Relationships Are Everything

Eighteen years ago this coming January, I took a job here at PixelSpoke (then Synotac) as its Creative Director. And while I technically held that same job title until last year, I often say that I learned a heck of a lot more about running a business and becoming a better human being than I ever did about graphic design.

During the Great Recession of 2008-2009, folks everywhere were experiencing some dark times, including our small agency. It was on one of those (quite literally) dark days, just before the Thanksgiving holiday, that I realized that I needed to find a way out of the darkness and work towards some light.

The light I found was in gratitude.

It was then that I started what has become an annual tradition, reflecting on “what I am thankful for.” That was the simple subject line of a company-wide email in which I shared the unique qualities that I appreciated about every individual on our team. It was just a couple of sentences about each person—appreciation for their work, something they did that brought me joy, reflections of their strengths, and their courage against all odds.

My intention was to ensure that my team members felt appreciated as the wonderful human beings I had the pleasure of working alongside every day. As the team of folks at PixelSpoke has grown over the years, so has the length of my annual email! But each and every team member continues to inspire me, teach me, put their trust in me, and give me grace when I make mistakes.

As our wise Technology Director, Fitz, often says, “Relationships are everything.” I couldn’t agree more.

Back in June of this year, I spent a week in Madison, WI with a cohort of credit union professionals in the Credit Union Development Education program. PixelSpoke has now been working primarily with credit unions for well over a decade—and I have truly loved the collaboration with our clients during that time—but it was in Madison that I gained substantial living proof that, in fact, relationships are everything. During that intense week together, I had experienced that same light once again—gratitude.

As the concept of gratitude has saturated our self-help lexicon, it risks becoming cliché. But when we practice gratitude in tandem with our PixelSpoke core value, Authenticity, it retains its power to offer hope and illuminate bright spots.

In the spirit of sharing some love for the Best Class Ever (if you know, you know!), our incredible clients, and the cooperative movement, here are a few reflections of gratitude:

• The creativity I have witnessed over and over from our client teams, in reaching folks in their communities who have often been seen as “just a number” by other financial institutions.
• The relentless hustle of credit union leadership and boards, who continue to see barriers as opportunities to create something new.
• The tangible ways in which the credit union movement can and will continue to improve people’s lives.
• The broader cooperative movement, and its get-your-hands-dirty determination to bring the opportunity of ownership to our community members, in the face of extractive capitalism.
• The brilliant ideas, passionate proposals, calculated risks, the learning-as-you-go, the commitment to values, the raised voices—and the lifting of voices yet to be heard—which for me, reinforce that intentionally working toward our “why” is not easy, but is a huge part of what makes life worth living.

Since relationships are everything, we are incredibly fortunate to not have to do this alone. We get to look around and see that evidence, experience the humanity in others, and to share in the work that will never be done. And that is something that I am thankful for.