Brand-building without borders: global marketing as a globally remote team

Lindsay Rogers:
Hello, and welcome to the Brand Hunch Podcast, where we explore ideas and hunches around how marketers are growing great brands. It's a look under the hood at how much is marketing science and how much is built on a hunch. In today's episode, I'm joined by Siobhan Hayes, Director of Marketing at Float.

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Thank you. Really exciting to be chatting with you in this capacity.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
If you didn't know already, Float's the number one-rated resource and management service software. As a business, they work async across more than 15 countries with more than four and a half thousand customers, spanning 150 countries. Siobhan is based in Sydney, Australia, but manages a fully remote marketing team as Float is a fully remote employer.

We're a proud customer of Float here at Chello and really enjoy interacting with the product. I know employing a ton of creatives that the user interface and the way the product's designed has been a huge reason why we've stayed with Float for so long. I can't wait to hear more about your journey and how you've built such a great brand globally. Siobhan, welcome to the show.

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Thank you. Really exciting to be chatting with you in this capacity.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
Thank you. So tell me a bit about your marketing career today. Where did it all start for you?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
So I've always been in tech, somewhat accidentally. I studied marketing at university, but I also did tourism and hospitality as well.

As I was finishing up my degree, I was working part-time with a holiday rental company that was fully online. Fun fact: this business was actually on Airbnb's pitch deck because they were one of the first closed-loop holiday rental offerings. Everything was managed through the website. They later sold to Stays, which was owned by Fairfax, and then to a US company before being acquired by Expedia.

So I’ve accidentally always been in the startup journey. That was my original company. Then I did a couple of years in media before finding myself back in fintech. I became a founding member of a fintech team in marketing, learned a lot through mistakes, and then in 2019, I joined Float. It’s B2B, and I’ve been with them for the last five and a half years.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
And I feel like this is asking which child you love the most, but what would you say you love more: B2C brand work or B2B?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
I think just based on how much I’m loving my role today and what we’re building at Float, it’s B2B. It’s not where I expected to end up in my career, but I love it because I get to bring a B2C mindset into some aspects—like the fun, the brand part, and connecting with people.

At the end of the day, we spend so much of our lives working, right? So it’s amazing to think about bringing joy to our work lives. That excites me, given how much of our day we spend working and how tools enable us to do that.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
So tell me a bit about what Float actually does.

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
We’re a resource management software. While you might have your project management tool for listing tasks and assigning them to people, Float is about scheduling projects based on capacity. You centralize all your people into Float, like a database, where you add details like when they work, their hours, skills, and rates.

Then, when a project comes in, you use Float to book them onto that. We’re mostly used by creative services—teams like Chello and many creative agencies—but professional services are our broader market. Essentially, anyone booking people’s time onto project work uses Float to do that based on capacity and scheduling.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
When reflecting on the last five-plus years at Float, how much of your time leading marketing has been based on data and historical information, and how much of it has been based on a hunch or gut feel?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Fun question. Especially as we scale, being data-driven is essential. But in saying that, I think our superpower and competitive advantage is our hunches, right?

It’s about intuition. In all seriousness, it’s both—we have to be data-led and hunch-driven. Every discipline comes with instinct, especially in brand marketing. That instinct or hunch is fed by being perceptive, observant, and close to the work—talking to customers, our team, and the market.

At Float, we approach most things with an informed hypothesis—an idea backed by a "why," ideally with data. For example, we might say, “Based on this observation, we believe X idea.” We outline the expectations and what we need to see to believe it to be true.

It’s a scientific approach, but it still begins with an instinct or hunch. I really think of those hunches as our superpower. The science part sets us up to scale, be accountable for the bets we make, and execute better than anyone else.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
Give me a bit of a lay of the land. Tell me about when you joined Float five years ago. What kind of business did you join, and what was the focus?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
When I joined Float, it was about 14 to 15 people. We were fully remote. I was living in New York at the time, and today we’re over 50 people.

What was interesting back then was that I had come from a founding startup where there were only three of us. When I joined Float, I thought, "Oh, this company is really well-resourced." There was a team of engineers building in-house, some in-house product designers—it felt substantial.

As we’ve grown, we’re still a lean team. We’re self-funded, independent, and do everything ourselves, but we’re also profitable and growing. For me, the most noticeable change has been the inflection points.

At 14 to 15 people, we operated one way. Once we hit over 20, we started thinking differently—about onboarding, attracting great talent. At 30, we shifted again, and now, over 50, it’s focused on scaling, ensuring consistent processes across the business, and building a great remote team culture.

