Ready for Take Off

Photo Credit: Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore is one of those people who makes you feel a whole lot better after spending time with him. He is a people-person who radiates kindness, gratitude and hopefulness, which are some of the reasons he is so good at what he does. Stephen is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Culture Booster, which he launched in 2018. They’re in business to improve work lives by improving employee engagement, which is defined as the emotional commitment an employee has to the employer and its goals. 

Before Culture Booster, Stephen was a successful consultant in leadership development and employee engagement with automotive retail groups. He was in demand and making good money, but he traveled a lot, which took him away from his family. You don’t have to know Stephen for very long to figure out that his family means everything to him. Eventually, the travel got old and hard, and he realized he needed to make a change.

It was during this time that the vision for Culture Booster took shape. Stephen knew from his consulting work that the employee engagement strategies he created really worked and were good for business. He also knew that one of the challenges to implementing and sustaining them was the ability to easily collect and manage the necessary data. 

Photo Credit: Thirdman

His vision for Culture Booster was to create an IT platform that made it easy to collect and manage data. But that’s not all, Stephen understood that the data wasn’t useful if you couldn’t make sense of it, so Culture Booster would also serve as co-pilots and neutral fact-finders for their clients to make-meaning of the data to inform decision making. There was just one big obstacle, Stephen didn’t know how to build the IT platform he envisioned.

He didn’t let that stop him, though. Stephen put a request on Facebook letting people know he was looking for someone to build the platform. You could say it was the request heard round the world, because Stephen started hearing from people as far away as India who were interested in building it for him. He worked with local IT expert, Mondo Davison, to manage and review proposals to make an informed hiring decision.

Stephen also brought on a co-founder, Josh Greenwell, who previously worked at PayPal, believed in Culture Booster’s mission, had a background in IT and experience working at a start-up. The addition of the co-founder and other staff helped fill key knowledge and experience gaps and provided a crucial part of Culture Booster’s foundation for growth. 

Stephen did not seek venture capital for Culture Booster. Instead, he has invested his own money and inspired investment from family and friends, who believe in his vision. Culture Booster has a slate of current clients, and is bringing on new ones. They are clearly ready for take off!

I asked Stephen if he has advice for someone who has a vision for a business they want to start, but it’s just wishful thinking at this point. Here is what he said:

Make the Leap

Each of us has an inner compass. Some call it a gut feeling, in the African American community, the elders would call it a “knower.” Listen to its promptings. It’s gently nudging you to make the leap, so you can experience the life you have always desired. 

Each of us has an inner voice. If it’s sharing thoughts of hope, love and kindness, embrace them. If it’s sharing thoughts of fear, worry or anxiety, acknowledge them and let them know you are going to continue on.

The journey is going to be tough. You are going to encounter challenges and setbacks. Yet, as strangely as this may sound, the resistance is refining you, teaching you and making you better. In the end, you’ll be so glad that you did. Why? Because of your leap, you made a difference in the lives of others.     

I know from following Stephen and Culture Booster on Facebook and LinkedIn that his life has not been easy. He has also been open about the challenges he has encountered as an entrepreneur. He credits the kindness, care and support he has received throughout his journey for making him the person he is and getting him to where he is in life. No wonder he started a company that is in business to help employers and employees thrive!

Learn More

Please visit Culture Booster to learn more about pricing plans and helpful resources to improve employee engagement.