The past two weeks have been a whirlwind for me! There’s nothing like leaving an annual company retreat and immediately driving home to prep your house for a hurricane, then working from your mom’s office building for a week while you wait for your power to come back on. But times like this make me so thankful for my community, and that I work for a company that keeps it human, with clients who understand that work is work and not life.
Our 2026 company retreat
I always look forward to our in-person annual company retreat in New Orleans. It’s one of the rare times I get to work in the office with the whole team, plus it’s an opportunity to return to a city I love. This year’s retreat was my eighth. There’s always some variation in the retreat, including in 2020, when Flynn showed up outside our houses in a green tuxedo and a mask with cocktail ingredients. But the core is the same: it’s a chance for the team to get together with intention and celebrate our wins from the year. (And sing karaoke.)
The past few years, another area of focus during the retreat has been taking photos of our team. Our brand uses a lot of original photography, with the aim of building trust by showing the real people who work at Online Optimism. Since we’re a remote-first team, the retreat is the best opportunity we have for refreshing our photos and including our newest Optimists. This year, we hired three awesome local photographers: Ashley Lorraine, George Kuchler, and Gali Du. They were all great to work with, smart, and accommodating of my requests to get this combination of people, and this one, and maybe this one, too. I can’t wait to show off more of the photos they took in our materials, but for now, here are some of my favorites:
Beyond that, I wanted to highlight some special things about this year’s retreat:
- It was our first year having it at The Shop. Working in a new location is always a bit of a challenge, but our VPs Sara and Meara did a great job preparing the space and making adjustments for our activities. Another shout-out to our photographers, who did a really nice job using the space for our new photos.
- We made several dozen handmade cards for Letters Against Isolation and Cardz for Kidz. I love that we always incorporate a bit of volunteering into our retreat, and I’ll never say no to a craft project!
- I got to have at least one one-on-one conversation with everyone at the retreat. Having spaces and activities that allow for natural conversation with people I otherwise mostly interact with on Slack and Google Meet is so valuable! From getting to know newer coworkers to catching up with longtime ones, I was very happy for all the opportunities I had for a bit of personal connection.
- Two long-standing karaoke traditions were fulfilled: Alyssa and I sang a Beyoncé song, and Madison and I sang a Taylor Swift song. (PSA: Singing Beyoncé songs at karaoke is a bad idea. Even if you think you’re prepared, you will struggle.)
- We stayed at The Riverfront Hotel, a client of ours. The hotel is lovely, and I really enjoyed walking through the arts district to and from our office.
Heading home for Isaias
I had seen before the retreat that there was a possible hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, and it floated across my mind a few times while I was in New Orleans, but Hurricane Isaias suddenly became very real on our last day together. I drove home to Pensacola, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon, trying to figure out how I was going to make preparations in time. Luckily, I work for a company that both understands hurricanes and values our team as people. I was able to take the rest of the week off at the last minute in order to get ready for Isaias to hit on Friday. While I was out, the team covered my work without question. Shout-outs in particular to Amanda and Meara!
The storm was scarier than I expected – my first one as a homeowner! – but fortunately, my house came out fine. There’s a lot of damage throughout my community, though, and it’s taken a while to get back to normal. Isaias hit my historic neighborhood especially hard. We were under a boil water advisory for several days, my power was just restored yesterday afternoon, and I’m still waiting for my Internet to come back on. In the meantime, I’ve been able to work from my mom’s office since their power came back on Tuesday (thank you, Pastoral Center of Pensacola-Tallahassee!).
Taking stock and feeling thankful
It is really stressful going through a hurricane and its aftermath. Even without any major damage, I’ve been crabby and exhausted. But I’ve been trying to focus on being grateful: for safety; for living such a comfortable life that not having wifi feels like a problem; for my amazing friends and family who let me and my dad, who lives with me, eat and shower at their houses in less-damaged neighborhoods; and for working at a company that cares about its people. The team here has checked in on me throughout the week, not to nag about when I would get back to work or be at full capacity, but to genuinely check in on how I’m doing. My clients, too, have been flexible and accommodating. It’s easy to forget how good you have it until something unexpected upends your normal life. I’m thankful I got to ride this time out with the support of my community – coworkers included.
