Not everyone pays enough attention to developing their inner and spiritual life. Sounds True Inc., located in Louisville, Colorado, would love to help us find the inner peace that we all crave, whether it's by performing an African healing dance, examining the rhythms of the Chakras, or entering a yoga sanctuary. Sounds True Inc. publishes audio, video, and music media for spiritual wisdom. Recently I spoke with Tami Simon, founder of Sounds True Inc., about her company.

Q: Describe your type of business.
A: We publish audio, video, and music for the inner and spiritual life. We have over 500 titles.

Q: Who started Sounds True, when, and why?
A: I started the business in 1985 when I was 22 years old. My mission is to disseminate spiritual wisdom.

Q: How quickly did the company grow?
A: We made $10 million in 1999 from $600,000 in 1990. From 1985 to 1990, we grew to $600,000. Things were slow at first while I was figuring out what we were doing, and we were amassing an archive. Twice we've been on Inc. Magazine's Top 500 list for fastest growing companies (Sounds True was ranked 247 in 1994, and 442 in 1995 in Inc.'s top 500. Visit inc.com for more information.)

Q: What were you doing before you started this business?
A: Dropping out of college. I was studying religion.

Q: What types of clients do you have?
A: We don't really have clients, we have customers. The great thing about a customer is if they don't like a product, we give the money back. 65% of our customers are women, an educated and self-reflective group of people.

Q: Do you do custom orders for customers?
A: No, we publish what we want and hope that what we like, other people will like, too.

Q: How many employees does Sounds True have?
A: We have 75 employees. We have a creative department for art, copy and proof-reading; marketing and sales; customer service; information systems; editorial for recording and production; warehouse and shipping; and Web design. We work with authors and artists -- for example, if someone wants to teach a course in dream analysis, we will pay a royalty to the artist. We have talent on staff who record and produce.

Q: What is your company goal?
A: To reach as many people as possible through Web-broadcasting of our products. We've launched the Sounds True Online Institute. It's a way for people who buy our products to interact with authors. Now they can ask questions of our authors online. It's our newest edge.

Q: Describe the work environment at Sounds True.
A: We have 14 dogs at Sounds True. Employees are allowed to bring their dogs, because it is grounding and humanizing. We have a meditation room, which is also used as a massage room for on-site massages. In the building we're in, which we built, there's an etching of an angel in glass over the entry way -- an angel is our visual identity. The angel looks like she's between worlds. There's a piece of sculpture outside the building made by someone in customer service. We have quarterly art salons for employees who want to share a creative passion of theirs that has nothing to do with work. At the last one, a few people displayed their art work. A woman played a synthesizer, someone showed a slide show of his trip to Burma, and there was a juggler. We have wine and cheese, and get to know each other in a different environment, nothing to do with work.

Q: How do the dogs get along?
A: They must work well with others. Three poops and you're out.

Q: Do you have a dress code?
A: No. It's very casual, free form.

Q: What kinds of shoes do people wear?
A: Well, I'm wearing Doc Martins. I guess people wear sneakers mostly. We're casual, creative, and intense.

Q: Do people work in cubicles?
A: Some people have offices, some people work in cubes. The windows open in our building, so there's good airflow.

Q: What are your benefits like?
A: We have a profit-sharing plan, health insurance, non-traditional health reimbursement for things like gym fees and classes, 401k with 25% matching. Twice a month we have a company meeting for all employees. One of those meetings is a publisher's report, how we're changing our direction today. And the other is a department report meeting. We have an Upward Reviews process where employees can review their managers annually. We also have a Peer Review process where people get together as teams and talk about what is and isn't working.

Q: What type of personality fits in best at Sounds True?
A: You need to be self-motivated, self-managed, high-energy, flexible.

Q: What types of work backgrounds do your employees have?
A: Publishing, sporting goods industry, human services, restaurant business...wide-ranging.

Q: What activities are your employees involved in outside of work?
A: They're artists, writers, outdoor aficionados, hikers, bikers, marathon runners.

Q: What do your employees like most about Sounds True?
A: The freedom to be themselves.

Q: What do you like most about your company?
A: The freedom to be myself. And our products.

Q: Anything else you want to say about Sounds True?
A: You get to have your inner life and outer life be congruent. You get to be who you are. What you care about outside of work, you get to care about at work.