You Pay for What You Value: Culture That Lasts
Welcome back to the Five Door Media blog, where we dig into the insights from our podcast guests to help home service leaders build healthier, stronger businesses.
This season, we’ve been exploring the big, sometimes “mythical” topic of company culture; what it means, how it works, and why it matters. In this episode, we sat down with Brandon Faust, co-founder and Executive Director of Wayfinders and partner at Switchback Leadership Development, to hear how he helps leaders and teams build a culture that’s simple, scalable, and sustainable.
Brandon’s background is rich: from launching grassroots nonprofits to coaching executives, and even hosting a global soccer leadership podcast. But what stood out most in our conversation wasn’t complexity - it was clarity. He showed us that the best cultures don’t need a 20-page handbook. They need simplicity, consistency, and a few key habits that everyone can understand and live out.
Here are the top takeaways:
1. Keep Culture Simple or It Won’t Stick
Too many businesses overcomplicate culture with laundry lists of values no one can remember. Brandon argues that culture should be reduced to just two or three non-negotiables that everyone can carry in their heads and hearts.
He shared an example from a roofing company: their definition of excellent service wasn’t siloed. It applied to customers, teammates, and families alike. That clarity meant anyone, whether a new hire on their first day or a veteran leader, could live it consistently.
Takeaway: If it’s complicated at 5 employees, it’ll be chaos at 50. Keep it simple so it scales.
2. Separate Performance from Development
One of Brandon’s strongest points: performance reviews and development conversations are not the same.
When performance enters the room, it dominates. Metrics and tasks overshadow growth and potential. Employees, especially younger generations, crave development. They want to know their trajectory and feel invested in as people, not just producers.
Brandon’s solution? Keep them separate. Use performance reviews for accountability and weekly “development check-ins” for growth.
He suggests asking three universal questions:
How are you?
What’s bothering you?
How can I help you?
These conversations don’t take more than 15 minutes, but they build loyalty, prevent surprises, and surface opportunities before it’s too late.
3. You Pay for What You Value
Brandon shared a powerful phrase: “You pay for what you value.”
That “payment” isn’t always money. It’s time, energy, and attention. If you say you value service, you need to show it in how you treat teammates and customers alike. If you say you value growth, you need to create opportunities for it; ride-alongs, training, mentorship.
A memorable story: a roofing company that went above and beyond by not just servicing a home, but trimming grass, cleaning gutters, and even mowing the lawn - all unasked. That’s culture in action. That’s paying for what you value. And that’s the kind of story customers never forget (or stop sharing).
4. Hiring for Culture Fit
Culture starts with who you bring on board. Brandon stressed the importance of asking values-based questions in interviews - not just about skills, but about how someone thrives on a team, how they handle collaboration, and how they respond when things go wrong.
Instead of just asking what they don’t want in a leader or team, dig into what they do want. The answers will reveal alignment or red flags.
And don’t be afraid to follow up. The gold is in the follow-up questions: “Tell me more about that. Why is that important to you?”
5. The Pivotal Test of Culture
Brandon shared a deeply personal story. After expanding Wayfinders and onboarding new team members, his child faced a serious health issue. Overnight, he stepped away for eight weeks, leaving a young team to run the organization during a crucial growth stage.
His fear: had the culture caught yet?
When he returned, not only had the work carried on - it had improved. That moment proved to him that when culture is clear and owned by the team, it’s stronger than any one leader.
6. Company Culture Dies When…
We ended the episode with the question we ask all our guests: Company culture dies when…
Brandon’s answer? “When people can’t repeat what it is.”
If your team can’t define your culture in their own words, it doesn’t really exist. It becomes a “choose your own adventure” every day, which erodes consistency and eventually erodes your business.
This Matters for Home Service Leaders!
Culture can feel abstract, but Brandon made it simple:
Define 2–3 non-negotiables.
Separate performance and development.
Ask three questions weekly.
Pay for what you value.
Hire people who align with your ethos.
Do those things, and you won’t just have employees, you’ll have a team that scales with you!
