy to feel a strong connection to the work we do because the people of Plum are driven by a purpose, the heart of which is truly genuine. It shows on a daily basis and unifies all of us to work together to make nutrient-rich organic food for little ones.”
This article is presented by Plum Organics, who was a sponsor of this year’s B Corp Champions Retreat, held October 3 through 5 in Toronto, Ontario. Plum Organics is a leading organic baby food and toddler snack brand in the nation. From ingredient sourcing to packaging choices, Plum Organics is continually striving to reduce its carbon footprint and to ensure that our product line is pure and clean from the inside out. Plum Organics baby & tots snacks further build on these core values, by providing continued support with nutritious and simple solutions for on the go.
B the Change gathers and shares the voices from within the movement of people using business as a force for good and the community of certified B Corporations. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the nonprofit B Lab.