We’re also competing in a bigger space. Our growing customer segment is mid-market teams. So, how do we ensure we’re building a brand that competes at that level? It’s been a very exciting journey in a short amount of time.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
So, when you started, I think you were the first marketing team member. Is that right?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Yes, that’s right.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
What kind of brand did you inherit from the 14 to 15 people who were there at the start? And what have you grown from a marketing perspective?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Anytime you’re the first marketing hire in a startup, you’re inheriting the founder’s brand. That essentially means the founder’s vision and mission.

At the time, Glenn, the CEO, had a product management background, and Lars, the other co-founder, had an engineering background. So, the focus was very much on the product, which is natural and required in SaaS.

A lot of my role back then—and still today—has been about translating the product’s vision and mission into a relatable brand perspective. How do we make this connect with customers beyond just what you can do with Float?

I’d say that’s what I inherited, and it’s still very much what I work with. It’s natural for a team of our size today as well.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
Tell me a bit about the early days and the vision for this fully remote team. Five years ago, pre-COVID, that was quite a radical way to approach managing a business. Where did that stem from?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
It’s always been common in tech. Basecamp is a great example—they’ve been fully remote since day one.

For Lars and Glenn, it was initially a practical decision. They met in New York while working at an agency. When Glenn moved back to Melbourne, they were working remotely part-time anyway while building Float.

The second factor was talent. They needed engineers, but New York rates were too high when you’re bootstrapping. So, they hired engineers in other places.

From there, it just made sense. As a product-building company, there are so many benefits to being remote and async.

In some ways, we’re like a 24-hour newsroom, but for product building—there’s always someone online moving work forward. It’s intentional. A lot of our collaboration is about passing work along in progressive, productive ways.

It’s not about everyone being online at the same time and saying, "Oh, it’s 5 PM, and we’re done." Instead, we’re in deep work and flow states, always progressing.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
What are the pros and cons of working fully remotely from a marketing team perspective?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
The pros? We’re very performance-driven. We foster a culture of deep work and driving things forward. Documentation is key—we ensure there’s a paper trail so decisions and progress are clear and accessible.

Another huge advantage is the talent we can attract. We hire people based on merit, not location. In 2021, we removed location-based pay. Now, everyone at Float is paid the same rate regardless of where they live, indexed to San Francisco salaries. That’s a game changer for rewarding equal pay for equal work.

The downsides? Building connection and ensuring a sense of belonging are challenges. Fostering personal connections, rapport, and team camaraderie takes more effort in a remote setup.

In marketing, I’ve addressed this by introducing things like team readmes. We also hold monthly all-team syncs, where we play games to get to know each other.

Once a year, we have an annual team meet-up. Last year it was in Osaka, Japan, and this year we’re going to Northern Italy. Those in-person connections are invaluable.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
How amazing. What a great upside to fully remote work.

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Yeah.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
Logistically, when you’re meeting with your team once a month—whether that’s video, phone call, or in-person—how much of that needs to be on a similar time zone? Or is it really flexible, even across the other side of the world?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
For the actual work required in our roles, it’s not time-zone bound.

For example, our support and customer success teams may have location considerations, but for my marketing team, there aren’t restrictions.

Most of my one-on-ones are with team members based in Europe. That can be tricky with time zones—it’s usually late evening for me and early morning for them.

For our all-team sync, we’ve made it work. For me, it’s not ideal; it’s 8 or 9 PM, but that’s fine because it’s once a month.

Since we don’t have a heavy meeting culture, those one-off exceptions feel manageable. And connecting with the team is worth it, versus the drain that a heavy meeting culture could create.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
A big part of my experience in creative services has been around collaboration and brainstorms, particularly for marketing projects or campaign kick-offs.

I’ve noticed the industry often attracts "people people"—outgoing, collaborative, creative individuals. How do you maintain cohesiveness with a remote team made up of "people people"?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
This is an interesting one. Early on, when we were a smaller team of 15 or fewer people, Float was very engineering-heavy.

As we brought in marketing and grew other departments like sales, operations, and customer success, we had to adjust. It’s been an evolution, and we’re still working through it.

For marketing, it’s about keeping the team in the loop. My team values connection—not just within their department but across the company. They want to know who they’ll work with, what projects mean, and their impact.

I focus on transparency. I share updates from leadership, cross-department news, and even screenshots or summaries of conversations to foster that connection.

It’s also about promoting my team as partners to other departments. Encouraging direct collaboration breaks down barriers rather than having everything flow through me.

We also have a dedicated people operations team, including a team experience manager. Their role is to foster collaboration and ensure everyone feels connected and has a sense of belonging.

For us, remote isn’t a fallback; it’s our default. Everything we do, from onboarding to collaboration, is designed for a remote-first context.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
This might be a personal leadership style question, but I have a hunch about the importance of trust in a remote team. How do you interview for trust? What traits do you look for in candidates to determine if they’ll work well remotely?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
For me, trust starts with setting the tone. It’s about letting my team know I’m always leading with good intent.

