Explorers at Sea: How a Global Agency Builds Culture Without a Physical HQ
It’s 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on a Tuesday, and my workday is about an hour old. But for much of the rest of my team on the other side of the world, it’s just about happy hour, and I’ve got sixty to ninety minutes, tops, to connect face-to-face, offer guidance, or send out feedback on their latest draft. Later, while I’m asleep, they’ll be working away, getting a half-day jump on me and anyone else on Edgar Allan’s US-based staff.
It’s 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on a Tuesday, and my workday is about an hour old. But for much of the rest of my team on the other side of the world, it’s just about happy hour, and I’ve got sixty to ninety minutes, tops, to connect face-to-face, offer guidance, or send out feedback on their latest draft. Later, while I’m asleep, they’ll be working away, getting a half-day jump on me and anyone else on Edgar Allan’s US-based staff.
Part 1: The Basics
It’s 10:00 AM Eastern Standard Time on a Tuesday, and my workday is about an hour old. But for much of the rest of my team on the other side of the world, it’s just about happy hour, and I’ve got sixty to ninety minutes, tops, to connect face-to-face, offer guidance, or send out feedback on their latest draft. Later, while I’m asleep, they’ll be working away, getting a half-day jump on me and anyone else on Edgar Allan’s US-based staff.
And that, friends, is very different than where we started in 2013, sitting in the same room together from nine to five, every day.
When we went fully remote in 2020, I never dreamed that so many of my team members and colleagues would be working so far from me. Or that our group of 13 headquartered at Atlanta’s Goat Farm Arts Center would turn into 55-plus over four continents by 2025.
I could also have never dreamed that the “clubhouse” culture we built amongst the roaming chickens and crumbling munitions buildings at the farm would evolve into something that I can still feel and describe. And I’ll give you a hint: it’s not about forced fun or "togetherness.” It’s not set-it-and-forget-it words on paper. Culture is fluid and mercurial. And it is all about whether 50-some talented people can collaborate effectively, feel invested in the work, and not burn out in the process. That’s what we work toward, and what “company culture” means to us.
Five years into being fully remote and global, here’s what we’ve learned about working together: culture isn’t about location. It’s about intentionality, transparency, and being willing to constantly rewrite the script when something isn’t working.
This series will cover our best tips and key things to keep in mind when building a remote culture that feels right for your business. Let’s start with setting a solid foundation – one of my favorite activities.
Culture Tip 1: Have values that really mean something.
I write brand strategies and stories for a living, so I know a little something about corporate values. Mostly, they’re a collection of well-intentioned, floaty words like “authenticity” and “trust,” which, while they sound nice, are pretty terrible at guiding decisions. And in a way, culture is the sum total of a million decisions, person to person and leadership to staff. So, when we created Edgar Allan’s Operating Instructions (an articulation of our internal north star), we built in some core principles that we use every day to guide how we see the world, the work, and how we treat each other and our clients.
Our position at EA is that we are explorers at sea and helpers in port, a statement that underlines a company-wide commitment to curiosity, problem-solving, and seeing what we do as “helping.” At our core, we use technology to solve business problems for ourselves, our clients, and our industry.
It’s pretty simple, it feels good to think of yourself in this way, and it’s motivating; a best-you-can-be view of ourselves. So, it works for us.
On top of that, we have three operating principles built on tension that make the most sense when described as if we’re about to go dukes-up at a fight club:
- Kindness vs. Niceness - An understanding that doing the right thing is preferable to being performatively pleasant.
- Calmness vs. Complacency – The idea that we are a calm company (there are no real emergencies in design and web building), but that doesn’t mean that we’re lazy. We have a focused intensity, and know what to give a fuc# about, and what isn’t worth the brain power or time.
- Recognition vs. Appreciation – An intentional approach to reward that focuses distinctly and separately on what you do and who you are.
The big thing here is that these aren’t poster-on-the-wall values. They guide actual decisions: How we give feedback to our clients and to each other. How we structure connection when we can’t just grab coffee with someone. How we handle conflict across thousands of miles.
But values, no matter how much we want them to be living things, are actually abstract. We’ll dig into the rest in the next couple blogs.
FAQs
1. How do you build company culture in a fully remote team?
Remote culture isn't about replicating office life online—it's about intentionality, transparency, and constant adaptation. Focus on values that guide real decisions rather than decorative poster words. Build principles that help your team navigate everything from feedback to conflict across time zones. Culture in a distributed team is fluid, not fixed, so be willing to constantly rewrite the script when something isn't working. It's less about forced togetherness and more about whether people can collaborate effectively, stay invested, and avoid burnout.
2. What makes good company values for a remote organization?
Effective remote company values aren't floaty words like "authenticity" or "trust"—they're practical guides for daily decisions. Build values with built-in tension that force real conversations: think "kindness vs. niceness" or "calmness vs. complacency." Your values should help navigate specific situations: how to give feedback, handle conflict across distances, or structure connection when you can't grab coffee. Make them concrete enough to guide actions, not abstract enough to ignore. Culture is the sum of a million decisions, so your values need to actually inform those choices.
3. How is remote company culture different from in-person culture?
Remote culture can't rely on proximity, shared spaces, or spontaneous hallway conversations. It requires intentional structure around communication, feedback, and connection across time zones. The focus shifts from location-based bonding to whether people can collaborate effectively regardless of where they sit. You're building culture through documented principles, async workflows, and deliberate touchpoints rather than osmosis. The goal remains the same—helping talented people work together without burning out—but the methods are entirely different when your team spans continents.
4. How do you create operating principles that people actually use?
Build principles around tension rather than platitudes. Frame them as active choices: kindness vs. niceness (doing right over being performatively pleasant), calmness vs. complacency (focused intensity without chaos), recognition vs. appreciation (rewarding what you do separately from who you are). These tensions force real conversations and guide specific decisions about feedback, conflict, and priorities. Test whether your principles help people make actual choices in their work—if they're just poster material, they're not working. Operating principles should be tools, not decoration.
5. Can you maintain company culture across multiple continents?
Yes, but it requires moving from passive proximity-based culture to active, intentional design. With teams spanning four continents and different time zones, culture becomes about documented values, transparent communication, and adaptable processes. You're passing the baton across time zones like a relay race, so clarity and consistency matter more than ever. The key is accepting that culture is fluid—what worked for 13 people in one room won't work for 55+ globally. Focus on whether people can collaborate effectively and stay invested regardless of location, not on replicating an office experience remotely.