Sticker Junkie and Employee Experience with Andrea Lake

Where has the summer gone? Hard to believe we are staring at back-to-school in the face. I’m just wrapping up my summer course on Employee Experience, and it was great to see the students produce projects that really embrace the value of employees in organizations. Hopefully some of their ideas can be implemented in actual organizations, because I do believe that they can make a difference by putting their words into action. Now onto the regular fall semester, where more design work will be done and ideas generated (and unfortunately papers to be graded).  The new semester is a kind of blank slate, even though it is going to be my 27th year at my school. But it is still a blank slate, whether or not I’m teaching the same classes or a new one. A syllabus and a course is at the end of the day an exercise in design. There always is something to be tweaked and adjusted, shifted and modified, trying to make things better and connect with the students. Design is, at the end of the day, about making things better, in ways small and large.  Today’s guest on Experience by Design is all about making things better in ways both small and large. Andrea Lake is CEO of Sticker Junkie, which was founded in 1999 with not just a mission of creating quality products for customers, but creating experiences for employees as well. Before that, she also was a contestant on The Apprentice with a certain current president. And even before that. She had a business of selling Rhythm Sticks, t-shirts, and other entrepreneurial ventures. But being a dedicated entrepreneur does not mean she does business as usual. We talk about her philosophy regarding running a business as well as capitalism as well. She describes Sticker Junkie as a punk rock company, which includes having open financials and advocating for a living wage (starting with her own employees). We talk about how companies have shifted away from treating employees as resources, and into valued members of the workplace community. This includes ideas such as profit sharing. She explains how Sticker Junkie provides high-touch client service and builds customized interfaces for each client. Andrea notes that customers are increasingly seeking out businesses with ethical practices, particularly avoiding those owned by private equity firms, and she believes this trend will continue to benefit companies like hers that prioritize values over pure profit maximization. Additionally, Andrea talks about the importance of non-linear and critical thinking as vital skillsets that need to be taught more in schools.  A bit of strong language to communicate deeply held beliefs in this one.  Sticker Junkie: https://www.stickerjunkie.com/ Sticker Junkie Living Wage Page: https://www.stickerjunkie.com/pages/livingwage Andrea Lake LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrealake101/ Andrea Lake Webpage: https://www.stickerjunkie.com/pages/andrea-lake