Spotlight on Jessica Bartlett: Advising Us on What Is Best for Spotnana

Jessica Bartlett is Spotnana’s VP of People. She leads our global People Team which is focused on recruiting, retaining, and developing Spotnana’s most valuable asset: its people. Jessica strives to cultivate an environment where employees thrive, grow, develop, feel included,  and have the best moments of their career.

Jessica has led people teams at tech companies through high growth stages, including IPOs. 

When Jessica joined Spotnana, she saw a unique opportunity to collaborate with executive leadership to elevate our people function to a new level.

Executive leadership supporting an ideal culture

Jessica is a graduate of Ohio University. Prior to Spotnana, she was Head of People at Braze and helped lead them through a successful IPO in November 2021 (Nasdaq: BRZE). She also led the People team at GroundTruth (formerly xAd). Throughout her career, Jessica has maintained that respect and employee motivation go hand in hand. She was thrilled to meet our Founder and CEO Sarosh Waghmar, who believes the same.

“From my first conversation with Sarosh, I’ve known that our people function will always be a critical part of our business,” said Jessica. “Our shared view is that we can treat each other with respect and maintain a courteous workplace, while focusing on high-quality work and driving excellent results.”

When incorporating new benefits or driving company-wide initiatives, Jessica appreciates how frequently Spotnana leaders offer to share the responsibility of advancing progress.

VP of People Jessica Bartlett

“I can create all kinds of people programs, processes, and policies that I think are right for the company, but if I am not supported by company leadership, it does not matter,” said Jessica. “At Spotnana, our executive leadership team and managers drive these to fruition.”

As a member of Spotnana’s executive leadership S-Team, when Jessica discusses opportunities for driving improvements, team cohesion is evident and stems directly from clear collaboration standards and intentional hires.

“Our S-Team is viewed as one team because of the tone that Sarosh has set and the people that he has hired,” said Jessica. “Our perspective during our hardest days reinventing an industry that helps billions of people travel each year, is that we are thrilled to be tackling this together. There are no silos.”

Investing in the well-being of every employee

Our global employee base works hard to build a Travel-as-a-Service Platform that brings transformative change to the travel industry. Supporting their efforts requires frequent investment in employee well-being. Jessica’s approach prioritizes the dignity of each individual along with their unique perspectives and needs.

“We approach benefits in a way that is inclusive and supports the whole person,” said Jessica. “Everyone has their own perspective formed by their background, experience, and culture. So, it is our responsibility to encourage dialogues that reveal how we can better support and celebrate personal achievements, passions, hobbies, and interests.”

Spotnana offers competitive compensation, emotional support coaching, 20 days paid time off per year, 26 weeks of parental leave, legal perks, a hybrid work model, and Focus Fridays with no internal meetings. Medical, dental, and visual coverage are offered at no cost to the employee. To supplement existing initiatives supporting employee wellness, Jessica and the People Team partnered with the Wellable app and announced a new wellness initiative for Spotnana: the Destination Fitness Challenge. During the month of February, Spotters can team up and earn points for walking, running, swimming, yoga, and weight lifting.

“Promoting health and wellness supports our employees’ efforts to achieve success in their daily lives,” said Jessica. “The Destination Fitness Challenge is an exciting opportunity for all Spotters to explore various wellness practices and enjoy healthy competition.”

As Jessica introduces new wellness initiatives bringing Spotters together, she encourages all to reflect on our six core values in the context of fostering inclusion.

“Our values empower every employee to practice them for the benefit of everyone,” said Jessica. “Our values are a statement of how we should interact with each other in order to build an inclusive company where everyone thrives.”

Empowering all to be owners at Spotnana

Act Like Owners, one of Spotnana’s core values, drives Jessica’s approach to elevating Spotnana’s employees. Spotnana bridges the gap between company leadership and employees by offering equity in the company.

“We are fortunate that at this size and stage, every full-time employee is a part-owner of the company because we grant equity,” said Jessica. “We want them to be owners of the decisions that they make, the projects they complete, and the problems that can be fixed.”

Jessica is grateful to have the trust of our Founder and CEO as she leads our people function.

“At Spotnana, I feel an incredible sense of trust in what I do in my role,” said Jessica. “Sarosh values my opinion and trusts me to do the right thing. It is so motivating to hear your Founder and CEO say, ‘This is your domain of expertise and you will advise us on what is best for Spotnana.’”

Wherever an employee is in their career, Jessica believes that their time at Spotnana will help them reach their ultimate potential. “We have Spotters who are interns studying in college, entry-level employees beginning their careers, new parents starting families, and industry experts considering retirement,” said Jessica. 

“I want Spotnana to be a place of growth, a source of opportunity, and the best destination of their careers for every Spotter.”