User blog comment:AnnWatson/The Values of Fandom: Balance/@comment-26896471-20161115020950/@comment-20644-20161115030107

I wouldn't normally post a reply quite like this one, but...

As someone who works at Fandom, I don't find it shallow or patronizing at all. I think Ann and her team do a great job of making sure we have the resources we need to succeed professionally but also develop skills that will help us in our personal lives, like the ones that Ann mentioned in her blog. Our Talent Team, which is part of HR, also does a great job in finding new hires who want to grow both professionally and personally. In a company built on the idea of being a fan, that's not surprising to me either. We're all here because we're fans of something, so connecting personal growth to professional growth is pretty easy.

My boss recently asked me what I like best about working at Fandom. A few key things came to mind, but the most prominent one is the fact that my best friends work here too. Not everyone's going to have that experience at Fandom, but I'm really lucky to be able to say that some of the friendships I've formed here are with people who have become my best friends. I've grown a lot personally as a result of those friendships, and the culture of Fandom fosters that&mdash;because it plays a huge role in the people that we hire to work here.

We live in a pretty cynical time right now, so I can understand if your impulse here is to think I'm talking a bunch of nonsense or if this is just flowery corporate talk. It's not. We're used to seeing this profound loyalty that employees of major tech brands have, but that's not it either. This is about the people. I can't speak for anyone's experiences but my own, but I don't take for granted what I've gained by working here and how I've grown because of those closest to me.