Transparency and openness are key. I break down silos and share vulnerabilities or challenges I’m facing. I’m proud of the radical candor we’ve built in the team—feedback isn’t shied away from.

I use the phrase "outcomes over ego" a lot. It’s about focusing on the work, not personal pride.

When hiring, rather than testing for trust, I focus on building it.

For example, I ask candidates for feedback on the process, reminding them I’m looking for honesty, not flattery. That approach shows how we’ll work together rather than testing them in a traditional sense.

Float’s employer branding also plays a huge role. We’re transparent about pay, our handbook is public, and our values are clear from the moment the job description is live. This sets the tone from the start.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
That’s such an insightful response. I think the way leadership sets expectations daily has a huge impact.

One of the things I love about Float’s brand is the "what we stand for" promise, written by co-founder Glenn Rogers.

He writes, "Today, I’m far more conscious of where I direct my money. I increasingly make decisions not only by the perceived value of a product or service but by the ethics and actions of the people behind the brand—not just the what, but the how."

How well do you feel Float lives out this promise, and how much of Float’s brand is still influenced by the co-founders?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
I love that you found that blog post by Glenn. It’s such a great reflection of who we are.

Being independent, self-funded, profitable, and growing is rare in SaaS, especially in our category. We’re competing with companies like Monday.com and ClickUp, who’ve raised hundreds of millions of dollars.

For us, everything we do is rooted in building a sustainable, value-driven business. That ethos naturally feeds into our brand and decision-making.

We focus on delivering value because we live it. We’re a remote company using tools like Float to operate efficiently. We understand the need for a return on every tool we use, and that empathy extends to how we approach our customers.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
What I love about it is that it feels so human. You mentioned earlier that B2B SaaS is technically a business selling to a business, but it often comes down to a business selling to people within a business.

Float is in that mid-market space, leveraging SaaS tools just like your customers do. Reading Glenn’s words, I see a strong human element in Float’s brand—it feels deeply considered, not just a superficial blog post.

That brings me to my next question: how do you define brand, and what do you think makes a great brand?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Love that. For me, especially from a SaaS perspective, the product is about the "what"—what are we building? What do we want the world to look like with this?

Brand is about the "why"—why are we here? Why does this matter?

I think of it like a spider web. At the center is your product—it has to be there in SaaS. Brand is every thread of connection that keeps the web intact. What you see is a complete, beautiful web, not the mess of unconnected pieces underneath.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
I’ve never thought of it like that, but I love it. It’s a holistic view that extends across departments and touchpoints.

What do you think makes a great brand, and who are some brands you admire?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Great brands come down to consistency—standing for something and connecting back to your "why" with clarity and cohesion.

Being consistent is hard, especially as your team and product offerings grow. But consistency creates trust and recognition.

A great brand blurs the lines between brand and product—it’s all one experience for the customer. From an email to the product itself, everything feels cohesive.

One brand I admire is Notion. I don’t love their illustration style personally, but it’s consistent. Even on LinkedIn, I can spot someone who works at Notion because their avatar matches the brand.

Notion’s product and brand feel collaborative, intuitive, and productive—everything they stand for.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
The Ehrenberg-Bass Institute talks about distinctive assets and consistency, whether in customer experience or employer branding.

How does Float think about employer branding? Does it fall into marketing’s remit, or is it separate?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Great question! We’ve learned a lot here.

Early on, in a product-led SaaS business, brand-building can be tough. You need to prioritize messaging about what your product does and its value.

At the same time, I was growing the team and trying to attract top talent. Building an employer brand became essential, especially pre-2020 when it was harder to find great talent.

For us, employer branding has evolved naturally. How we work and what we stand for is reflected in our product brand.

Today, our People Ops team owns employer branding. They focus on talent, hiring, and team experience, and marketing partners closely with them to deliver aligned messaging.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
How do you translate brand to more technical functions, like engineering?

Siobhan Hayes:
One of our favorite expressions at Float is, "Don’t let your org chart show."

This means the customer shouldn’t be able to tell which department created which touchpoint. Consistency matters—whether it’s marketing, product, or support, everything should align.

Engineers understand our brand values—simplicity, performance, and efficiency. These principles guide how they build the product, ensuring it delivers on our promise.

As a marketing leader, I empower teams to know they’re contributing to the brand experience, even if they’re not directly involved in external-facing work.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
You’ve mentioned brand sprints before. Can you share what those look like for Float?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
As a remote team, collaboration happens mostly asynchronously. Earlier this year, we ran a brand sprint to refine our brand story and narratives.

We used FigJam—a collaborative tool by Figma designed for non-designers. It’s been a game-changer for retrospectives and workshops.

