Stack Professionals: What is a Cultural Curator?

Hi! I’m Anna, your StackSocialite guest blogger for the day.

When I relocated to Cali last year, I intentionally set out to work with a startup so that I could have the opportunity to wear many hats. Starting with StackSocial, I had the title of Office Manager for about a week before being renamed “Cultural Curator” (a.k.a. The Glue), because it was more all-encompassing of my broad range of work projects. Recently, I was also named the Senior Manager of Human Resources, but that’s not nearly as exciting to discuss; so let’s talk about Cultural Curation some more!

Many people have asked me “What is a Cultural Curator” and “What do you actually do!?” Before a company needs to hire full time positions of benefits advisor, recruiter, accounts payable/accounts receivable, travel agent, quality assurance, photographer, events manager, etc., it’s easier to have one multi-skilled person to manage all of these tasks.

I feel that our generation of Millennials have a high value not only for work:life balance, but also for work-life balance.  It’s not enough to have fun on nights and weekends; we want to really love our time spent working since we know that’s the majority of our waking adult life. It’s my pleasure to foster that positive experience for everyone at StackSocial (intermittently among all the other tasks).

As Cultural Curator, I aim to do everything I can to make sure everyone’s taken care of at the office by trying to stay tuned into people’s happiness or unhappiness & doing something about it if I can!  This involves:

• Sourcing the brightest people who are the best cultural fit for StackSocial
• Selecting equipment, arranging workstations, keeping supplies stocked
• Keeping the office space pleasant with temperature, lighting, music, cleanliness
• Celebrating birthdays & company successes with small parties
• Planning monthly social events ranging from beach volleyball to hitting a happy hour
• Stocking the office with fun things like stand-up paddle-boards & bean-bag-toss games

Really though, an office’s culture is defined & created by everyone’s collective contribution.  I can only do so much and do not attempt to take credit for many of the unique things that define the Stack Life (push-up competitions, “let’s go!” chanting, etc.), but it’s fun to be the one who’s job it is to say “Stop working! it’s time for some mandatory fun!”