What Defines a Strong Company?

In good times and bad, what are the hallmarks of a strong company?

That's the question Nicole Walters, founder and CEO of Inherit Learning Company and star of USA Network's She’s The Boss, recently posed to the co-founders of Fairygodboss, Georgene Huang and Romy Newman.

Huang believes that it starts with having strong, cohesive leadership and appreciation for your employees. "To be good to your people, you have to be compassionate, transparent and really focused on business outcomes," she explains. "One of the things we really focused on and thought about is that we have a very diverse workforce. We are a company that helps other companies become more gender diverse, and certainly we practice what we preach."

It is also about a team's willingness to change and be nimble, notes Newman. The world is changing so fast — customer needs and available technology are evolving at lightning speed. "We need a team that is willing to be flexible and agile and able to adapt to the ever-changing needs of our business," Newman says. "You can't predict the disasters coming around the corner," she says, "but you can focus on the task at hand and work to thrive and perservere in the environment you are in today."

Both founders say that a strong relationship with investors is key to running a strong company. "Our investors are an incredible group of people and we would not have survived this time without their support," says Newman. "Keeping them informed and knowing when to pull them in for help has been an important part of our success."