BrainPOP Company Culture: Where Innovation Explodes

Company values pop up every day in Lisa Subrizi’s role as a technology and product leader. BrainPOP’s work values are etched on a wooden cube that sits on her desk for easy reference, a nod to the building blocks of company culture. “I tend to rotate it to the one I feel I need the biggest reminder of at the time,” she says. Values are also a powerful force for alignment when collaborating as a team. “Calling out when we are (or aren’t) embodying our work values can be a playful way to remind each other of them. Stopping to consider, ‘Do we know the goal?’ or ‘Are we creating simplicity?’ can be a helpful reframe or celebration when we manage to do so naturally!”

As chief creative officer, Mike Watanabe knows that leading a team of creatives requires a nuanced approach. “We all know what it’s like to not understand something, to feel lost or behind,” he said. “Everyone has to know why we do what we do — and for us, that’s turning confusion into confidence.” By intentionally making room within team culture to celebrate creative points of view, Watanabe is driven to help his employees’ work shine on their own terms. “This keeps our solutions novel, and the spark of curiosity makes it worth the extra time it takes to allow for a diversity of approaches.”