Maureen Cawley
Chief People Officer
Saatva
Episode 76
Culture is Not a Perk: It's Your Brand's Deepest Promise
Current chapter: Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built By PeopleAugust 18, 2025 · 8:31
Thesis
“Authentic company culture is built by deeply aligning internal practices and employee experience with external brand promises, leading to total life success for employees and fostering strong customer trust.”
Show notes
Saatva makes luxury mattresses and sponsors Olympic athletes. The connection isn't incidental — it's a cultural thesis: sleep is the foundation of human performance, and a brand built on helping people sleep better has a responsibility to model that belief internally, not just sell it. Maureen Cawley, CPO at Saatva, joined in 2021 with one mission: make good on that brand promise for employees, not just customers.
Her concept of "total life success" is deliberately individualized. It doesn't look the same for a 24-year-old early in their career as it does for a parent of three managing school schedules, or an employee close to retirement thinking about financial security. Getting that distinction right — recognizing that a single benefits package signals values but can't address individual needs without customization — is the work Maureen has been doing since day one. And the non-commissioned sales model Saatva uses is central to it: when frontline employees don't feel pressure to push product, they can focus on building genuine customer relationships, which is better for both culture and the brand.
Her most counterintuitive insight is about communication: at Saatva, they treat all communication as internal communication. Whatever the company says externally — in press, in marketing, about the brand — employees will hear it. Treating those as separate channels is a silo that undermines authenticity from both directions. When internal and external messaging align, employee advocacy becomes a natural extension of brand credibility.
- "Total life success" in practice — why individualized approaches to employee success outperform one-size-fits-all programs
- The Olympic sponsorship as a cultural statement — connecting Saatva's product to its people philosophy in ways that actually land
- All communication is internal communication — why siloed internal/external messaging undermines trust from both sides
- Non-commissioned sales as a culture decision — how removing sales pressure aligns frontline employee behavior with brand values
- Employee advocacy as brand amplification — what becomes possible when employees genuinely believe in what they're representing
Previ is an employer network that provides private pricing for employees — saving the average employee $2,200/year on essentials like cell phone service and insurance, at no cost to the company.
What you'll take away
- 1Authentic company culture requires deep alignment between internal HR practices and external brand promises to build trust internally and externally.
- 2The concept of 'total life success' for employees must be approached individually, recognizing diverse needs based on life stage, family, location, and career goals.
- 3Treat all communication as internal communication, as employees will invariably hear external messaging; siloed strategies undermine authenticity.
- 4Leverage employee advocacy programs to amplify brand messaging, as employee-shared posts achieve significantly higher engagement than company posts.
- 5A foundation of solid products and customer-friendly policies creates an environment where both employees and customers naturally expect and trust the company to deliver on its promises.
What most organizations get wrong
- •Maureen Cawley pushes back on the conventional separation of internal and external communications, asserting that 'all communication is internal communication' to an employee.
In Maureen's words
“So I joined Satva in 2021 as a VP of HR, and the mission that I have in this role is to make good on our brand commitment to help our employees find total life success.”
This quote clearly states her core mission and links HR directly to the brand promise and employee well-being.
“One of the main challenges is that total life success doesn't look the same for everybody, right?”
This highlights the complexity of individualized employee experience and the need for a nuanced approach to benefits and support.
“I learned this from my internal comms director. She at one point said, all communication is internal communication.”
This is a pivotal statement challenging traditional communication silos and emphasizing the pervasive nature of brand messaging.
“posts that are shared by your employees receive 8 times better engagement than posts that your company will share.”
This provides a strong, data-backed reason for investing in employee advocacy programs.
“And that exercise seems simple, But it can have a very powerful and transformative impact on the business.”
This emphasizes the significant business impact of aligning internal practices with external brand communications, despite its apparent simplicity.
The problems this episode addresses
- •Difficulty in universally defining and delivering 'total life success' for a diverse workforce with varying needs and circumstances.
- •Risk of inauthentic employee initiatives if not rigorously evaluated for capability, conviction, and genuine impact.
- •Challenges in breaking down silos between internal and external communication strategies to ensure consistent messaging and trust.
- •Low engagement on company-official social media posts compared to the higher effectiveness of employee-driven advocacy.
- •Ensuring that employee benefits and policies consistently reflect and align with the external brand promise and customer experience.
In this episode
Built by People podcast features insights from world's top HR leaders
Built by People
Maureen Johnson joined Satva in 2021 as VP of HR
Top Executives Exploring Their Career Paths
Total life success approach focuses on delivering authentic impact for employees and customers
Maureen's Total Life Success Approach
Sattva has aligned its employee benefits and policies to align with sales approach
Sattva Retail's Employee Benefits and Policies
Connecting internal practices with external brand promises can help build authentic company culture
In your experience building an authentic company culture
Maureen, what parting advice would you like to share with our community
Building an Authentic Culture
Topics covered
Organizations and entities mentioned
Full transcript
Expand transcript (0 words)
Transcript is not available yet.