Our movement would have to resemble our own workplace, where every team member’s pet has a place in our company from barketing to chewpliance and hooman resources.
Purpose has become the new currency of success in today’s workplace, and leaders who prioritize mission-driven cultures are standing out in the war for talent. To explore this important topic, we are interviewing Lauren Anders Brown.
Lauren Anders Brown is the Founder and CEO of PadsPass, a Digital Pet Passport app that helps people travel with their pets by streamlining their animal’s verified health history with travel requirements. Lauren and her female founding team live the pet travel lifestyle, collectively having traveled on over 140 flights through a dozen countries and airlines. Their pets each play a pivotal role within PadsPass, and all human and animal teammates are working together to make the future of travel furry.
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?
I began traveling with my dog over 12 years ago when seeing pets on planes was still uncommon. With my last dog Pads, we explored 9 countries and took 100 flights together over a decade. However, one international flight went terribly wrong. Due to human error, she received the incorrect parasite treatment too close to our arrival date — a mistake that was overlooked during her pre-approval process. As a result, authorities seized her upon our arrival. It was the most heart-stopping 24 hours of my life. This experience inspired me to build the app that millions of traveling pets need.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began working in leadership, culture building, or purpose-driven organizations?
Leading a purpose-driven culture with a new perspective can be isolating. The most interesting story in our journey is how PadsPass overcame this isolation through our “Yappy Hours” in Bermuda. For nearly two years, we’ve hosted monthly social gatherings for pet parents and their dogs. These events have yielded partnerships, attracted investors, recruited team members, and built relationships with pet parents who have traveled with their dogs to or from the island. By addressing the local need for dog-friendly social spaces, we’ve established a strong cultural foundation.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
I’m empathetic toward our users, team members, and investors. This empathy allows me to understand different perspectives and work with them seamlessly. I’m also a creative thinker who sees problems differently and finds unique solutions others might overlook. This creativity pairs well with my persistence — I’m constructively stubborn, continuing to try different approaches until I solve the challenge at hand.
Let’s now jump into the focus of our interview. What does a “purpose-driven culture” mean to you personally, and why do you think it’s critical for attracting top talent?
As pioneers in our field, we’re breaking new ground by integrating animal health with international travel compliance — something never done before. There’s a good reason it hasn’t been attempted: it’s incredibly complex. While others may have started similar journeys but made compromises on quality or process, we’ve maintained unwavering clarity in our vision. We’re building exactly what we live — a lifestyle where we can travel confidently with our pets. This allows us to bring them on most trips and make informed decisions with complete understanding of what pet travel involves. Because our team is personally invested in our purpose, we refuse to cut corners or leave room for error. We’re creating our own future and sharing it with millions of others in similar situations.
How did you identify and define the mission or purpose for your organization? Was it inspired by a particular event, challenge, or insight?
In a classic design sprint with some future teammates, we distilled the PadsPass mission statement into two parts: to help pet parents make the best decisions for their pets and travel, and to be a trusted platform of pet travel compliance for governments and transportation providers. We never promise you’ll travel with your pet on every trip because we’ve traveled long enough with our pets to know that not every journey is in the best interest of the animal or the human. However, having the information to make that decision in seconds rather than hours or days makes all the difference.
What are the key steps leaders can take to embed purpose into the day-to-day operations and decision-making of their companies?
As a leader, I approach every encounter with my team as a teammate — or if you’ll excuse another pet pun, as a pack member. Pack dynamics offer an excellent framework for team collaboration. Some members naturally assume the alpha position, and sometimes leadership shifts. But ultimately, the pack is stronger together.
What role does leadership play in championing and modeling a purpose-driven culture? Can you share an example of how you or another leader helped reinforce your organization’s purpose?
Animal health is our top priority, and as humans we fall under that same priority. As a leader, I don’t have the luxury of taking sick days, but I can choose how I show up for my team. When I’m not feeling 100%, I communicate this in a dedicated Slack channel we call “tem_check.” I’ll join meetings with an ice pack on my head during a migraine or take internal calls from bed — not because I expect my team to do the same, but because I value both their time and our collective mission in building this business.
How do you handle skepticism or resistance from team members or stakeholders who may not immediately understand the value of focusing on purpose?
