2020 — The Year of Abrupt Maturity | A Special Edition of On Record
In effort to rise above the constant of conflicting media, daily case counts and rabbit hole of screen time, we’ve found ourselves recentering each morning with one simple shared goal, ‘Be kind and help today’.
This core mantra has guided our headspace to dig deeper and show up, even when variables and unknowns seem to overshadow controls and reason.
In this prolonged season, we’ve found comfort in embracing new rituals that keep us sane (and safe):
That first morning cup of coffee uninterrupted by traffic or carpool (Less time in the car has been pretty great)
Intentional lunches and mid-day pause vs. ‘convenience rules’
Picking up the phone, often
Openly sharing and respecting time boundaries amongst the team
Heavy focus time during personal [what we call] power hours (productivity windows)
Embracing the summer heat and ability to work anywhere, creatively
Home cooked meals around the table
Puppy walks before 8pm
Slow Saturday mornings and Sunday drives (I know, are we even millennials?)
Peace in the stillness of slow down (this one requires constant practice, especially for our resident Enneagram 3)
Shared positivity that ‘people first, always’ will sustain us
The disruption of 2020 has been one that requires daily strategy adjustment, outward grace and patient pivot. At our ‘all minds’ meeting in late January we sat together in our studio space, retrospectively highlighting the shared wins and failures of the prior year. 2019 was one of significant growth, no doubt.
In contrast, 2020 has been one of abrupt maturity.
Like many of you, we sensed in early March that the unknowns surrounding COVID were far too complex to continue business as usual. We packed up our studio necessities and ventured homebound. With no sense of when we’d return, we began to settle into our elsewhere routines. This was pretty familiar to most of us, with travel being so core to our project philosophy. Prior to March, we were ramping up travel at a frequency of multiple coast-to-coast trips per month. So, a bit of home time felt, dare we say, welcomed.
But as March turned into April and news deafened deeper each day, motivators shifted. We came to grasp with the reality that our fears—for wellness, family, others and business—spoke more loudly too. Frequent, transparent communications from our leadership team to the studio at large on business health, shifting projects and open forum for connection became an embraced lifeline, no matter how blunt the facts delivered.
On the business side, between March and June we slowed, with losses we’d yet to encounter in our studio’s six year history. But uneasiness always proves to be creativity’s largest motivator. From onset, we refused to be stunted by the stillness. We took hold of slow studio weeks to refuel our portfolio, pursue team development opportunities and give back, through complimentary consulting, our Pivot in Practice series and acts of service.
We filled the silence with much needed discussion. On values, on comfort level, on diversity gap, on reshaped goals, and ongoing reflections [and fears] from the season to-date. We identified common threads in our ‘return to workplace’ plan and ultimately resolved that Distributed Work works for us [👉more on that here]. It’s a model that will allow us to continue to respect and embrace those new rituals we’ve grown to value more richly this season.
And as far as studio work, we are proud to share that it too returned. With a renewed vigor to rebuild confidence for a future we eagerly hold out for and are determined to shape, together. We owe a sincere thank you to our clients and extended community. We are privileged to serve you as confidants and open sounding boards, consultants and strategists, in growing and shifting capacities.
Through pivot moments and abrupt [albeit necessary] maturity, we rally and align towards our mission to continually impact the intersection of where brand meets place, and we’re confident in its encore return.
On the Boards
Looking ahead, we are thrilled to announce our partnership with the following clients/new engagements this year:
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And continued ongoing collaborations with the following rockstar clients:
Team News
In a year with so many silos, we take pause to celebrate our people.
👋 08/05 👋
We’re proud to welcome Olivia McWhirter to our design team as a Brand Designer; Olivia joins us with foundational experience in the hospitality space, contributing to new hotel brands from concept through launch.
🥂 08/06 🥂
Cheers to Senior Brand Designer, Heather McNamara on her two year workiversary; Heather was recently promoted for her invaluable tenacity, positivity and support through this maturity mentality season.
👶 (upcoming) 10/05 👶
For the first time since our founding, our CEO and Creative Director, Candice, will head offline for an extended maternity leave. Not to fear, she’s been incredibly vocal that she’s always accessible, just be prepared to welcome the chaos (and cuteness) of at-home virtual learning colliding with newborn tendencies ;)
That’s a Wrap
We cannot resist the opportunity to promote our Clients’ doing good. Introducing Vine Street Investors.
Founded in 2020 by long-time Nimble. collaborator Scott Denbow, when it was time to build the brand for his new company, our team was honored to lead as his active right hand. Our challenge — to bring the storied Vine Street name and Scott’s passion for People First Investing™ to life across story and visuals.
👉View more here.
Our Parting Line
As we eagerly anticipate the continued shifts ahead of us,
we equally hold close the philosophy that has led us here.
We would love to genuinely hear how you are doing. No strings attached.
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Other News and Postings
This is the 12th edition of our series, Nimble. on Record.
With extended grace and an open invite to connect (virtually, just not another Zoom), we thank you for reading!