Osano Goes to Chicago! Highlights & Accomplishments from Our 2024 Team Trip

It’s one of our favorite company benefits, both personally and professionally, and it’s a lot of fun. We put months into planning, and as Osano’s leader of People + Culture, it’s my pleasure to share our highlights and accomplishments from this trip with you! 

The Osano team volunteering at Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago in July 2024.  

Why Chicago? 

What better time to visit the windy city than in the summer. Even better, two of our investors (Jump Capital and Baird Capital) are based in Chicago, making it easier for them to join us and to host our Q3 board meeting during this week.  

Osano’s Head of Privacy (Rachael Ormiston) leading Osano’s Customer Advisory Board  

What Did We Accomplish? 

Every team trip is special, whether it’s visiting Washington D.C., Austin, or New Orleans! This year, we accomplished a lot: 

• Since our last team trip in October 2023, we’ve welcomed 24 new Osanians! This trip served as an opportunity for the team and our newcomers to get to know each other in-person.   

• We hosted our very first Customer Advisory Board. In addition to having a productive working session, our Customer Advisory Board was part of a panel discussion for our entire team. Hearing first-hand about our customers’ pain points with data privacy, what they enjoy most about the Osano privacy platform, and how we can make it even better was an exceptionally valuable experience. Kudos to our Head of Privacy (Rachael Ormiston) for moderating and incorporating a Taylor Swift theme. Fun fact: Each member of our Customer Advisory Board has a favorite Taylor Swift song!  

• Since this trip is our only all-team gathering of the year, we try to have a thoughtful mix of work (e.g., workshops, brainstorming, and coworking) and fun. While in Chicago, our Osanians experienced the major attractions—a riverfront architecture tour, the Art Insitute of Chicago, a Second City show, and the Skydeck at Willis Tower—to build deeper relationships as a team. 

• In line with our B-Corp mission, we tried something new this year: Volunteering together as a team to give back to the community. We divided into two groups. One group worked with the Anti-Cruelty Society of Chicago, learning about its history, meeting the animals, and completing tasks around the shelter. Another group worked with the Museum of Science and Industry, teaching kids how to build catapults and kazoos out of popsicle sticks. (We love science!) Collectively, we donated $10,500 back to the Chicago community, both through donations and our team’s dedicated time. As a company, we encourage our Osanians to take one day per quarter for volunteering and mentorship in their local communities.  

 The Osano team participating in our sensitivity workshop, presented by Second City Works.  

What Did We Learn? 

Every team trip, our founder and CEO, Arlo Gilbert, welcomes us by covering what we’ve accomplished and where we’re heading next as a team. This year, he inspired us with his message around music-making: Every team is an orchestra. We need to make sure we’re all playing (or singing) in the same key and tempo. To do this, we need to be aligned and collaborative. 

• Delight the customer: This is job #1. Our customers are everything, and our desire to do the right thing for them is the key to our success. Everyone at Osano has a role in delighting and being one with our customers' needs. 

• Channel our inner founder: We must be willing to fail, focus on the MVP, and take ownership of our work and responsibilities.  

• Take risks: To further own the privacy space, we must go against the grain and always do it boldly. Not every bet will be successful, but every bet teaches us something and furthers our mission.   

In addition to this inspiring and powerful message from Arlo, we took part in a very special workshop, presented by Second City Works! This organization is part of the legendary Second City comedy group and uses improv comedy exercises to drive individual growth and company performance. While improv is not our comfort zone (especially working fully remote), our entire team jumped right in to build our skills around collaboration, active listening, giving and receiving feedback, and communicating with curiosity.   

 Doug Milam, one of Osano’s Sr. Software Engineers, performing songs during our opening dinner 

But Wait...There’s More? 

You bet! During our annual team trips, we take a moment to celebrate our team’s accomplishments and their special talents. To kick off our trip, I brought my guitar equipment and encouraged fellow songwriters and musicians to share their talents in-person. With Authenticity & Inclusion as one of our core values at Osano, we regularly look for ways for everyone to share their full selves with our colleagues. Every Friday, we hold a Show + Tell meeting, where our Osanians present a personal “Get to know an Osanian” presentation.   

We also hold the Osano Values Awards at each team trip. These awards are a way for the entire team to nominate their fellow Osanians and honor their embodiment of our core values. We congratulate and celebrate our 2024 winners: 

• Bold Action: Cait Ward (Sr. Product Marketing Manager) 

• Authenticity & Inclusion: Julie Lin (Software Engineer) 

• Delightful Experience: Merry Austin (Demand Generation and Campaign Strategist) 

• Operational Excellence: Stephanie Ho (Sr. Accounting Manager) 

This year, we went a step further and added a special award around our 2024 theme, Everyone Owns Revenue, celebrating an Osanian who steps out of their day-to-day work to help our revenue efforts. Congratulations to Shaq Rivera (Software Engineer) for winning this special award! 

Osano’s CEO + cofounder Arlo Gilbert and Osanians playing games at SPIN Chicago  

We’re Hiring!  

Interested in a career at Osano? We’re looking for curious, bold, resourceful, and authentic Osanians to help us scale and grow. Not only do we care deeply for data privacy and doing the right thing, but we also take care of ourselves and those around us with flexibility, support, and autonomy. We are an award-winning, fully remote team based all over the continental United States. Come join the future of data privacy! 

If you don’t see an open role on our careers page, please send us your resume at careers@osano.com so we can keep you in mind for future opportunities. 

Osano’s CTO and cofounder (Scott Hertel) and Osanians volunteering at the Museum of Science and Industry in July 2024.