Pearls: Our People.
By Dan Ayer, Co-Founder, Oyster Creative Co.
It’s been really hard to stay connected and feel any sense of normality the last two years.
Some of our team members joined us fresh out of college and have never had the experience of working in an office environment. The fun of taking a long lunch. Grabbing an unexpected beer after work or just venting about how unfair their boss or client is through a non-Zoom window or Slack chat.
@Jeff and I have tried our best to show our appreciation for the Herculean and Helenian efforts of our team during this time. At the end of each week throughout the pandemic, I’ve written a short message to our team in our #general Slack channel.
Any and all success we’ve had at Oyster is due 100 percent to these people. And we think the world should know how hard they work and how talented they are.
So I decided for my final post of the year, I’d share the latest end-of-week message:
@channel 2021 is finally over. We started this year with a team of four and have grown to a full six-pack.
We’ve helped our clients grow. Helped Restart Pittsburgh’s Arts scene. And even learned the cost of replacing a food truck engine.
The reason for our success? Each of you.
@Anton you are the newest member of our team. Started as an intern. Took a pitstop as an ice cream truck driver and now you are growing into a talented young PR guy. Your attitude and willingness to say “yes” to things outside of your comfort zone will take you far. Keep it up.
@Gabe you are still here. Won’t lie. Didn’t expect that. @Jeff didn’t expect that. And if we’re being honest, did you? I haven’t seen many people grow more in two years than you have. When you started you were an audiofile with goofy hair who had to be reminded to wake up at noon. Today? You’ve still got some goofy hair but you are always up by 11 ready to roll. Jokes aside — I will never forget when a client sent through edits at midnight for a video that had to be done at 10 am. I never saw them because I was asleep. And by the time I woke up they were done. That’s the kind of guy you are. Thanks for all your work this year.
@Megan you constantly ask, “Am I fired?” I think most of the time you are joking. Except maybe the time you questioned my past baseball talent. There is no question that makes me laugh more. You bring such intelligence, drive and passion to your work that one day, hopefully I’ll be lucky enough to ask you, “Am I fired?”
@Jenna our resident hyphen. Professor-PhD-Director-Communicator-Writer-Therapist-Budgetary-Taskmaster-Friend. There is no person who is able to play more roles for a team. When you are a small squad going through the pains of growth find yourself a Jenna. You’ll be glad you did. Can’t wait for you to add your next ‘hyphen-Mom’ to the list.
@Laura my most frequent advisory on Slack. There is no one I fight with more than you. And thank you for that. Laura never lets me get away with anything less than my best. Her dedication to quality, the idea and her work is seen in everything she does. It’s why she was promoted to Senior Art Director this year and I have no doubt that it’s the first of many promotions for her. Truthfully, there’s no one I’d rather fight with than her, because we’re (almost) always on the same side.
@Jeff when we first started this company we joked that because of our similar appearance we should call the place “We’re Not Brothers.” At this point that’s barely true — and not just because you found out you have an Ayer in your Ancestry family tree. Sharing this trip with you has been awesome. You grow into the President of this company more and more everyday. I’d follow you into any fight — as long as @Laura has my back.
To all the other folks who have dipped their toes into the waters here at Oyster this past year, thank you.
And to anyone who tries to pry these folks away — I have a shucker and I’m not afraid to use it.
Merry Christmas!
