Alto

Why yes, I would like to have No Meeting Fridays.

(A very fun perk at Nashville-based fintech company Alto.) 

Alto is shaking up the investing world by making it easier for everyday people to use their IRAs to invest in private assets: think real estate, startups, even fractional art. In this episode, Jena chats with Sarah Light, Alto’s VP of People, about building a fun, ambitious, and evolving workplace culture in a hybrid world.

What you’ll learn:

• What it's like to work at Alto
• How Alto balances high performance with deep rest using “No Meeting Fridays” and Quarterly Quiet Weeks
• Why Alto employees get a monthly 3-day weekend (even when there’s no national holiday)
• How to grow your career at a small, mission-driven company
• Why remote work at Alto is flexible, not forced
• How Sarah got her role through a personal connection and what that says about the power of networking

Some Alto highlights:

Founded: 2015
Team size: 80 employees + tech contractors
HQ: Nashville, TN — with remote team members across the U.S.
Perks & Culture:

• Quarterly $150 stipend for work-from-home support (use it on anything)
• Quarterly Quiet Weeks + No Meeting Fridays for deep work
• 3-day weekend every month (even when there’s no holiday)
• HSA contribution match: $75–$125/month
• Culture described as ambitious, fun-loving and evolving.

To learn more about Alto:

• Careers Page (They are hiring!)
• LinkedIn Page
• Sarah’s LinkedIn

Transcript

Jena Dunay: Hello friends and welcome back to another episode of Culture Uncovered! Today, we're talking with a Nashville-based organization that’s doing something different in the investing world. I'm so excited to have Sarah Light, VP of People at Alto, with us to talk about their workplace culture, their hybrid model, and what it means to use your IRA to invest in private assets. Sarah, thank you so much for joining us!

Sarah Light: Thanks for having me, Jena.

Jena: I love having a fellow Nashville person on the podcast! When I saw your title and location, I thought, I need to connect with this person! So, tell us a little about Alto. What do you all do?

Sarah: I’m thrilled to be part of a Nashville-based company. Alto provides a platform for investors to use their IRAs, individual retirement accounts, to invest in private assets. That includes things like startups, real estate, and even fractionalized art.

Jena: Interesting!

Sarah: Most people don’t realize that these kinds of investments are even possible with an IRA. Historically, only the ultra-wealthy had access to them. Alto is using technology to make these investment opportunities more accessible to everyday people.

Jena: That’s super interesting! I didn’t realize you could do that!

Sarah: Right? And we’re seeing more people want to invest in what they actually care about and understand.

Jena: How old is the company?

Sarah: We were founded in 2015, but we really hit the ground running when we launched our beta product in 2018.

Jena: And how big is the team now?

Sarah: We’re close to 80 full-time employees, and we work with a great team of contractors on the tech side as well.

Jena: Are you headquartered in Nashville?

Sarah: Yes! About a third of our team is here in Nashville, and the rest are located across the U.S., from California to New York.

Jena: Would you say Alto is remote-first or hybrid?

Sarah: Both, really. Some teams, like our customer support team, are fully based in Nashville and come into the office a few times a week. Others are remote-first, and we fully support both models.

Jena: Love that! How did you find the organization?

Sarah: It’s a fun story! My husband and I moved to Nashville in 2020. Turns out one of his childhood friends lived a few streets away and his wife happened to be Alto’s Chief Revenue Officer at the time. She introduced me to our CEO, and that’s how I got connected.

Jena: I love that story! And again, if you’ve listened to the podcast for a while, you know I’ve said this a million times, people hire people. It’s about conversations and relationships. And we often forget that friends and family are part of our network too. Would you say that’s true for you?

Sarah: Absolutely. The worst someone can say is “we don’t have something available.” Just making the ask is so important. And I love what you said, people hire people. When you get to know someone beyond a resume or LinkedIn profile, it changes everything.

Jena: Yes! So as a People leader, what advice would you give someone going through a job transition?

Sarah: Look at your network through creative eyes. Posting on LinkedIn is great if you’re comfortable with it, but it’s also okay to keep things more private. Reach out to people you trust, even if they don’t have something right now. They may think of you later!

Jena: Right! And it builds momentum. We had a client recently who just started networking proactively, and it completely energized her search. She kept getting connected to more and more people. People really do want to help if they can!

Sarah: Totally agree.

Jena: Let's talk culture. If you had to describe Alto’s culture in three words, what would they be?

Sarah: Ambitious, fun-loving, and evolving.

Jena: Ooh, ambitious! Tell me more.

