Be the founder of your career: Voices from Brex

“Be the founder of your career” isn’t just a talent tagline — it’s the lived experience of working at Brex. Here, people are trusted with big challenges, given room to grow and lead, and surrounded by others who operate like owners.

More than 100 Brex alumni have gone on to become founders, but the real story starts with the people who are here today. Their perspectives reflect how Brex creates an environment that builds founders and leaders through four principles:

1. Founders aren’t born; they’re built by doing hard things.
2. Working here should feel hard, not difficult.
3. The best leaders operate at all levels.
4. We run the company close to the metal.

By empowering employees to embrace intensity, solve real problems, build alongside the best, and see how the whole business runs, Brex amplifies employee ambition and creates a launchpad for wherever that ambition takes them next — within Brex or beyond.

And there's no better proof than our employees’ own words.

Amplifying ambition through autonomy

At Brex, people grow by tackling the big problems that matter to today’s growing companies. They’re not shielded from complexity — they’re given the autonomy to dive into it.

“Brex’s value of ‘ownership mentality’ isn’t just a phrase. It’s how we work,” says Erica Dorfman, SVP Finance. “Former founders thrive as employees here, and Brex employees often go on to become successful founders. We’re pushed to solve difficult problems, take full ownership, and put customer value first. These traits define great founders and make Brex’s culture unique.”

That appetite for challenge is shared across teams. Anne Jhuzett (AJ) Neyra, Manager, Product Operations, describes it this way: “The bar is always incredibly high. This constant push for excellence forces you to think like a builder, always refining and striving for the best. You’re constantly surrounded by people with sky-high ambition and a relentless drive to learn. It’s contagious. You see others tackling huge problems and it makes you want to do the same.”

At Brex, hard things aren’t obstacles — they’re the reason we get up in the morning.

Solving ambitious problems together

There’s a difference between work that challenges you and work that drains you. At Brex, that difference is intentional. Our environment is intense because the problems are ambitious, not because the culture is rigid or full of politics.

Hannah McCormack, People Strategy Director, puts it simply: “At Brex, you’re in the driver’s seat of your own growth. The responsibility is yours, not just your manager’s. If you take that ownership, Brex becomes an incredible launchpad. From the start, I felt empowered to shape where I could make the most impact, not just take orders.”

Samantha Parkman, Enterprise Account Executive, echoes that sense of freedom to learn through action: “I’ve worn every hat in GTM — SDR, AE, leadership, partnerships, marketing — and had the opportunity to mentor early-stage startup founders on their GTM strategies.”

Working at Brex is hard, not difficult. And growth is in your hands. It’s earned through trust and action, not instruction.

Operating at all levels and pushing for excellence

Leadership at Brex isn’t about hierarchy. It’s about rolling up your sleeves, solving problems firsthand, and trusting that impact matters more than scope. Every person at Brex is expected to operate at all levels, every day.

Bill Kuang, Engineering Manager, shares: “At Brex, being a go-getter matters. I’m vocal with my managers about how I want my career to grow, and I stay proactive in spotting opportunities. At the end of the day, I know I have control over my own career progression.”

For Sonny Gupta, Engineering Manager, leading at all levels means pairing autonomy with alignment: “At Brex, having agency means owning your domain, whether you’re an IC or a senior leader. You’re expected to form an opinion on what to prioritize, and if it conflicts with the company’s strategy, dig in to understand why. That process often uncovers the right path forward.”

And as Marcelo Prado, Staff Software Engineer, adds, “Leaders here are okay with you delivering impact outside your org boundaries. This reminds me a lot of early-stage startups, where you work on what’s needed, not just what’s expected from your role.”

The result: a company where leadership is practiced, not performed.

Running the company close to the metal

“Close to the metal” means Brex moves fast and stays grounded in execution. Everyone stays near the work itself. That proximity and transparency builds empathy, context, and velocity. It also builds future founders.

Whether it’s engineers reducing infrastructure costs or operators diving into customer experience, Brex employees don’t lead from a distance. They stay hands-on. As Erica Dorfman puts it, “We’re pushed to solve difficult problems, take full ownership, and put customer value first.”

That closeness to the work is what enables Brex to stay nimble and innovative even as the company scales. And it’s what helps every employee grow into a stronger operator and leader.

Welcome to your launchpad

These employee voices demonstrate what “be the founder of your career” really means. Brex employees think like owners, move with urgency, and hold themselves to a bar higher than anyone else could set for them.

If that resonates with you, this is an incredibly exciting time to be at Brex. We’re operating at unconstrained ambition and now have a clear identity of who we are and how we operate, which inspires the team to dream big every day.

Ready to join us? Explore open roles and be the founder of your career at Brex.