The Importance of Acceptance in Shaping Company Culture

Many factors weigh into selecting your first (or next) job, but I have learned over the course of my career that culture is one of the most important differentiators in assessing a potential employer. I’m passionate about wanting to help people through my work and having the opportunity to get involved in shaping a company’s culture has provided the opportunity to make a significant impact.

I joined Real Chemistry just over two and a half years ago after interviewing for a new position after realizing my first jobs out of university had not been good cultural fits for me. Only six months after taking the position at Real Chemistry, the pandemic began. Suddenly, we were faced with many unknowns – not least how to maintain the culture in a fully remote environment.

The first opportunity for me to get involved occurred in May 2020 when I was asked if I wanted to help plan programming for younger children of Real Chemistry employees, so our colleagues would have some time in their day to take important calls or catch up on emails. As a Senior Administrative Assistant, and someone relatively new to the company, I jumped at the opportunity to meet colleagues from different teams and different business units.

While most older children had made the switch to online learning or were able to entertain themselves, that wasn’t the case for younger children, so we set up activities such as improv class, story time and even virtual class with a retired kindergarten teacher to help keep them engaged. At the time, the program was called “W2O Kids,” and we kept activities going strong through the summer of 2020.

When the school year started again and the world had a better handle on online learning for all, W2O Kids evolved into a Business Resource Group (BRG) focused on supporting parents as they navigated the balance of work and family life. While I remained involved with the newly minted Parents Village at first, as an individual without children, I set out to become involved with a community I more closely identified with.

I first heard about Out Professionals and Allies Leading, or OPAL, our LGBTQIA+ BRG, when I saw a post about an upcoming quarterly meeting. After attending that meeting and some sponsored events/programs, I became interested in being more involved in that BRG. Initially, I hadn’t intended to apply for a leadership position with OPAL, but after some encouragement from my manager, I decided to go for it. I became the Vice President of OPAL in May 2021, almost a year after my first foray into working with our BRGs at Real Chemistry. Since then, I’ve helped manage a BRG rebrand, moderated internal and external panels, and connected colleagues at all levels across all our business units. As someone who isn’t client facing, working with the BRG has been a way for me to get to know people and learn more about what they do.

When I first joined Real Chemistry in September 2019, I wasn’t publicly out. I remember how nervous I was to attend my first OPAL meeting, but I left feeling like I was a part of something, and the existence of the group alone made it feel as though I had found a place where I could be myself. I love that, almost three years later, I’m in a position where I can welcome new members and show them the same level of acceptance that I felt from that meeting – and help positively shape the company’s culture.