S1 E9: AllTrails CEO Ron Schneidermann Talks Hiring, Company Culture, and Proactive Communication

Maven Minds: Trailblazers of Modern Business

The rapid growth of AllTrails has required them to explore what it means to hire and build a team of individuals who all share a common purpose; connecting people with the outdoors. CEO, Ron Schneidermann, shares how they’re making hiking trails all around the world accessible for everyone while also handling the demand for improvements due to the app’s rise in popularity. He shares more about how their focus on the foundation within is what makes all the difference.

“You start with the stuff that doesn’t scale. Sometimes you need to do that. And then from there, you can build up momentum and build off of it.” – Ron Schneidermann

In this episode, Ron discusses:

• Hiring candidates that are the right cultural fit for the business
• Staying true to the mission and values of the company
• Embracing change, empowering team members, and communicating with proactive intentionality

Thought starters: How can I apply this thinking to my business?

• What are you doing to establish the culture in your business?
  Do you have guideposts in place to make sure that you are staying true to the spirit of your company and what you’re trying to do? Are you building a place that is a magnet for the people that you want to have employed there?
  
• How you are improving communication within your own walls?
  How are you helping your team to be proactive about red flags that they might see, or problems that they perceive, or sharing new ideas? Do they feel empowered to share those? Is there a space to share those?
  
• How are you setting an intention for that communication?
  Are you scheduling meetings without any purpose? How do you set that intention in advance? How do you make sure that everyone is on the same page coming in and is ready to act, ready to talk, and ready to collaborate? How do you creat those spaces for more natural collaboration?
  
• Is your business in a stage of rapid growth?
  What things are fueling that? What outside influences are fueling that? What inside things are fueling that growth? Is there something that you can be doing to any of those spaces to impact what is fueling that growth? Can you make it more efficient? More effective? Are you just standing back and watching it happen? Can you be learning from the process or documenting anything related?

Key themes

• Rapid Growth
• Company Culture
• Internal Communication
• Empowering Team

For extended show notes, resources, and ways to connect, learn more at: mavenminds.com/season-1-trailblazers

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Podcast Editor and Strategist: @episodeready