I don't usually talk shop much on this blog, but realized the other day just how proud I am of our other neonate, Cobra Creative. It's a pretty laid back place to work. It's still teeney with 5 of us (going on 6), but we never want to be more than 10 people. We prefer quality of projects over quantity, and we turn down more projects than we take on. The reason we take on fewer projects? So that our work gets the time it deserves, and our employees don't have to work insane hours. We work four 10 hour days a week, so everyone gets a three day weekend. Everyone gets health, dental, vision and life insurance paid 100% by our shop because it's a small price to pay to keep our team happy and healthy. We close our shop twice a year to take vacations, a summer and a winter holiday. That way no one has to work over their vacation, except us, but we knew that going into it.
We have been fortunate in having a few progressive, environmentally-minded clients (Arboretum Apparel, Clif Bar and Luscious Garage). In that spirit, we've also made a change in our company by moving our office closer to where everyone in the company lives. Now everyone walks to work. No carpooling, no public transportation, not even bicycling, actually using their own two feet to travel to and from work. I just saw gas prices above $4 a gallon on my way to the zoo last Friday and was happy to keep some vehicles off the road.
We are also in one of the best places to work. Forget the bustle of downtown, we are right by Golden Gate Park (for the office dogs), Amoeba for the audiophiles, only have 6 coffee shops to choose from, and a plethora of places to shop and eat at. It's a lot of fun to work near where we live. I see our neighbors more often and I get to support the neighborhood businesses even more.
I am really satisfied with how things are going right now. We are far from making any money (thank you IRS), but no monetary value could possibly be put on the happiness I feel right now. We have what we need and that's all I can ask for.
