From $150M to $500M Through Culture and Clarity
scaling with strategy
Growth built on grit needs strategy to last. Here’s how we aligned culture and performance.
Growth built on grit needs strategy to last. Here’s how we aligned culture and performance.
- Strong reputation.
- 500 employees, long tenure.
- 40+ locations, 4 states.
- Growth fueled by grit and relationships.
- But no clear, aligned strategy to sustain the momentum.
- Four days of vision-setting, grounded in purpose and values.
- Balanced Scorecard for alignment and accountability.
- Leader coaching to turn plans into action.
- Culture surveys guiding improvements.
- From top-down strategy to frontline ownership.
- $150M → nearly $500M revenue (200% growth).
- Top Workplace (2022, 2023, 2024).
- Culture became a competitive advantage.
- Quarterly planning embedded into DNA.
- From reactive to intentional—purpose-driven, data-informed, people-shaped.
Clear strategy + strong culture doesn’t just support growth—it multiplies it.
When employees at every level shape the future, organizations unlock resilience, alignment, and long-term success.
Over the past seven years, the company has grown from $150M to almost $500M in annual revenue—a 200% increase. They've been recognized as a Top Workplace three years running (2022, 2023, and 2024), and their culture is widely seen as a competitive advantage. The strategic planning process is now embedded into the company's DNA, with quarterly planning sessions continuing to drive innovation, accountability, and cohesion. What once felt like a reactive organization has become one that leads with intention-grounded in purpose, driven by data, and shaped by its people. This case highlights how a clear strategy paired with a strong culture doesn't just support growth-it multiplies it.
the result
In 2017, the executive team partnered with Cristina and her team to launch a full-scale strategic planning process. It began with four intensive days of vision-setting and dialogue grounded in the company's core ideology-its purpose, values, and long-term vision. Input was gathered from across the organization, ensuring the resulting strategy reflected not just leadership goals, but frontline insights as well.
Each leader then worked with a coach to develop aligned, executable plans for their specific areas. The company adopted the Kaplan and Norton Balanced Scorecard framework-building accountability and progress-tracking around four key pillars: financials, people and culture, customers, and processes.
To deepen the people and culture lens, the Denison Organizational Culture Survey was deployed in 2018 and again in 2024. The insights sparked focused initiatives to strengthen employee experience, leadership effectiveness, and cross-functional collaboration. What began as a top-down effort evolved-today, frontline employees are actively involved in strategic planning, offering feedback and shaping the future alongside senior leadership.
the solution
A privately owned building supply company with over 40 locations across four states had a strong reputation for loyalty, commitment, and employee engagement. With 500 team members-many with unusually long tenure the company had grown through grit, relationships, and deep industry knowledge. But by 2017, leadership recognized that continued growth would require more than intuition. They needed a clear, aligned strategy and a culture strong enough to support it across locations and business units.
THE SITUATION
behind the breakthrough