Our top learning from year one: It’s the who

We may do things to take care of ourselves, but what do we do to be ourselves?

By: Lauren Cook, Founder

A few months after I launched Connecting Our Stories (COS), someone asked me what I’d learned so far. I readily responded, “I’ve learned it’s much more about the who than the what.” As in, the client, project manager, or story participants I worked with had a bigger impact than the project details. The “who” made the work meaningful, fun, and fulfilling–or not.

I still think that sounds like a good answer, and it is mostly true. But after a year of building a new firm with a dream team, my answer has evolved. It is the same word, but with a different meaning.

It turns out the “who” with the biggest impact isn’t the client or project participants. It is Andrea, Anne, Charlotte, and Victoria. It’s me. It’s us.

Building Our Who

At Connecting Our Stories, we always say an organization’s story starts with the individual stories of those who do the work and those for whom the work is done. Our firm’s “who” starts with each of us–what we value and what value we bring to the world.

During one of our Friday Zoom team check-ins last spring, one team member said, “I love this time with y’all because it seems like it’s the only time in my life when I stop and think about my greater purpose and what I’m doing with my life.”

In an impromptu strategy session, Anne and Charlotte brainstorm how team member strengths drive our collective work.

We regularly take time and space to dig into the individual skills, values, passions, and perspectives we bring to our lives and work. We discuss how to weave these elements into what collectively makes Connecting Our Stories. This ethos guides how we make decisions, develop projects, and create products. This process can’t be done on auto pilot. It requires frequent gut checks to ensure we’re coming from a place of truth and realness.

Some of our most powerful moments have been when we’ve slowed down and asked ourselves, “Is this approach, proposal, or solution true to Connecting Our Stories? Does it reflect who we are and what we believe? There may be an easier way, but which way is the COS way?”

Staying True to Our Who

How do we hold onto who we are amidst everything we are thinking, doing, and experiencing? How can any organization stay true to their unique “who”?

The short answer is intentionality. The Latin root of intention means “to stretch toward.” Our intentions move us forward, helping us to manifest our aspirations. But before we can reach, we must be grounded in who we are. I find living intentionally requires an awareness of the practices and spaces that make us who we are, so we can consistently come from that place of realness and authenticity as we ‘stretch toward.’  

For me, these practices and spaces are meditation, collaboration, and nature. They offer me a connection with myself and the divine; fellow humans; and the natural world around me. I used to treat these practices as nice-to-haves, as self care options I could dip into when I had extra time, when I’d already been “productive” enough.

I’ve now realized these practices aren’t merely things I do to take care of myself; they allow me to be myself.

For Anne, it’s art, movement, and community. For Andrea, it’s minding her space, house, and time alone, as well as practicing piano. Victoria prioritizes movement, caring for and with others, and laughter. Charlotte practices living boldly in a state of curiosity, allowing space for evolution, empathy, and understanding.

What are those things you do that quite possibly give you what you need to be your truest, most intentional self? What are the things that, cumulatively and over time, provide the space and grace for the real you to emerge?

Why It’s Worth It

I have never been more myself (love that phrase, Alicia Keys) than I have been in the past year. The COS team is the most authentic team I’ve worked with. Our work product is thoughtful and beautiful. Our office space reflects who we are and how we wish to interact with others.

So yes, who our firm chooses to work with matters. But who we show up as–as individuals, a team, and a firm–matters most. The path of intention isn’t always the easy way, but it is where we find our most meaningful work and lives. It is the Connecting Our Stories way, and we hope it is your way too.

COS team celebrating year one in our unofficial uniform: denim western shirts.