Sarah: Ambitious, because as a company, we’re breaking into a new space with this investment platform. But we also hire people who love to learn and grow. We want folks who want to deepen their skills and take on challenges they haven’t faced before. When people are excited by their work, the whole company benefits.

Jena: I love that! What about “fun-loving”?

Sarah: It might sound like a contradiction to “ambitious,” but I think they go hand in hand. When you're working with people who care and are aligned, work becomes fun. It creates trust, and that lets people be themselves.

Jena: Yes! And how does that actually play out?

Sarah: It’s all organic. I don’t force team-building games or “trust falls.” You can see it in our all-hands Zoom chats, the emojis, the camera-on participation. It’s about having a space where people can connect authentically.

Jena: That’s so hard to build in a remote world!

Sarah: It is. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. You have to experiment, ask for feedback, and pay attention to what feels genuine.

Jena: So true. What's the story behind the third word, evolving?

Sarah: We’re a growing company, so change is constant. But we also approach culture with intentionality and experimentation. We try things, we adjust, and we keep building based on what’s working.

Jena: Love that mindset! What’s something you’ve experimented with?

Sarah: Early on, we explored a four-day workweek. We didn’t implement it fully, but we loved the philosophy behind it: performance should be measured by outcomes, not time spent on Slack. So instead, we introduced “No Meeting Fridays” to protect time for deep work.

Jena: That’s brilliant!

Sarah: And we extended that concept to quarterly Quiet Weeks, one full week each quarter with no internal meetings, to give people space to think, focus, and breathe.

Jena: As a remote worker, I love that! Sometimes I want to work from a coffee shop, but if I have meetings all day, it’s impossible. Having quiet time like that really helps with creativity and productivity.

Sarah: Totally. It’s good for your brain!

Jena: What other benefits or perks does Alto offer?

Sarah: We have a strong benefits package, including an HSA contribution match up to $75 or $125 per month depending on coverage. And we offer a quarterly $150 stipend for remote work support. Employees can use it however they want whether that’s a better chair, faster internet, or even new running shoes.

Jena: I love that flexibility!

Sarah: We also make sure everyone gets a three-day weekend every month. If there’s no national holiday, we add one. It’s a great way to help people reset without using PTO.

Jena: That’s such a cool approach! Just knowing there’s a long weekend ahead can be so refreshing.

Sarah: Exactly. It supports people as whole humans, not just employees.

Jena: What are some areas Alto is working on improving?

Sarah: Performance management is a big one. We’re still refining it. I believe in starting with “why”, but systems only work if relationships and conversations are strong. Performance is complex, and we want our feedback culture to be growth-oriented, not just retrospective.

Jena: Yes! I’ve talked to so many People leaders who say it’s like a black box. You can buy all the tools in the world, but performance isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Sarah: Exactly. It has to be more than just a system. It has to work in practice, day-to-day, and help people develop meaningfully.

Jena: What about growth and development at Alto?

Sarah: We’re not fully formalized yet, but we’re working on it. My goal is to bake development into our performance process, asking people where they want to grow and building support around that. Even if someone leaves Alto eventually, I want them to feel like they grew while they were here.

Jena: That’s such a mature perspective! I love hearing leaders talk about making their company a great place to be from, not just to stay forever.

Sarah: Thank you! I think it's important to take a long-term view of professional development. When hiring, we want people to see Alto as a meaningful next step in their career journey.

Jena: So, who thrives at Alto?

Sarah: People who are curious, hungry to learn, and open to growing in multiple directions. It’s not just about titles or ladders, it’s about stretching into new skills or experiences that get you excited to start your day.

Jena: Love that. What departments do you have?

Sarah: The usual, sales, marketing, finance, product, engineering. We also have partnerships and customer success, which sit between sales and support. We’re a tech-enabled financial services company, so those roles are key.

Jena: And the big question, are you hiring?

Sarah: We’re growing carefully and sustainably. Right now, we’re hiring in sales, marketing, product, engineering, and hopefully soon, expanding the People team too. We’re cautious about overhiring because we want to avoid future layoffs, which we’ve experienced before.

Jena: That transparency is refreshing!

Sarah: We care about growing in a way that supports our team long-term.

Jena: If someone’s interested, what’s the best way to apply?

Sarah: Head to altoira.com/careers. Not all roles are posted, so I encourage people to email us at jobs@altoira.com. I read every message myself!

Jena: That’s amazing! Thank you so much, Sarah. I loved learning more about Alto and I hope we get to send some great candidates your way soon!

Sarah: Thanks, Jena! It was a pleasure.