Culture by Design, Not Default

Featuring Tannum Sullivan - Senior Manager, People Experience & Culture at Rentspree. Hosted by Leah Cottham. Duration: ~55 min

ABOUT THIS EPISODE

From radio studios to building people experience at scale, Tannum Sullivan shares how authentic storytelling, employer branding, and a commitment to progress over perfection shape thriving distributed teams.

WHAT WE COVER

1. From Retail to People Experience: How Tannum carved out an employer brand function that didn't exist - by pitching a job description to the CPO in his second week, and just running with it.
2. The Employee Podcast Playbook: Why a simple Google Meet recording became one of the most powerful tools for employee engagement, employer brand content, and connecting introverted team members.
3. Hands-On vs. Strategic Thinking: The tension between doing the work and seeing the big picture, and why Tannum's best ideas come on walks, not staring at a to-do list.
4. Bridging Seattle & Bangkok: How Rentspree builds one unified culture across two headquarters on opposite sides of the world - from "Spree Hours" to asynchronous storytelling that transcends time zones.
5. Measuring What MattersPulse surveys, emoji reactions, LinkedIn engagement - and knowing when to kill a metric that isn't actually changing how you make decisions.
6. One Culture, Many ContextsThe sweatshirt lesson: why recognition programs cannot be one-size-fits-all, and how asking - not assuming - keeps programs resonant across every location.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Tannum Sullivan - People Experience & Culture, Rentspree

10 years in people experience & employer brand, 4+ employer brands managed simultaneously, 2 global HQs united under one culture

Tannum brings nearly a decade of experience spanning employer brand, internal communications, employee engagement, and people experience — all rooted in the belief that companies are made of humans, not headcount. She began in radio before discovering her true passion: giving people the greatest experience while building amazing products. At Golden Hippo, she built an employer brand function from scratch across four distinct companies and cultures.

Her north star? Closed mouths don't get fed. Advocate for yourself, show up authentically, and the rest follows.

Hosted by Leah Cottham · Presented by Remofirst