Celebrating and Living Our Values

At Thumbtack, our values are everything. They are ingrained in our company’s DNA and are the core of what makes Thumbtack a great place to work. Since we launched our redefined values three years ago, they have become a central part of our culture and how we work together to achieve our mission — to help everyone do their life’s work with joy and purpose. They serve as a compass for who we recruit, how we assess our performance, and how we reward and celebrate our people.

Living Our Values — Thumbtack Values Awards

Leading up to our inaugural Camp Thumbtack last month, we chose to amplify our values by shining a light on Thumbtackers who live them to the fullest. We rallied Thumbtack employees across the company to nominate their colleagues. We asked them, “Who at Thumbtack really leads with why, makes it count, owns it, chooses teamwork and says what they mean?” What resulted was the Thumbtack’s Values Awards — an annual Camp tradition that will live on for years to come.

We’re excited to share this year’s winners and highlight what our values mean to each of them.

Lead With Why Winner:

Adrian Amrine, Senior Market Researcher at Thumbtack over a year

The “lead with why” value at Thumbtack is one I have particularly always cherished about our culture. Beyond my profession within Market Research, in which asking “why” is a fundamental pillar, this value has aligned with my work by ensuring that our company goals, big or small, are always in mind. For me personally, giving the reason behind “the why” has allowed me to help connect the dots between cross-functional teams and ensure that research is backed with our users in mind. I am honored to work for a company that has this value!

While I have had a relatively short tenure at Thumbtack, it has been filled with great success that is largely in part to having leaders that push me forward, remove roadblocks along the way, and allow me to do my best work. My EPAD (Engineering, Product Management, Analytics and Design) leaders, including Porter and Dan, have particularly been huge supporters of Market Research and the value it brings to the organization. They have supported my ambitious goals of getting a Brand Health Tracker, Segmentation, and Target Customer defined within the first year of my employment at Thumbtack. But overall, the company culture has allowed me to feel a level of autonomy that has allowed me to grow both personally and professionally. I am excited about my future at Thumbtack!

Make It Count Winner:

Coreen Riley, Assistant Controller at Thumbtack for 5.5 years

A big piece of our culture, and something that’s reiterated over and over again across the org., is to evaluate what you’re doing and why you’re doing it. With that in mind, I am in a constant state of evaluating and reprioritizing what I’m working on to ensure that everything I do “counts” and supports the businesses’ main goals while keeping Thumbtack in compliance.

Joining Thumbtack was like getting on a fast-moving train that has never slowed down — it’s the hardest and most rewarding job I’ve ever had. I’m constantly learning and being pushed to problem solve projects across the organizations that most of the time I’ve never faced. The best part is that I have the support to work on things I may not know the answer to. I’m provided with opportunities to solve problems with amazing collaboration from IT, HR, Product and Engineering. The support and encouragement to take ownership is how I know that Thumbtack is invested in my future and growth as a professional.

From a personal perspective, most of my major life events have happened while I was at Thumbtack, from getting engaged to married and then having my first baby. I can never express in words how grateful I am to be at a place that not only cares about my output, but also cares about how I am as a person, and all the many other hats I wear outside of work.

Own It Award Winner:

Bharadwaj Ramachandran, Software Engineer at Thumbtack for 6 years

To me, “own it” means broadening what I think I can do in my role. People here are empowered to own their ideas from end to end. If I have an idea that spans 3 teams outside of my own, and goes way beyond my current scope, I still feel like I can pitch that idea. If there’s a problem happening in a different part of the organization that I know the answer to, I’m allowed to help. If I’m the engineer on a project, I’m encouraged to interact with every single person on that project: researchers, customer support, designers, analysts, economists, finance, sales, and end users. Likewise, if I’m trying to be the best engineer I can be, getting feedback to be a great interviewer, blog post writer, and technical communicator is also critical. I think this mindset helps us work across team and role boundaries more effectively, and it has personally taught me a lot about the business.

I’ve been fortunate to have an incredible group of mentors and managers at Thumbtack throughout my time here. They’ve helped me navigate switching teams, taking on bigger roles, and ultimately helped me work on projects that ended up being very personally fulfilling. A recent example would be my transition to tech lead of the Matching team. My manager had been the tech lead of the team immediately prior, and balanced giving advice with allowing me to learn by doing. I’ve also been fortunate to make many friends across the company, and it’s been a pleasure to learn from so many of them on a daily basis.

Choose Teamwork Award Winner:

JD Norton, Director, Internal Communications at Thumbtack for 3.5 years

Choosing teamwork means that you make sure that decisions are not made in a vacuum and that as many voices as possible are represented and heard. It means that you put the team and Thumbtack above yourself in all that you do. You think outside of your function and know how decisions will potentially affect others. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together” — I prefer to go far.

I’ve always been one who likes to try new things and do things differently than they’ve been done before. I like to push boundaries and look at things from different angles. Thumbtack encourages this and is open to this. They encourage me to do scary things that might pay off, and if they don’t, know that those are learning opportunities. I have never worked anywhere that values me for my quirks and encourages me to bring my true self to work every day quite like Thumbtack. Our differences make us stronger and this has never been more true than here at Thumbtack. This actually allows me to focus solely on the work I am doing, rather than worrying about making sure I am “dressing for the role I want” or other silly unspoken corporate “rules” to ensure success climbing the corporate ladder.

Say What You Mean Award Winner:

Fredrik Richardson, Enablement Program Manager at Thumbtack for 2 years

Of our 5 company values, “say what you mean” resonates most with me. I feel like this value is at the core of building trust and making the right decision. The existing mechanics of our society have made it too easy to hide behind the crafted images and ideas we sell over social media, virtual interactions, and limited exchanges. These false shells are confusing and can fill you with uncertainty. How do you know how to move forward when you can’t trust the information you are presented with?

Saying what you mean can only be done if you trust yourself and recognize that your thoughts and ideas are valid — especially when you feel at your worst. You also need to trust that the people you interact with will not be destroyed by what you have to say. On the flip side, you must also be willing to create a space for others to share who they are and be empathetic to their journey.

I have been very lucky to have some amazing people in my life who have helped me learn the strength that comes with vulnerability and the confidence that comes with knowing that the path you are on, even if it is a difficult one, is the path that was meant for you and will ultimately lead you to where you need to be.

Thumbtack has provided some amazing spaces for its diverse employee voices to be heard — from multiple ERGs, regular Courageous Conversations, and continual efforts to reward those who authentically share themselves. With each coworker who has the strength to risk truly being seen, it becomes that much easier to add my thoughts and contribute to Thumbtack’s direction and make it a company that I can be proud to work for.

We’re thrilled to celebrate Thumbtackers who live our values every day. Our values are our North Star — they guide everything from our culture to our business decisions. Congratulations again to Adrian, Coreen, Bharadwaj, JD and Fredrik. We’re thankful for all you do and look forward to continuing our annual tradition of celebrating our values award winners for years to come.

We’re hiring inspired folks who embrace our values. Check out our opportunities at www.thumbtack.com/careers.