Our Purpose
We exist to rid the world of toxic cultures so that people can lead more impactful and fun lives.
Our Values
These values make our company unique. We believe that every employee wants to make a difference and wants their work to matter. Our work helps to foster that belief - we create cultures that work.
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We're Responsive
We appreciate your lived experiences and adapt our approach to directly support where you’ve come from, where you’re at, and where you ultimately want to go.
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We're Results-Focused
We bring a proven rigor to our process and systematically measure cultural improvements, so you can validate your investment and sleep easier.
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We're Fun
We skip the pretense and ego so that you can comfortably show up as yourself, have disarmingly good conversations, and walk away thinking, “Well, I didn’t hate that.”
We Believe…
You have a culture, whether you have designed it or not.
Your values really freaking matter.
Your culture doesn’t have to be squishy.
Your culture is a critical element of success.
Your culture is more than Ping Pong tables and happy hours.
Your culture is not an initiative you can “fix” with a retreat.
Our Team
J. Forrest
FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT
J. has spent his career working in organization development. He believes bringing teams together on purpose, values and plans creates togetherness which results in making work more impactful and fun.
He has been employed by the two-time World Champion Minnesota Twins, St. Olaf College, inSOURCE HR Consulting and Xcel Energy Inc. In 2006, he started our firm – Employee Strategies to rid the world of toxic cultures. What that really means is, J. helps growth-minded leaders and their employees create cultures that work.
J. holds a bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College in Political Science and Speech Communication & a Master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in Human Resource Development. His primary clients have included Surly Brewing Co, CaringBridge, the City of Minneapolis, SuperClean and Family Offices. But make no mistake about it, you are all his favorites.
A dad, a husband, a son, an uncle and a neighbor, J. lives with his family in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He loves implementing his organization development initiatives as a youth sports coach for Minneapolis Storm Hockey and Minneapolis Millers Baseball. And a fun-fact, while it took 26 years, he has seen a game at each Major League Ballpark.
Spencer Nierenhausen
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT
Spencer believes in helping others in meaningful ways and doing the right thing even when it’s hard. She welcomes the challenge of creating order out of a messy situation or project to ultimately improve workplace culture.
On the weekends, Spencer enjoys spending time with her husband & son, biking and hiking, or doting on their two rescue dogs, and hell-cat, Boo.
Lauryn Petersen
PRINCIPAL DESIGNER
Lauryn enjoys bringing creativity to her work as the principal designer. She believes design is an important aspect of the workplace to create and identify values that align with an organization. She makes good ideas look as good as they sound.
Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her husband and kids, relaxing at the family cabin and traveling.
Andy Zimney
PRINCIPAL ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT
Andy focuses on leading and guiding teams to create cultures that work. He has found that every team shares three basic truths: every team exists to create a result, every team wants to succeed and every team has a unique culture at work.
Over the last 20+ years, Andy has worked as a senior executive, entrepreneur, and professional improviser. He’s worked with clients from a wide range of industries and sectors including Lifetouch, Blue Cross Blue Shield, the City of Minneapolis, National Children’s Alliance, and the Shannon Leadership Institute. As an experienced facilitator and stage performer, Andy is a firm believer in the power of transformative experiences and approaches every project with collaboration, reflection, and meaning change in mind.
Andy is a proud graduate of St. John’s University, a Certified Team Performance Coach, and a highly rated keynote speaker specializing in presentations on developing Innovative Cultures.
In his free time, you can find Andy camping with his wife and three kids, out for a run, at the ball field cheering on the Twins or his son, or maybe even in his neighbor's garage singing some karaoke.
Listen to Andy speak about creativity, change, & innovation.