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Bumble's Austin Headquarters Is All About Good Vibes The dating app's employees are big on in-office engagement and out-of-office socializing.

By Hayden Field

This story appears in the January 2019 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »

Adam Friedberg

Bumble's got good buzz. The dating app -- which gives women the power to make the first move -- launched in 2014 and has since expanded to help users meet new friends and make professional connections, too. CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd originally worked at Tinder but left and alleged that its cofounders engaged in sexual harassment and discrimination. She in turn created Bumble, a company obsessively focused on its culture. Its Austin, Tex., headquarters is known as the Beehive and promotes a cheery sense of community, bolstered by sunshine-yellow walls, playful decor (signs that say bee kind), and plenty of happy hours, volunteer sessions, and even some parades.

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Caitlin Sullivan / Senior manager, people and culture

"For reviews, every employee comes up with a proposal for how their responsibilities, compensation, and title should change based on the impact they've made. This gives our female employees -- who've been socialized to not speak about compensation and career growth -- the tools to negotiate their salaries."

Anh Dang / Senior merchandise manager

"When the city of Austin was celebrating Pride, most of the office met up, fully decked out in Pride merch, and walked the parade. With other companies, it can be like pulling teeth to get your coworkers to go out together on the weekend, but we're all for it here."

Elizabeth Monteleone / Legal counsel

"[My colleague] Caitlin Sullivan and I actually met on Bumble BFF in May. We went on some friend hangouts, and she mentioned this role was available. She asked if I'd be interested, and I said, "Absolutely!' We're a real Bumble success story."

Related: I Visited the Bumble Hive to See What All the Buzz Is About

Kyra Seay / Special projects coordinator

"I had the pleasure of starting at Bumble about a week ago. "Beekeepers' are employees who volunteer to welcome the new folks. A beekeeper is assigned to a new hire, gives them a personalized tour, gets to know them, and on the company's dime, you can go get a smoothie or a coffee. I chose both."

Courtney Moreau / Curator of vibes

"When I saw the job listing for "curator of vibes,' a little voice of intuition whispered to me, This is you. My job is to make sure everyone has what they need inside the office and to help celebrate special moments with our team, whether that's a company Friendsgiving or planning for employee birthdays."

Tareen Alam / Creative content manager

"A lot of my meetings are in response to current events. If something's happening related to feminism, empowerment, or leadership -- it's been an interesting time with #MeToo and #BelieveWomen -- the edit team will get on a call to talk about how we can speak to it."

Related: Snowboard Giant Burton's Headquarters Are Big on Dogs, Gardening and Snow Days

Justin Balanon / Influencer marketing manager

"My job is to help negotiate contracts with talent from the influencer community. We want them to join our mission to make the world a kinder place. I used to sell influencer marketing, and it was about products. This is more about asking people, "Do you want to be a part of this movement to make gender equality a reality?'"

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Image Credit: Adam Friedberg
Hayden Field

Entrepreneur Staff

Associate Editor

Hayden Field is an associate editor at Entrepreneur. She covers technology, business and science. Her work has also appeared in Fortune Magazine, Mashable, Refinery29 and others. 

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