Commerce Company Culture & Values

What values do you ideally want to see in an employer?

When I think about values, I want to see alignment between my personal values and those of the company. It’s not just about how work gets done, but also about what the company stands for.

When I began my journey with BigCommerce — now Commerce — over 12 years ago, I was immediately struck by how people were always at the center of everything, whether that meant our customers or our employees. That focus continues today, embodied in values like “Stronger Together” and “Customer Compass.” These values are lived out daily — through the way colleagues support one another and in how we create the best possible experiences for our customers. Personally, I’ve always been motivated by helping others, so finding a company that shares that commitment allows me to show up authentically and collaborate with peers who hold those same values, even when we’re tackling difficult, innovative challenges.

How does your employer show a commitment to some (or all) of these?

One of the strongest examples is our Awardco recognition program, which allows employees to celebrate peers who live out our values. Recognition isn’t given casually — it’s always tied back to a specific company value. This makes recognition more meaningful and it has become one of our most impactful cultural programs with the highest employee participation, especially since it spans our globally distributed teams and bridges office and remote environments.

We also live out “Stronger Together” through our long-standing employee resource groups, which have been active for over eight years. These employee-led groups foster community, celebrate diverse perspectives and create learning opportunities throughout the year.

Other programs reinforce our values in different ways. The employee funds program provides employees with an annual budget to connect — virtually or in-person — building stronger relationships across teams. The employee hubs offer spaces and dedicated times for employees who work remotely to gather, connect and collaborate in-person. Listening programs are tied to our value of “Keep It Real, Always.” We actively collect and act on employee feedback to shape our culture. 

Why is it important to you that your work (and workplace leaders) share these values? 

I’m fortunate to be in a role where I help champion our cultural values and bring them to life through programming, offerings and daily interactions. When leadership and employees are aligned on values, it creates a culture where people thrive and do their best work. Values provide a compass — they clarify who we are, how we work and what kinds of interactions define us.

Leadership alignment is especially critical. For example, during our recent unveiling of our new parent brand Commerce, we worked across three distinct brands to define four new shared company values. This wasn’t a top-down decision; it was built collaboratively through employee feedback sessions, manager forums and final input from senior leadership. The result reflects what our people value most and ensures the culture we’re building truly represents us all.