We time-boxed the sprint and used FigJam boards with specific questions. Team members could add notes and upvote ideas over time, creating a thoughtful and intentional process.

This approach lets ideas marinate, removes time pressures, and encourages alignment. It’s less about loud voices dominating the room and more about democratic participation.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
That’s such an interesting perspective. By removing the immediate pressures of live meetings, you allow ideas to develop more fully and remove bias from louder personalities dominating the conversation.

How has your marketing remit evolved as Float has grown?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Today, our marketing team covers brand, content, product marketing, and growth. I lead brand and work to bring everything together, ensuring alignment with business goals.

My role involves guiding strategic direction, integrating marketing across the business, and empowering my team to execute.

A quote that resonates with me is: "Stop looking at your team’s priorities in the context of the organization and start looking at the organization’s priorities in the context of your team."

Hiring the right specialists is key. I love working with people who are smarter than me in their fields—it allows me to step back and focus on the bigger picture.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
You’ve touched on employer branding a few times. I have a hunch that it’s becoming more important, not just for attracting talent but also for retaining it.

Employer branding often feels like the "poor cousin" to external branding. But as talent becomes harder to find and retain, do you think we’ll see a shift in how employer branding is championed by marketing?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
I absolutely think so. Employer branding should never feel like a separate entity—it should connect to your overall brand story and values.

At Float, our overarching brand story is about empowering better decision-making. This applies to both the product and how we work as an async, remote organization.

For example, at Float, everyone can choose their own hours, work where they want, and decide how they communicate best—whether through Loom, Slack, or detailed documentation.

This focus on decision-making autonomy is integral to both our employer and product brand. The two align because they share the same values and story.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
At Chello, we talk about clarity, cohesion, and confidence in branding. That cohesion piece is vital—it ensures consistency across all touchpoints, internally and externally.

On a related note, one of the potential downsides of remote work is the blurred boundaries between work and personal life. How do you set boundaries for yourself and your team?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
It’s something I’m always practicing, especially because I love what I do, and it’s easy to keep going.

At Float, we have some simple but effective policies. For instance, we don’t expect anyone to respond to messages outside their working hours. When team members take time off, I tell them to uninstall Slack.

Culturally, we also have "No FOMO Week" at the end of the year. Almost everyone, except for essential support roles, takes the week off. This way, there’s no fear of missing out or anxiety about returning to a flood of messages.

As a leader, I model these boundaries. When I’m on leave, I’m offline. It’s not just about my well-being—it’s about showing my team that it’s okay to switch off completely.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
I love the idea of "No FOMO Week." It’s such a powerful way to demonstrate a company’s commitment to work-life balance.

Let’s talk about brand growth. You mentioned earlier the transition from a founder-driven brand to a more expansive one. What has that growth journey looked like for Float?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Brand is essential at every stage of a business’s journey, even if it’s subconscious in the early days. The founder’s vision often shapes the initial brand.

As the business grows, brand strategy evolves based on the market, competition, and customer needs. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach—it depends on factors like category maturity and customer awareness.

For Float, our focus has always been on strategy and timing. We’ve aligned our brand growth with our product evolution and customer base expansion.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
Finally, what’s been your secret sauce for building a great brand?

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Alignment and consistency are everything.

Alignment starts with leadership—translating the company’s mission into a clear brand vision and ensuring the whole team is committed to delivering a consistent brand experience.

Consistency builds trust. It’s about showing up the same way in every customer interaction, from your website to your support emails to the product itself.

Without alignment and consistency, it’s hard to build a brand that resonates and lasts.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
Incredible insights, Siobhan. I’ve learned so much about Float and how you’ve built a high-performing remote marketing team.

Thank you for your time and for sharing your journey with us.

‍

Siobhan Hayes:
Thank you! This was a lot of fun.

‍

Lindsay Rogers:
My biggest takeaway from this chat with Siobhan is how she approaches trust in hiring and leadership. Instead of testing for trust in the interview process, she creates an environment where trust can flourish through openness and feedback.

It’s a lesson I’m reflecting on for my own team—how to foster honest conversations that lead to better collaboration and outcomes.

Another key insight I took from our conversation is how Float’s async, remote-first approach is deeply intentional. It’s not a compromise; it’s a well-thought-out strategy that aligns with the company’s values.

From decision-making autonomy to tools like FigJam enabling collaborative sprints, Float shows that remote work can be a powerful enabler when done right.

Siobhan’s emphasis on alignment and consistency as the foundation of a great brand also struck a chord. It’s a reminder that whether you’re building a product, a team, or a company, clarity and cohesion are essential.

Thank you for tuning in to the Brand Hunch Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review. See you next time as we explore more ideas and hunches behind great brands!