The Adaptability of Startup Culture—Stacey Bedford, Bandzoogle (Ep 31)

“When you stop focusing on the bottom line and you prioritize adding value for both customers and staff, everything else will move in the right direction.”
—Stacey Bedford

Stacey Bedford is the CEO of Bandzoogle, an all-in-one professional website platform for musicians and bands. Ten years ago when Stacey started with Bandzoogle she was in tech support. She shares with me her journey to becoming CEO all while putting people, both customers and staff, first.

Adaptability has always been critical to startups, particularly to Bandzoogle as the nature of the music industry changes frequently. During our current challenging times Bandzoogle have had to pivot again, on multiple fronts, and Stacey shares how they are adapting their services for customers while their staff work remotely (many with children at home as well). We talk about building culture, supporting employee wellness, beekeeping and much more.

Episode Highlights

We start by talking about how the pandemic has altered their day to day business (02:20) and go on to discuss:

• (03:42) The early days in a startup
• (07:30) Her journey from tech support to CEO
• (09:50) Their culture of customer-first
• (17:30) Adapting to the changing needs of artists and the industry
• (30:05) Advice for businesses new to working remotely
• (37:55) Challenges on paper vs. reality
• (42:10) Supporting employee wellness in flexible ways.

Mentioned in this Episode

• Bandzoogle
• Balance The Grind article on Stacey