We’re building something truly special with PadsPass. We’re not only making the future of travel furry, but also safer, verifiable, and easier for our customers and partners. Building something before the world may be ready certainly involves risk. However, when approached with purpose — building brick by brick in a measured way — we actually reduce the very risks inherent in early innovation.
Ok, let’s talk strategy. Based on your experience, can you share “5 Steps to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts Top Talent”? If possible, please include examples or stories for each.
- Implement trial periods with new team members. In a lean startup, these can be paid arrangements with clear guidelines that respect the prospective team member’s time and effort. This approach prevents premature commitments and allows both parties to determine if the relationship is a good cultural fit before deeper involvement.
- Search for talent both locally and remotely, but never compromise on quality. I’ve discovered exceptional team members at both geographical extremes.
- Avoid working in an echo chamber. While all my team members consider their pets as family, what sets us apart is our generational diversity. Having team members across different age groups naturally prevents us from focusing too narrowly on a single demographic in our product development.
- Express genuine gratitude when you find your tribe — their support is invaluable. Startup work comes with significant risks and tight finances. As a founder, it’s easy to overlook how much you’re asking of others relative to their compensation. When frustration inevitably arises, maintain focus on gratitude.
- Work with people who have dogs or cats, especially those who travel with their pets.
Can you share a specific example of how embracing a purpose-driven culture helped your company attract exceptional talent or achieve a significant business goal?
Just over a year ago, I was invited to a boat party near my home in Bermuda. I decided to paddle board to the boat — with my dog, of course. This memorable entrance caught the attention of a veterinarian onboard. We spent the entire party discussing pets and travel, and by the end, we were planning a trial work arrangement between her locum veterinary shifts. Having a veterinarian join our team so early in the development process was invaluable. She helped build our travel requirements framework with someone who had not only completed countless travel documents but also cared for traveling animals. This purpose-driven approach has also attracted other industry leaders, including Bruce Truman of BLT Consulting, one of the top talents in veterinary technology.
What advice would you give to leaders of smaller companies or startups who want to build a purpose-driven culture but don’t know where to start?
Start small with a growth mindset. PadsPass began by solving the stressful, time-consuming process of pet travel to and from Bermuda. Support from the Ignite Bermuda Accelerator and our local pet parent community helped us create a solution that works not just for this tiny island, but for the entire world as we expand. The trust you build within a community is irreplaceable, so cultivate it where you can and collaborate with partners who genuinely need the solutions you offer.
What are some common mistakes leaders make when trying to create a purpose-driven culture, and how can they avoid them?
Constantly assuming the alpha dog position serves no one, including dogs themselves. This approach transforms purpose-driven leadership into ego-driven control. Effective leadership requires flexibility — sometimes you belong at the front of the pack, while other times you’ll learn more from the back. What matters most is maintaining a learning mindset and preventing avoidable mistakes.
How do you ensure that your organization’s purpose evolves and remains relevant as your company grows and the world changes?
One of our slogans is ‘changing pet travel furever’ and we really are, just one paw print at a time. We’ve always known that for The Digital Pet Passport to be truly successful, it would need to evolve as the world inevitably changes. Our goal is to be the driving force behind that change — to be the tail that wags the dog.
What trends or shifts are you seeing in the workplace regarding purpose, and how do you think these will shape the future of business?
The traditional 9–5 workday is obsolete. It simply doesn’t work anymore if you truly want people to work with you rather than for you. While implementing a flexible work policy might feel risky, when it succeeds, the results are extraordinary — your team performs at their highest potential while maintaining a healthy work-life balance. It’s truly a win-win situation.
In your opinion, how does having a purpose-driven culture impact not just employees, but customers, clients, and the broader community?
Unlike others who have attempted what we’re doing without firsthand experience, we’ve been testing our prototype on our own pets. While this approach involves some risk, our animals have performed flawlessly throughout the entire testing phase. By putting ourselves on the front line of testing our own technology, we build genuine trust before we’ve even launched our product.
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 by building purpose-driven workplaces, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Our movement would have to resemble our own workplace, where every team member’s pet has a place in our company from barketing to chewpliance and hooman resources.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Follow me and PadsPass on LinkedIn or on Instagram and TikTok @digitalpetpassport.
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
Lauren Anders Brown Of PadsPass On How to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture That Attracts Top Talent was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.