Emily Long (she/her) joined Anchore one week after the pandemic shut down the U.S. in March 2020, she was employee number 25. In her Chief People Officer role, Emily led the build out of the G&A (General and Administrative - self titled ‘Great and Awesome’) functions made up of Finance/Accounting, IT, Information Security, Recruiting, HR, Legal/Compliance, L&D (Learning and Development), and DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion). Though she’d be the first to tell you, the best part was hiring “the incredibly talented team that really does the work.”
Through her value system and leadership approach focused on empowerment, team dynamics, and trust, Emily’s impact has extended to her recent move into the Chief Operating Officer role where the Customer Success organization has joined forces with the G&A team.
In this Humans of Anchore profile, we (virtually) sat with Emily to hear about her journey over the past year, what the organization has accomplished, and what inspires her:
“I feel a deep sense of gratitude that I’ve been part of Anchore during the growth we have experienced over the last year. That gratitude is attached to what makes our growth special - that it’s always been about us accomplishing this together, as a collective company and team. Everyone here believes in what we’re doing, and every single person that works here is part of that success. Being able to partner with a team that is low ego, and high in humility and kindness, makes those wins as a company that much more fulfilling.
Everything that we accomplish at Anchore - whether that be product features, financials, training materials, or metrics - has people behind it. Teams of people collaborating together to solve problems. If we don't understand the person that is developing code or supporting our customers, we aren’t telling the whole story. We can’t fully understand the quantitative outputs we get without deeply understanding the qualitative inputs that create it. Notably, the people behind the data.
What makes us different is not putting more or less focus on the technical or non-technical side of our business, rather putting an equal focus on both. We believe that everything is connected and we can get increased technical innovation through empowerment of our team members. And not just by saying it is important - but doing something about it. I can honestly say I’ve never worked somewhere that has focused on this more - a true example of this was hiring me originally as Chief People Officer at employee number 25.
We have worked hard to ensure the way we operate gives every team member a sense of belonging - that we take the time to understand how each unique person works, exploring their ideas, and hearing their concerns. This community of empowerment exists in a crew of almost 70 Anchorenauts. We have this infrastructure built to enable us to continue this as we scale because we have invested the time, energy, and resources through internal education, individual ownership, and structural support. We believe this is key to our success, for every employee.
Anyone who has worked closely with me hears me say all the time that I genuinely believe that people are fundamentally good. Most of the time when I’ve seen people become defensive, shut down, or act out in some way at work it has been a result of insecurity or a lack of trust that they’ve learned through past experiences - and I’ve been there before. There is honestly nothing better and more inspiring than watching someone shed away those walls they’ve built by experiencing what trust really looks like and truly stepping into their power. I get to witness this at Anchore all of the time - and each time I’m filled with a deep sense of pride and gratitude.
My ultimate goal is to have everyone at every level here at Anchore believe in, and have a path to achieve, that limitless potential that lives in each of us. Working somewhere with people that believe in each other, want to be part of a greater good, and are willing to hand the mic to someone that needs it more than they do... now there’s something really beautiful about that.”
