Putting People First Puts James Laws in the Driver's Seat at Saturday Drive

James Laws, CEO and founder of Saturday Drive, puts it very succinctly, “Our number one value is people – over profits, process or products.” Starting his company in 2014 while working full time as a web administrator required family support, sweat equity and late nights. Making a deal with his wife to bootstrap the startup by banking two years of salary, Laws worked to solve the problem of reproducible and reusable contact forms and Saturday Drive was born.From the get-go, it was vital to distinguish the company by not doing what everyone else was. That became a mantra of staying five years ahead of the competition and establishing a culture of solving problems, feedback, and the necessary alignment vital for continued growth. As you’ll hear, Laws is adamant about work-life balance so much so that he terms Saturday Drive as a lifestyle company. For instance, while side hustles are encouraged, staff must care about the company’s work first.Of course, there were misfires and mishires where the culture ended up just happening. Laws now knows that it’s vital to lead culture intentionally to achieve alignment. And that alignment in goals, mission and values is vital for growth.Working under the philosophy that no business deserves employees, he believes that those who want to work with you must be earned. To that end, Laws focuses his efforts on developing his leadership team around strategic initiatives and key hires. He keeps learning and growing by running his own podcast, Leading to Fulfillment, where he interviews other CEOs and industry leaders about their experience.This podcast features a leader who always puts people and culture first. And it’s paid off.Learn more about James Laws and Saturday Drive Incorporated You can find more information on all our episodes at Vertical Elevation, and you can find Carol on Twitter @carolbschultz or LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carolbschultz/.