At Crossrope, a fitness company specializing in weighted jump ropes, fostering a strong, value-driven culture is just as important as delivering a great workout experience. With a hybrid team dispersed between Raleigh, North Carolina, Toronto, and remote locations, maintaining a sense of connection and alignment posed a unique challenge.
When Crossrope's CEO, Dave Hunt, first implemented HeyTaco in 2018, the goal was clear: to find a tool that could seamlessly integrate their core values into daily team interactions. Fast-forward to today, HeyTaco plays a central role in celebrating those values.
The Crossrope team uses custom taco tags to align recognition with their eight core values. “Everyone understands that HeyTaco equals core values recognition,” says Paige Kelloway, Crossrope’s Culture and People Manager. “It’s not only a shoutout—it’s a way to highlight what makes us who we are as a company.” Employees don’t just stop at one tag; they often include multiple, pairing meaningful value-based tags with fun and creative ones.
This consistency has turned HeyTaco into a powerful vehicle for reinforcing what matters most at Crossrope—their shared principles.
What makes HeyTaco truly special at Crossrope is how it democratizes recognition. “It’s not just managers recognizing their teams,” Paige explains. “Anyone can give tacos to anyone else, and that really empowers people.”
From acknowledging a teammate’s behind-the-scenes contributions to celebrating cross-departmental wins, HeyTaco ensures that recognition flows freely. This inclusive, peer-to-peer model strengthens relationships across the team and fosters a culture where everyone feels seen and valued.
For a hybrid and dispersed team, visibility into what others are working on can often be limited. HeyTaco solves this by providing a virtual water cooler for recognition.
Paige highlights how scrolling through the HeyTaco channel offers her a window into the incredible work happening across the team. “I’ll see a shoutout and think, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know those two were collaborating!’ It’s been amazing to see the connections and achievements that might otherwise go unnoticed.”
HeyTaco has become an indispensable tool for Crossrope, especially in bridging the physical gaps of hybrid work.
Recognition at Crossrope is meaningful, but it is also fun and creative, thanks to HeyTaco’s unique taco theme. From taco bars to taco power hours (a special hour where managers and employees flood the channel with recognition to boost morale during peak busy periods), taco-themed company events have become a central part of the company’s culture.
One of the most celebrated traditions is the annual core values MVP award, where HeyTaco data helps identify the employee who best embodies Crossrope’s values. This recognition is accompanied by a giant foam taco hat, which Paige describes as “a symbol of an amazing culture champion.”
These creative practices make recognition something the team looks forward to, reinforcing gratitude in a way that’s uniquely Crossrope.
Since adopting HeyTaco, Crossrope has successfully woven gratitude into the fabric of their team. It’s no longer just a tool—it’s part of who they are. As Paige sums it up, “HeyTaco is a core piece of Crossrope. It empowers our team, connects us across locations, and makes recognition fun. If we ever stopped using it, I think we’d all feel like something was missing.”
Crossrope’s journey with HeyTaco showcases how meaningful recognition can bring teams closer, even in a hybrid world. Ready to take your team’s culture to the next level? Start your free trial of HeyTaco today.