2020 August Newsletter
From Our Chief Optimist’s Desk…
Good Morning,
Even after eight years of doing this, I’m still constantly impressed at the pace our team moves. July is supposed to be a slow month in New Orleans — doubly so during a pandemic. That’s just not how our agency works. Here’s what our hustle brought us the last few weeks:
- Named a Finalist for the 2020 North American Inspiring Workplaces Award.
- Promoted another incredibly talented Specialist, Stephanie Gutierrez, to a full-time permanent employee as a Social Media Content Creator, bringing us to 8 former Specialists on permanent staff at the moment.
- Presented in partnership with The Shop how to do a COVID-19 Marketing Audit for your business, continuing our goal to help organizations pivot and thrive best they can through this crisis.
- Launched a website for Pinnacle Security.
- Held our first internal book club meeting, as part of our focus on diversity and inclusion among our team.
- Published and promoted five new COVID-19 business stories with leaders around town.
- Delivered goodies to staff for #ChocolateDay, #NationalLollipopDay, and #SelfCareDay, alongside extra special packages to our Summer and Senior Specialists for #NationalInternDay.
All that, alongside our usual marketing & design work for dozens of clients (and a couple of new ones onboarded remotely).
If 2020 has taught me anything, it’s that preparing for the future is nigh impossible. I’ve never been more confident that our Optimists are up to the challenge for our agency, and our clients.
Yours,
Flynn Zaiger
CEO
CEO
Inspiring Workplace Finalist
We’re proud to have been named a Finalist in the 2020 North American Inspiring Workplaces Awards, in the Culture & Purpose category. We’re alongside 9 other finalists on the continent in our category, all who have teams 5X – 100X larger than ours. We’re proud that our small but mighty staff have worked extra hard to make this an incredible place to be. The winners will be announced virtually this August. Keep your fingers crossed with us!
Covid 19 Stories
As we continue to move through the trying times of a global pandemic, we’ve asked local business leaders to give us insight into how their business has coped during this time. Working toward our value of Being Exceptionally Helpful, we’re also providing paid promotion for each story on our social networks, at not cost to these small businesses. To get a taste of what their stories are like, we’re featuring two below: Canal HR & Seven Three Distilling.
Mitch Chailland: Canal HR
Mitch Chailland graduated from the University of Houston and moved to New Orleans in 1992 to start working in the professional employer organization industry. Mitch started Canal HR in 2013 after spending 21 years learning as much as possible about the field. He is currently the President of Canal HR, and he previously served on the Board of the Professional Association of Co-Employers (PACE), a PEO trade association, for over ten years.
Tristan Johnson: Seven Three Distilling
Tristan Johnson is the General Manager of Seven Three Distilling Company, makers of St. Roch Vodka, Gentilly Gin, Black Pearl Rum, and other spirits inspired by the seventy-three neighborhoods of New Orleans. Most recently, he has shifted focus to include hand sanitizer production as the distillery adapts in the wake of COVID-19.
If you would like to feature in our COVID stories series, please fill out the contact form in the link below and our team will get back to you!
Blog Post: How To Take a Professional Headshot with Your Smartphone
Our team often gets questions about the best way to take headshots with a smartphone. While we’re still in quarantine, getting that all important headshot poses its own new challenges. Our Senior Design Specialist Gabby Maldonado gives us the breakdown on the best tips & tricks to take a headshot on your smart phone.
Newest Optimist: Stephanie Gutierrez
Social Media Content Creator
Introducing our first-ever social media content creator, Stephanie Gutierrez! As another Specialist to permanent Optimist success story, we’re excited to add Stephanie’s talents to our team for the long haul. She says:
“One of the things that excites me most about joining Online Optimism is that it’s the first company I’ve worked for that makes me feel truly valued. I feel my talents are welcomed and appreciated, but also supported while working to expand and improve on my skills.”
Welcome to the team, Stephanie!
