As CEO at StackCommerce, Don LeBlanc understands the responsibility of his role — and the power that comes with it to forge an inspiring company culture.
Not only is LeBlanc responsible for setting the vision and strategy for the B2B2C company, but he also takes pride in helping build authentic connections between employees. In short, he wants everyone to feel valued.
“A healthy work environment is crucial for the success of any organization,” he said. “By fostering a positive culture, companies can create a supportive atmosphere that boosts employee morale and motivation. This creates a win-win situation where the company benefits from its employees’ increased dedication and productivity.”
WHAT DOES STACKCOMMERCE DO?
StackCommerce is a commerce and content platform. Its B2B2C model serves various customers across digital channels, helping consumers discover products and services directly on the news and content sites they engage with.
While the role of CEO might seem far removed from individual contributors, LeBlanc understands the importance of practicing what he preaches. Open communication across all levels is a major focus at the company, and being able to turn to leadership for advice, help or even to pitch fresh ideas creates a shared sense of purpose among teams. This openness also makes employees feel supported to pursue individual interests or even switch roles to enrich their professional journeys.
“It’s important to me that we foster a collaborative, engaging and hard-working culture that breeds success and delivers upon the growth aspirations of our Stackers,” LeBlanc said. “Along the way, our team continues to define how the intersection of commerce and content can create value for our partners and the consumers we reach — leaving their mark in an exciting industry and gaining perspective they can take with them throughout their careers.”
Even with the current state of the tech market in 2023, it’s apparent that the attention to professional development at StackCommerce is paying off. After acquiring direct-to-consumer companies BrandCycle and The Fascination in 2022, StackCommerce has big plans on the horizon — and they’ll get there together.
“We do work hard, but we are a fun team to work hard with,” LeBlanc added. “We’re very approachable here at Stack!”
How do you build team culture?
We are lucky to have a wonderful culture coordinator on our HR team who helps build our distributed community at Stack. We make every other team sync about people, host culture events every month that get people on a video call just to have some fun, and try our best to host everyone together in person a few times a year. This past September, we took a company cruise to Mexico, and we’re looking forward to more team-bonding meetups in the future.
Maintaining a healthy work-life balance and preventing burnout is top of mind as we consider what resources are needed to ensure all employees feel supported.”
How do you help your team grow their careers? What tools and support do you offer to allow them to stretch their skills?
I encourage my team to get involved with anything they may be interested in here. Employees have a safe space to speak to their managers about transitioning to other roles or teams here, which is something we’ve seen often and it’s a great way for Stackers to experience growth that would typically require someone to find a new job.
We make career-path changes within the company accessible for the team, and it’s something we’re quite proud of. We bring the growth mindset to our internships as well by hosting lunch-and-learns that allow senior staff to connect with students and provide value that would otherwise be hard to gain.
What are you most excited about accomplishing with your team in the next year?
Balancing workloads, reorganizing teams, addressing growth challenges, and optimizing efficiency are key priorities for us. We acquired two companies recently so we’re growing very quickly, and we want to ensure the team feels supported. Maintaining a healthy work-life balance and preventing burnout is top of mind as we consider what resources are needed to ensure all employees feel supported. As we integrate teams and workflows across lines of business, we’ll identify areas for improvement and assess where we can implement new methods or technology to keep everyone not just afloat, but thriving.
Working at Stack often has a huge impact on someone’s career because there are no shortages of opportunities to learn.”
What is the employee value proposition for those thinking about joining StackCommerce? What impact does working there have on someone’s career?
Stack offers a collaborative environment that encourages growth opportunities. Our employees love to discuss how much they’ve grown in their careers since starting here and how this group of people is some of the best they’ve worked with.
Working at Stack often has a huge impact on someone’s career, not just because we really encourage folks to pursue their passions even when that includes switching departments, but because there are no shortages of opportunities to learn. Our business is unique and has a lot of exciting elements to explore — it’s a great place for the curious to build their resume. We love watching teammates “graduate” from Stack and start new journeys because they’re always successful, and it’s a joy to see them continue to grow.
