Inside the Nest | Q3
The Habit That Becomes Your Culture
“Culture is more than ‘Ooh, is this a nice place to work?’” That’s how Stanford researcher Jennifer Chatman describes the biggest misconception business owners have about culture. Most of us picture it as the nice extras: the holiday party, the gift, the occasional team lunch. But culture isn’t the treat you hand out once a quarter. It’s the system running underneath everything else, whether you built it on purpose or not.
That system also runs whether anyone is paying attention to it or not. Researchers who study this call it a hard management tool, not a soft one. It is how an organization gets everyone rowing in the same direction, and how people learn what will be rewarded and what will not. That distinction matters heading into year end. The holiday party, the year-end gift, the new tradition you are considering, none of that builds culture on its own. It only works if it reinforces a system that is already running the other eleven months of the year.
Here is the part that catches most business owners off guard. Culture does not wait for you to design it. It exists in how decisions get made, in how the team talks about clients, in what happens the moment someone makes a mistake. A recent piece on small business culture put it plainly, culture forms whether you planned it or not. Our Dove founders, Beth Bender and Kenda Lister, understood that early. They did not write values on a wall when they built The Dove Agency. They built a habit, decision after decision, of how problems got solved and how people got treated. That habit became the firm we are today.
That same piece lays out what actually builds a healthy version of this from day one, and none of it requires a formal program:
Say what matters out loud, with real examples. A value nobody names is a value nobody shares.
Celebrate wins where the whole team can see them.
Treat mistakes as something to learn from, not hide. A team that hides errors is a team that stops solving them.
Do what you say you will do. A gap between stated values and daily behavior is the fastest way to lose people’s trust.
Take the first days of onboarding seriously. What someone experiences in that window becomes what they believe the company actually is.
Whether you've built something like this or not yet, you can learn more by tapping here.
Warmly,
THE LATEST in IDnest
As we close out Q3, we’re excited to share a series of enhancements designed to elevate your workflow and make every aspect of your project management experience even more intuitive. Our team has been focused on delivering updates that streamline processes, improve financial tracking, and provide you with greater visibility and control across your projects.
Here’s a look at what’s new and how these features are helping you stay organized and efficient:
You can now seamlessly export tags across IDnest, making it easier to manage and share relevant project information with your team.
Duplicating complex collections is now effortless. Simply replicate entire parent/child item groups with a single click, saving time on recurring project elements.
A new audit trail tracks changes to item statuses, payments, and more, complete with user and timestamp details. This added transparency makes it simple to monitor project activity and maintain accountability.
Budget tracking for all vendor costs is now integrated directly into project management, ensuring you can monitor expenses and keep every project financially on course.
Finding purchase orders is faster than ever with a new vendor column in the Vault folder, providing quick reference and improved searchability.
Proposals and invoices now display subtotals by room, allowing for more detailed and transparent client communications.
You can now filter items by “no status” in Tracking Status, helping you quickly identify action items and keep projects moving forward.
DON’T MISS THESE HIGHLIGHTS
1. This Year’s Best in Design, By Region
Every year, Dezeen pulls together the standout projects shaping architecture and interiors across the globe, and this year’s Regional Showcases just landed, fifty selections apiece from the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. If you want a fast read on where design is headed and who is setting the pace, this is the shortcut.
2. A Map Room Worth Getting Lost In
Boston Rare Maps deals in pieces of American history most of us never knew existed: a hand-annotated Marine Corps planning map from the Pacific theater, a Revolutionary War battle scene, an eighteenth-century chart drawn for the whaling trade. Sign up for their new acquisitions list, and a small, strange piece of history will land in your inbox before most people even know it surfaced.
3. A Story That Deserves the Extra Ten Minutes
Twenty-five years of 9/11 retrospectives have covered nearly every angle, but this one is different. Howard Lutnick, CEO of Cantor Fitzgerald, lost 658 colleagues that morning, more than any other company, including his own brother, and had to lead what remained of his firm through the grief while it was still raw. It is not an easy listen, but it is a deeply human one.
4. A Line Worth Keeping
Spotify cofounder Martin Lorentzon offered a definition of business success simple enough to write on an index card and keep at your desk: “The value of a company is the sum of all problems solved.” It is a good one to sit with on the days when building a firm feels harder than it should.
Source: David Senra, interview with Daniel Ek
Say Hello to ELLA HATTENDORF
Ella is our dedicated marketing associate who develops and executes social media strategies tailored to each client’s unique voice and goals, creating thoughtful, engaging content that helps brands show up with clarity, personality, and purpose.
What motivates you when things get busy or challenging?
Honestly, I like when my days are full! It means I get to work on different things for different clients, and I genuinely enjoy the variety in what I do for them. It also helps that everyone at Dove is so supportive; I could call anyone on my team, and they'd drop what they're doing to help me out, so even the busy days never feel too overwhelming.
I'm also motivated by the challenge itself. When I push through something difficult and get it done, it makes me feel capable and proud of what I accomplished!
What makes you proud to work at The Dove Agency?
A few things. First, the quality of work we produce and the fact that we're a successful, all-women company are things I'm genuinely proud to be part of. The people I work with are incredible: hardworking, smart, and endlessly helpful. In the almost year and a half I've been here, I've learned so much just from being around them.
I also love that we're so focused on interior design specifically. It's an industry I've developed a real passion for since starting here, which makes the work feel even more meaningful, and I wake up every day excited to do my job!
Click below to learn more about Ella in our Q&A.
How is Your Brand Doing in 2026?
Your brand is operating in a different landscape than it was even a year ago. So we made something to help. We've been building a tool that does the heavy lifting for you. By answering a few questions, you'll have a digital brand audit, complete with actionable priorities and a clear path forward. Stay tuned for more.
New TopBranch Episode is Live!
In this episode, The Dove Agency’s Ruth Ann Janson and Jodie Hastings of The Slate dive into what it really looks like to reset and prepare your business for a new season. Their conversation covers everything from reenergizing teams and planning for Q4 to evaluating fees, auditing contracts and subscriptions, and creating systems that make delegation and growth easier. They also talk about the importance of understanding your business’s unique seasons, looking ahead without getting overwhelmed, and using slower periods to prepare for what’s next.
Watch now on the YouTube channel at the button below.