What we don’t all share? A state or city. A zip or even area code. We come from all walks of life, all lifestyles, all interests.

That’s our secret sauce, actually. We all recognize that we are greater than the sum of our parts, so we strive every day to hold space for one another and our clients and fill it with kindness, honesty, gratitude, fun, and integrity.

And while we don’t take ourselves seriously, we take those values very seriously.

As such, we recognize that our people are our lifeblood. Our boots-on-the-ground. The wind beneath our wings. We could go on but … you get the point.

11VEN is headquartered in Atlanta, but our team is spread out across 48 states in the U.S. because in not-so-shocking news, the workforce has changed a lot since the Industrial Revolution. So while many companies don’t have conveyor belts and assembly lines anymore, they still operate like they do – and treat their employees like they do, too. In fact, if you think about what offices look like today, it’s the same thing: They put people in lines of cubicles and put managers around them to make sure they’re doing what they need to do.

Not 11VEN.

Think of us as Sam-I-Am: We know our people can work their magic from near to far and here to there. We trust our people to work from anywhere.

11VEN was created with every person who had become disillusioned with working in an office in mind. For all those who considered leaving to take care of their families but always felt something was missing.

Remote work is here, and we’re proud to lead the charge in disrupting the status quo and dismantling the ‘way things have always been done.’ The future is now. So the more people told us we couldn’t create a virtual culture, the more we believed we could.

Our culture is not Secret Santa gift exchanges, karaoke contests, Nerf gun fights, catered food truck lunches or a zip-lining outward-bound excursion with co-workers. It’s not ping pong tables, fully-stocked beer fridges, and nap pods.

Though admittedly, those things are decidedly awesome (and we’ve totally done all of those things except ping pong).

But culture is not environmental ornamentation.

Since 2010, we’ve proven that a shared vision – not a shared space – creates a culture. Our collective sense of belonging ensures we all identify with our mission, vision and values.

We’ve won major culture and business awards from prominent national magazines and outlets despite the fact that not a single one of our team members shares an office. Why? Because we understand how culture is really created. So we instill our mission and values of gratitude, teamwork, vision, passion, fun, and God into every one of our nearly 1,200 remote workforce team members.

We know that culture isn’t something that you can see, taste, touch, or smell; it is the only environment that you can feel. It’s that feeling in the pit of your stomach when you dread going to work or the excitement you feel when you’re actually eager to go to work. For us – and this may seem contrived – not being encumbered by having to go to an office every day means we really, truly have fun working together.

And our vibrant culture makes it possible.

It’s inextricably linked to our vision with no margin for ‘kinda sorta’ cultural commitments; you’ve got to be all in. Our culture is a hum. A verve. A vibe. An electricity.

So in everything we do, in all that we are, we are our culture. Our people are our culture. And everything else falls perfectly into place.