Image by Mike Wu

Belonging is a basic human desire that motivates us. It is a strong emotional need that drives us to start and be a part of families, communities, movements. It gives us a chance to give and receive attention from one another.

“I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: The only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.” – Albert Schweitzer

We spend most of our adult lives working. Where we work is very important and is one of the first places we look for belonging. It is often cited that people will choose companies that are purposeful, mission driven, and have a strong culture. Personally, as my career has progressed, I’ve increasingly had a desire to find companies that are mission driven, having an audacious goal to do something that improves the lives of others is meaningful to me. Prior to joining where I currently work, I was advising/consulting with a number of startups. I ended up joining the founding team at VSCO because Joel and Greg (VSCO’s founders) had a compelling vision to bring the creative community around the world together. Over the last 4 years, I’ve had the opportunity to interview dozens and dozens of potential candidates within our engineering and product teams.

“The mission and purpose of VSCO drew me in, celebrating creativity and humanity is a big hairy audacious goal I want to be a part of.”

One of the questions we ask all candidates is “Why VSCO?”, there are many great companies in the Bay Area that you can find, what is it about VSCO that motivated you to interview with us? Their answer, while somewhat varied, was almost always “The mission and purpose of VSCO drew me in, celebrating creativity and humanity is a big hairy audacious goal I want to a part of.”

For those of us who are so fortunate and blessed to be able decide where we want to work and what we want to do in our careers, I challenge us to be bold and not be afraid to look for a company that is doing something that matters, being part of something that is bigger than ourselves. Have the audacity to think big and do something great.

And if you happen to be in the Bay Area and are looking for something that matters, please come by VSCO and see what we are doing and consider joining us in our adventure to celebrate creativity enabling those around us to create, discover and connect.