We are a team of branding, marketing, human resources, and communications strategists offering our clients authentic insight and unrivaled expertise to brand and market their unique employment experience from the inside out. And like our clients, we at exaqueo, have our own unique and authentic stories to tell from the perspectives of our brand, our company, and our individual colleagues. Today, we are excited to tell the story of Tom Whittam!

Tom joins us as an Associate Employer Brand Strategist, responsible for telling the authentic, real, and diverse stories of our clients. He’ll help amplify and bring employment experiences to life through content strategy and content creation. He brings almost 5 years of experience bringing employer brand and employment experience stories to life with his content marketing background. 

Onboarding is an important step in building a new employee’s confidence and sense of belonging with a company. At exaqueo, we like to build that sense of belonging by assigning each new hire an “exaqueo buddy.” As Tom’s “exaqueo buddy” I have the privilege of supporting him throughout the exaqueo orientation and belonging journey. In the first few days we realized, we both have a love for music and will be swapping some Spotify playlists soon! 

We took a few minutes to grab coffee in our virtual exaqueo office space and I am excited to share some highlights from our conversation.

Emily: What made you want to join exaqueo?

Tom: I really wanted to grow my experience in the employer brand field. Specifically, I wanted to learn from experts who are highly dynamic and who have applied their in-house experience to consulting in order to deliver for their clients. I also really wanted to be part of a company that prides itself on great partnerships and I could tell exaqueo really shines in that area. I just want to be part of that energy I felt speaking with exaqueo team members during my interview. 

EF: What excites you most about your role at exaqueo?  

TW: I love writing! My favorite classes in college were humanity classes—writing gives me such joy. In this role, the opportunity to write for some really cool companies and brands excites me. I want to bring stories to life and write about new and exciting things. Also, I am really excited about the employer brand side of my role and the opportunity to grow in this space. I want to become an end-to-end employer brand strategy expert. 

EF: What impact do you hope to make at exaqueo?

TW: I hope to be able to contribute to the team and work well within the team dynamic. I love good banter and humor. I can already tell there are some fun personalities and dynamics from my experience in our first team meeting. I also want to make thoughtful contributions from our clients and have my opinion be considered valuable. I believe it’s important to ask a lot of questions, but also to be able to say “here’s what my gut says, this is why, please tell me what you think.” 

EF: What are three words that best describe you?

TW: 1) Gregarious, I am a very social dude and a bonafide extravert. 2) Good teammate, I’m always raising my hand to help out. 3) Curious, In all aspects of my life I love to dig in and research topics I don’t understand.

EF: What do you like to do outside of work for fun? 

TW: I’m all over the place with my hobbies and activities! I love new experiences. I’m really into playing sports — tennis, basketball, cycling, rugby, volleyball — as well as being a sports fan. I love exploring new music and sharing my favorites with others. I’ve also gotten into cooking and can get really sucked into watching YouTube videos of cooking shows—leading to some late night hunger attacks! 

EF: What’s the most interesting thing about your home office set-up? 

TW: Well, my home office is currently also my bedroom, so I basically spend all day and night here! I would have to say the most interesting thing about my home office set-up is my desk. It is a large sectional desk that doesn’t even completely fit in my room, but it holds a lot of sentimental value because it is a Whittam family heirloom. It belonged to my great grandpa and I just love that. I told my grandmother I was using it and she couldn’t believe I still have it!  

EF: What motivates or inspires you to do your best?

TW: I just want to feel like I’m waking up and giving it my all each day. I want to be doing something for the greater good. I really enjoy connecting the right opportunities to the right people and that truly aligns with exaqueo’s mission. I am really motivated by the fact that I have the ability to make an impact and truly feel like I’m doing something greater than myself.

Please join me in welcoming Tom as he dives into working on #teamexaqueo and starts to contribute to helping organizations work with meaning. You can congratulate and welcome Tom on LinkedIn!