Creating a Culture of Courage: Felicia Garnet Of Jane Technologies On How Authenticity Benefits People and Profits in the Workplace
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Build trust by being invested, passionate, and curious. Get to know each other as humans, not colleagues.
In today’s social media filled, fast-paced world, authenticity in the workplace and in our personal lives has become more difficult to come by. Business leaders must focus on the bottom line of profits and corporate success, but does that have to be at the expense of the authenticity of their employees? I believe it is quite the opposite. I know from my own experience that a culture of authenticity allows the hiring of a team that will bring their all to the workplace. That fosters innovation, creativity and a level of success that few companies dream of. Yet, fostering an environment where individuals feel secure enough to express their true selves remains a challenge. The importance of authenticity cannot be overstated — it is the foundation of trust, innovation, and strong relationships. However, creating such a culture requires intention, understanding, and actionable strategies. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Felicia Garnet.
Felicia is the VP of People at Jane Technologies, Inc. Jane is a 185 person community that believes in the cannabis industry’s ability to bring well-being, health, and love into this world. The mission is simple, but not easy: to bring confidence to the cannabis shopping experience. The team is committed to connecting the cannabis consumer to quality local products from dispensaries in their neighborhood. As a business, there is a firm belief in creating a model where everyone can win: the customers, the operators, and the industry.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
For me, it was the idea of helping people to be the best versions of themselves, and the belief that it leads to collective success. If I had the tools to teach someone a skill, consult someone on their options and provide resources, or coach an individual to get unblocked so they are able to do what they’ve set out to achieve — it makes everyone stronger, better, faster. My first job was in the HR department of a hospitality group, where I learned the importance of working to make your customers happy. People just want to feel seen, heard, and understood. By listening and offering to help, you can make progress on getting them what they need to do what they’ve set out to do. I then pivoted to joining people teams in technology, specializing in supporting fast growing and agile product teams.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
The pandemic brought a shift in how to build teams that have trust & rapport and operate effectively. The traditional model of bringing people together in person to facilitate that was removed entirely. I started at Jane during the pandemic during a time when we were starting to scale and grow very quickly. We quickly realized we needed to get these new teams together to build a connection, and decided the best way forward was to bring each team together by function to our company’s headquarters in Santa Cruz, CA. I loved being able to get people together in an unstructured environment where they could be free to grow the seeds of their ideas together, connect, and have fun. We grew our garden literally and figuratively at this special time in Jane’s history.
Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success?
- Emotional Intelligence & Empathy
Awareness is essential — knowing yourself and having the ability to listen, understand, and relate to others is the root of all success. If you are true to yourself, plus clear and kind to others, the rest is easy. You can never go wrong by doing the right thing, which is to be aware that everyone is carrying more than you see on a zoom call or in a conference room.
2. Open & Growth Mindset Oriented
I love standup comedy. I think the best comedians are those who speak truth to power, but also improvise. One of the biggest rules in improv is “yes and.” Your ideas would die if all you did was say “no” to new concepts. By staying curious, you can achieve so much more creatively as a team.
3. Balance Being Generous & Fair
An anchor of my work is Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead, specifically the concept of ‘holding both.” When leading and building, you have to hold space for both the people on your team, as well as the business’ objectives that measure success. Life is complicated — it ebbs and flows and people are dynamic, they have good times and bad. You have to hold and balance that with your goals and ensure every person contributing has what they need to get there. Being generous in your leadership, fair in your decisions, and clear about your expectations is key to finding that balance of leadership and success.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a pivotal moment in your career or personal life when being authentic made a significant impact on your success or well-being?
I was promoted to lead the people team on the same day I disclosed that I was pregnant to the executive team. My approach of being genuinely people focused while we build our company and work towards success is the unique gift I give to Jane everyday. Our CEO continues to remind me that my intuition, philosophy, and approach are part of that offering. I purposefully told him I was expecting before I could let him offer me the position, so he was making a fully informed decision about me, the whole me, not just the work part of me. Motherhood is a lot of things that there are already countless articles about, but being a working mother at Jane is special, and I am grateful for it everyday. I feel confident that I am here because I am who I say I am, and doing that is what got me here today.
What strategies have you found most effective in fostering an environment where employees or team members feel safe to express their true selves, including their ideas, concerns, and aspirations?
Connect with people and get to know them for who they are outside of work. Our company practices a ritual at our weekly closeout all hands meeting on Friday’s called Gratitude. Instituted prior to my tenure, Gratitude is where one person shares what they are grateful at the end of the meeting. Photos, stories, and cameos are all encouraged but not required! It is the most beautiful display of how compatible we are as humans. Connection to others, animals, and nature are the most common themes, and it’s a constant reminder that we are all similar. It helps us consistently find common ground with our teammates.
How do you navigate the challenges that come with encouraging authenticity in a diverse workplace, where different backgrounds and perspectives may sometimes lead to conflict?
Being genuine is just one component of how you achieve a goal collectively in the workplace. Navigating challenges relies on nuances within how you approach solving problems. Staying true to yourself is one thing, but you also find success by aligning on the desired outcome, focusing on the “why” before the “what” and the “how”, and framing your objectives to be win-win so everyone is on the same page.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways to Create a Culture Where People Feel Safe to be Authentic?”
1 . Collectively define what feeling safe to be authentic means to everyone. Create the safety container collaboratively so everyone is in agreement from the start.
2 . Build trust by being invested, passionate, and curious. Get to know each other as humans, not colleagues.
3 . Connect through clear communication on the mission — it’s vital to share the why, what, and how with your positive intent so you can reach your goal.
4 . Communicate early and often (and in all group sizes) — Keep communication consistent and distill it for all group sizes. We practice something called “cohorts” where groups get together by level to connect, peer coach, and debrief on the latest happenings in the organization. It’s where we also communicate new concepts and processes to ensure everyone understands what’s happening before moving forward.
5 . Model / Be what you want to see — hold yourself and each other accountable to what you established in step #1 !
In your opinion, how does authenticity within an organization influence its relationship with customers, clients, or the broader community?
Authenticity is one piece of the puzzle to building better companies. Our CEO, Soc, often reminds us of the concept that “discipline brings freedom.” What you choose to have discipline in and how you define freedom depends on the context. In this space, discipline in staying true to yourself, and your team’s mission then contribute to you reaching the freedom of success.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Helping people to listen more deeply and then organize ideas and outcomes for maximum effectiveness.
How can our readers further follow you online?
https://www.linkedin.com/in/felicia-brooks-garnet-b57a1a51/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
Creating a Culture of Courage: Felicia Garnet Of Jane Technologies On How Authenticity Benefits… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.