The past two years have been transformative for Ekos. From raising our Series A in late 2019, to celebrating our seven-year anniversary in 2021, and navigating the challenges of a pandemic in between — we’ve certainly been busy. Not to mention that we’ve more than doubled our headcount and moved into a new office.
All of this growth is exciting, but it also impacts who we are as a company — from day-to-day processes to our workplace culture. As we prepare for the next phase of growth, we knew it was time to revisit our company mission, vision, and values to make sure they reflect who we are today and who we hope to be in the future.
Our Vision
Empower craft makers to focus on what they love.
Our vision is our “why.” It is the reason we get up every morning, the reason we work hard every day, and sometimes the reason we can’t sleep in the middle of the night. We are hyper-focused on our reason for being, which starts and ends with our customers. This has always been at the heart of Ekos, but this refresh provides the opportunity to double down and re-commit. Everything we do is to serve this vision of empowering craft makers to focus on what they love. We’ll do the hard part, so they can enjoy the craft of making beverages and growing their businesses.
Our Mission
Deliver a connected ecosystem that enables craft makers to power growth and drive efficiencies in their businesses.
Next up is our mission statement — the purpose of our company. This is what we are trying to achieve and the benefit we bring to the communities we serve. Ekos has always been about creating an ecosystem (it’s right there in our name!), but we are getting closer than ever to that reality. ICYMI, our CEO Josh McKinney wrote a blog post all about the ecosystem we are creating for craft beverage businesses.
Ekos Values
Once our north star was identified, it was time to look at how we will bring our mission to life. What are the core characteristics that we want our employees to embody? What are the standards to which we will hold ourselves? What are the words that we live by every day?
With these questions in mind, our leadership team determined the values that captured the spirit of the Ekos culture. As we grow from 50 employees to 100 and beyond, we want to hold onto the things that serve us and adopt new ideas that will propel us forward.
We’re thrilled to introduce our new values, but we’re even more excited about how they will become a part of our company fabric in the coming weeks, months, and years. We’ll be celebrating with a launch party, new swag, and a fresh set of Slack emojis — you know, the important stuff. On a more serious note, we’re also working to incorporate our values into our performance review and interview processes so we can ensure that all Ekos employees are held to the same standards and encouraged to put our values into practice.
Without further ado, introducing Ekos’s core company values:
When our customers win, we win.
Focus on the customer. We listen, understand our customers’ needs, and empower them to grow their businesses.
We are one team.
Together, we are more than the sum of our parts. We seek opportunities to serve others, collaborate, and build community, both inside and outside of Ekos.
Be courageous.
Be truthful, clear, and transparent in all interactions. We aren’t afraid to speak up and have difficult conversations, and always communicate with empathy, integrity, and concern for others.
Say it, do it.
Take action, take ownership, and move quickly in decision-making. We hold ourselves and others accountable for following through on commitments and delivering results.
Be better than yesterday.
Successful people are excited and energized by progress. We are creative, curious, and resilient as we imagine innovative solutions, take calculated risks, and build the future of Ekos.
Craft a balanced life.
Work-life balance isn’t just a buzzword. We stay energized by balancing our personal and professional lives in a healthy way.
