At Feed Media Group, we are not your traditional B2B tech company – we are a Music As A Service (MaaS) platform. We’ve streamed over half a billion streams in the first half of the year across our suite of products (Feed.fm, Feed Originals, and Adaptr). Our goal is to make it simple for businesses to license popular music by taking care of the curating, licensing, and compliance behind the scenes. We support brands of all sizes across health, fitness, retail, and more.
I joined the team at the start of 2022, and like many, I was unfamiliar with the intricacies of the music industry. As the team’s only recruiter, it was essential that I get a better understanding of our work and what makes us unique, so I dove right in. I scheduled one-on-one chats (which I called cafecitos as an homage to my Latinx culture and love for coffee) and spent time getting to know my colleagues, their stories, motivations, and contributions to FMG.
Through this experience, I learned that we are a team of mission-driven creatives from diverse backgrounds, working interdependently as we are empowered to grow within FMG. Unsurprisingly, our diverse working backgrounds provide a variety of perspectives, transferable skills, and a more holistic approach to our work, which allows us to thrive collectively. The commonalities you’ll find amongst the team paradoxically come from our unique and diverse backgrounds. Many of us identify as universal generalists, having worked as baristas, sales professionals, social media mavens, customer service experts, professional musicians, and marketers.
Prior to transitioning to recruiting, I started my career in the nonprofit sector doing everything from program coordination to social media marketing and fundraising. While most companies might solely focus on my two years of tech recruiting experience, FMG was able to identify my transferable skills and gave me the opportunity to build the foundation for recruiting. My manager, Lauren Pufpaf, focuses on a candidate’s attitude, Adaptability Quotient (AQ), and overall energy as much as their related experience.
In the last seven months, I’ve had the opportunity to expand my recruiting and talent acquisition experience. Through this, we were able to grow our team to 40 employees. I’ve grown the team in such a way that 70% of new hires have come from historically underrepresented backgrounds. I’ve also revamped our hiring process, facilitated training sessions, and improved our employer brand. None of this would’ve been possible without the support and trust from my team.
‘It starts with your own company and the environment and culture you create. I take employee experience very seriously, and, in fact, one of our strategic pillars is to “create an environment in which every employee learns and thrives.” We want to help people learn, do more, and consistently grow so that we can positively impact their entire careers.’ – Lauren Pufpaf, President/COO.
This is a testament to the culture of empowerment at FMG, where we are given full ownership of our work with a leadership team that is invested in our growth. FMG not only promotes growth, but we also promote wellness through unique company perks like a free personal trainer.
As a community, we strive to nurture a healthy and sustainable work environment where we:
- Encourage and celebrate work-life balance. Our company makes this possible through ROWE (Results Only Work Environment), no-meeting Fridays, and unlimited PTO. I personally love to see team members share pictures of their vacations, stay-cations, and many explorations. Living vicariously through them, like Joe Garcia, one of our full-stack engineers who is living on the road with his partner. Read more about their adventures in The Garcia’s Moving Castle.
- We seek to understand each other. Recently, we took this a step further by conducting a company-wide Everything DiSC assessment, a workplace communications style assessment. This process helps us better understand ourselves while also appreciating and valuing differences in others. It also serves as a guide for how to readily adapt to the unique needs of each person or situation we encounter.
- Provide the professional development resources that you need in order for you to feel supported and thrive. In my second week at work, my manager offered me the opportunity to work with a coach through Strive, which is available for all of our employees. Special shout out to my coach, Kathleen Kirkish. It has been my pleasure working with you the last 6 months through Franklin Covey / Strive!
At FMG, you have to be a self-learner who takes ownership, a great collaborator, and someone who enjoys working autonomously. Our NPS employee satisfaction surveys are conducted bi-annually to make sure that every employee has an opportunity to help drive programs and that their feedback is taken seriously. In fact, our quarterly team activities and bi-weekly water coolers came about directly from employee survey feedback. It’s affirming to see a leadership team that listens and executes. Hear more from our team when you check out our Glassdoor reviews.
In my experience, companies like FMG are hard to come by. See a position that looks like a fit for you? Take advantage of this unique opportunity to join the team, or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up to date on company updates and new opportunities.
