Let's talk values

We’ve been talking a lot about values around the office. Our values give us purpose and help us clarify our priorities for ourselves, our families, and our businesses. Some questions we’ve been asking are…

What are your values?

How are you living those out personally and professionally?

What are ways you incorporate those values into your business?

Here’s how some of our Treasures responded.

“As a company, our values for Toast are community, collaboration, connection, and celebration. We live these every day by investing in the people and places around us and by working exclusively with clients who are doing the same.”

- Tiffany Haendel, Toast Design Studio

“My values are to operate with honesty and integrity. I believe in speaking up for what I feel is right in my business and seek to provide honest counsel to my PR clients even if it's not always what they want to hear. My family is the most important thing to me and I speak truthfully about what I need to do for my family throughout my work week in hopes to empower others to do the same and normalize the role of a working mom. I strive to demonstrate how my responsibilities as a mom don't get in the way of my job, rather help me to work smarter vs. harder and achieve the best possible results.”

- Aly Moses, Public Relations Consultant

“One of my most personal values is giving without any strings attached.  It’s not always easy, but it’s something I strive to do every time I’m given the opportunity to give. I live this out in my business by remembering anything I do in appreciation of my employees does not need to be reciprocated.”

- Courtney Ramos-Fincher, ARK Ramos

“One of my values is balance. It's taken me a long time to get here and I've really come to prioritize doing what I can rather than try to do it all at 100% all the time. Whether that's work, my other values, house stuff, or rest, there's room for everything; no more "all-or-nothing" approach and trying to fit into a box in terms of my cultural identity or trying to manage everything at home by myself. Doing a bit at a time and being willing to hit the pause button or save something for another day is far more sustainable and healthy for me than it was to be perpetually running on empty.

“In my business, I've structured my schedule around the type of morning routine I need. Slow, peaceful, with time for my gratitude journaling, workout, breakfast, and getting ready without scrambling. I've also stopped seeing clients in the evening so that I'm not starting dinner at 8:30 pm or feeling like I haven't seen my husband in months. It's been a game-changer. Doing so challenged me to raise my prices last summer, which I don't think I would have done without this epiphany. The balance has also helped me truly enjoy every single session with patients. I'm more present, since I know that I have time for myself, and I'm more able to hold their needs and be an effective therapist.”

- Dr. Rosette Elghossain, Licensed Clinical Psychologist

“I would say connection, intention, and authenticity. It is hard to narrow down to a few but I truly try to stay aligned with my values both personally and professionally. Having this guide really helps me continue to show up as I desire in the world. I do feel my work is personal so I share the same values across the board. Connection serves as a reminder that I truly feel my purpose is to connect. Many people around me have described me as the connector. Connecting amazing humans just seems to be innately in me. My word of the year in 2018 was intention. It came to me in a stage of burnout and exhaustion as I worked full-time while building my business. The word has evolved alongside me and even became the cornerstone of my women's retreat where we really define what living every day with intention means to us as individuals. Lastly, authenticity is a huge one for me. I desire to be a woman that people can relate to, that they can trust, and that is honest with them about both the beautiful and ugly parts of me. Authenticity is really about vulnerability and since I struggle with sharing my story, I strive to keep authenticity to the front of my mind so I can share my true self from a place of authenticity to help others around me.”

- Danielle Throckmorton, Throckmorton Events and Reach Retreat

“My values are honesty, being empathetic, not making someone feel small for their beliefs. I value my time to unwind, I value my family and friends, I don’t want to take for granted my ability to work, help people and be a positive influence in their life. I try to surround myself with people who make me feel good about who I am, not who they want me to be. I value that!

“I try to be honest with my customers, I try to see their point of view and I try to connect with them on a personal level to better understand them. I try to be dependable not only at work but for my clients and deliver good or bad news with a positive attitude.”

- Karissa Suchy, V.Bank

“Honesty has always been a personal value of mine. And I found that my honesty actually gave me a competitive advantage in business. Marketers are really really good at presenting the best while minimizing deficits. So, I feel like when I speak with clients with honesty and tell the truth when our efforts aren't successful it is refreshing.

“Our core values at Content Journey are a direct reflection of all my personal values and the culture I want for our company.

• Care. We care about ourselves, our families, each other, our clients as individual people, and our clients’ success.

• Kindness. We are kind to each other and treat our clients the way we want to be treated.

• Intentional Honesty. Sometimes we have to deliver bad news. Maybe your website isn’t set up for success, or you’re just not a good fit for Content Journey’s services. Not every client is a perfect fit for us and vice versa. We are intentionally honest with all of our clients and prospective clients, regardless of what we have to communicate. We communicate with kindness. And we always try to guide the next steps, even if those steps aren’t with us. We take this approach because we truly care about people and their success.

“I love the culture that we’ve built here. It isn’t just in our daily work life but the clients who are drawn to us. It’s why work is so much fun. We’re all aligned in the reasons we are here doing this work.”

- Lindsey Miller, Content Journey

“My core values are responsibility, productivity, compassion, spirituality, and connection. They impact my personal and professional lives a lot. They mean I focus on following through with what I’ve said I will do and pay special attention to efficiency, impact and quality. They guide me to have fewer but deeper personal connections built on authenticity and quality time. I care deeply about other people’s feelings and am compelled to help where I can. Identifying these values was key to helping clarify what we want to pass on to our children. So, we make an effort to talk about and do things that enhance each value – like delivering meals to people in need at Thanksgiving, creating a chore-for-allowance system, and having regular conversations with our kids about faith and friendship.”

- Christine Golden, SigniFi Advisor Group

“Our studio's values are courage, humility and stewardship – and those align with me personally as well. I'm a strong believer in making the hard decisions and carving out solutions when there isn't a clear path. I also didn't grow up with much, so every win (big or small) is a reminder of how far I've come and how far I want to go – helping others make a better life for themselves and caring for our planet in the process.

“The same goes for our business. We believe the challenges we face as a society require leadership and collective action. We donate to various environmental initiatives, clear trash from local parks and wild spaces, and are currently implementing a program to help businesses become Climate Neutral and B Corp certified.”

- Kalie Fry, Atlas

“I try to lead with authenticity whenever I interact with others personally or professionally. I have woven this into my business by internally deeming the BGC brand to be "Professional with Personality." I want people to know that I'm a hard worker and will get the job done, but that we'll have fun doing it! As a consultant, when organizations hire my company, they're essentially hiring me to help them. So, I want to always be genuine, positive and supportive. Essentially, I want to be my authentic self whenever I work with my clients!”

- Bailey Gordon, Bailey Gordon Consulting

Inspired? Me too.

If you need community like this in your life, we have room for you at The Treasury. We offer two different tiers of membership so you can join on a level that fits your needs.