Transforming Work with Sophie Wade 138: Darcy Marie Mayfield - Benefit from Remote Workers by Codifying Culture and Engineering Serendipity
Darcy Marie Mayfield is a specialist in culture architecture and experience design. Darcy shares her experiences in hospitality at Airbnb and designing systems to codify and scale company culture at early fully remote organizations. She discusses how initiatives like Tulsa Remote have revitalized cities by attracting remote workers and fostering local collaborations. From engineering serendipity to creating consistent rituals and empathetic leadership, Darcy offers actionable insights into creating inclusive, connected thriving communities and environments for remote and distributed workers and teams.
TAKEAWAYS
[01:27] Darcy's early and enduring passion is hospitality and helping people feel they belong.
[02:34] At Airbnb, Darcy pilots early remote work initiatives to explore flexible work models.
[04:06] Darcy leaves Airbnb as they lack remote work flexibility and moves to a rural area.
[04:23] TaxJar's leadership wants to take the company fully remote, so Darcy joins for the challenge.
[05:10] The vision is to build a strong company with a strong product and strong profits while people enjoy their lives.
[06:00] Darcy works with academic researchers to study and codify culture in a fully remote organization.
[06:56] How do you architect culture where there are no physical walls?
[07:40] Codifying culture for scale involves understanding the founders' DNA and origins.
[08:56] Deep listening sessions to co-create with employees and reveal how values show up.
[09:20] Transitioning from an SMB to a mid-market culture means balancing collaboration with structure.
[11:16] During the pandemic, TaxJar's remote model enables significant growth and low attrition.
[12:05] Darcy wants to help people and prove remote working works, but it gets exhausting.
[14:06] To normalize family-friendly environments, TaxJar's CEO has to set the example.
[15:00] They are proud of having top talent who are really empathetic.
[16:29] At Stripe, Darcy observes strong identity tied to the office causing hybrid work challenges.
[18:26] Redesigning hybrid work, prompting leaders to model flexibility and track energy patterns.
[19:56] Understanding offsites, her team considers how to include remote participants equitably.
[20:34] Why to create experiences for remote workers that rival office-based interactions.
[22:18] Darcy describes Tulsa Remote and attracting remote workers to boost economic growth.
[23:34] The benefits of industry diversification and reverse the brain drain for Tulsa.
[24:33] Why people choose to move to Tulsa and partnering to solve local problems.
[25:09] "Engineering serendipity" to connect remote workers with local communities.
[26:28] Piloting a workation program that fosters deep connections between participants and locals.
[28:10] The pilot program results in nine out of twelve participants moving to Tulsa.
[29:28] Darcy personalizes participants' experiences connecting them with relevant locals.
[32:59] How other cities have increasing willingness to benefit from digital nomads.
[34:17] The opportunity to create a blueprint for "sister cities" ready to create consistent, impactful remote work experiences.
[37:20] Madeira Friends aim to show the long-term economic benefits of attracting digital nomads.
[39:26] IMMEDIATE ACTION TIP: To improve hybrid and remote outcomes, lean into cultural architecture. One, name channels to evoke desired behaviors. Two, cultivate consistent rituals. Three, give yourself permission to experiment.
RESOURCES
Darcy Marie Mayfield on LinkedIn
QUOTES
"How do you architect culture when there's no physical walls?"
"Codifying culture allowed us to emotionally and intrinsically move our culture from an SMB culture to a mid-market culture because that's where our customers were going."
"Words make worlds. Use words that emote the behavior you want to see."
"Remote workers bring not just economic benefits but also a diversification of skills and innovative ideas to communities."
"Leaders must set the tone—if a leader is going to take a walk in the middle of the day, then everybody else will follow."
"It's about designing the connections and programming so people feel like they belong so much earlier and so much more often."