Pearls: Getting inspired to find inspiration for the inspo budget.

By Laura Shirley, Senior Art Director, Oyster Creative Co.

We’ve got a new employee benefit, and I’m not afraid to use it. Seriously, the bosses did a cool thing. Now if only they could get our W-2s right… (I really don’t envy them. Running a business sounds, ya know, hard).

Last month they unveiled ✧*:･ﾟThe Inspiration Budget ✧*:･ﾟ OoOoh. Ahhhh. Employees get $50 a month, or $600/year, to spend on anything that gets our creative hamster-wheel brains going. I wonder if they’ll make me take out the #s… (Editor’s Note: Nah, keep ‘em.) Next up: Detailed infographics comparing our salaries!! (Editor’s Note: Too far.)

Anyways, we can spend this creativity cash on pretty much anything… assuming you’re willing to explain yourself to the class. If you do something crazy with it, you’ll for sure get an eye roll from Dan, who does the billing, but nothing new there.

So here I am thinking up creative ways to spend this money… to be more creative. Wrap your head around that one. I haven’t tapped into this benefit YET, but here’s what I’m planning:

• Books on books on books
• Art prints or posters
• Magazine Subscriptions
• Workshops or classes on psychology, process, leadership & productivity
• Visit another city’s CreativeMornings events
• Just visit another city! Museums, architecture… all that good stuff
• In Person Conference (Editor’s Note: Don’t jinx it…)

I did not plan on spending today thinking about employee benefits, but I’m not mad. This sure beats reading healthcare & dental policies.

P.S. I feel the need to mention that we do also have shall we say “normal” benefits. They’re legit… just not very blog-worthy.