X Agency Retreat 2021
It goes without saying, 2020 threw EVERYONE for a loop and the workplace changed forever. While X Agency is remote-friendly and we have welcomed team members virtually over the past 18 months, in mid-September, we met up for an “IRL Retreat” in Nashville. It was only 2.5 days but many of us had never met in real life, let alone spent quality time outside of work together. This time was a solid reminder of the importance of human connection and the value of a strong team.
Here’s What Our Time Together Looked Like
We kicked off at the newly opened Nashville office for in-person greetings. As a team and individually, we worked through Scaling Up Growth Tools and shared goals for the next year to 25 years. Next, we all headed to an East Nashville studio to take professional headshots and film some top-secret content. (Keep your eyes peeled…)
Once we all had our photos taken, we met up at COO Rachel Anderson’s home for Edley’s BBQ, downtime, and a basketball game that ended quite swiftly once Casie stepped in and showed the guys up.
The night ended at Top Golf where we shared golf tips, laughs, and a few too many injectable donut bites.
The next day we started with a breakout session to swap accounts, conduct mini audits, and identify additional opportunities within those accounts. After a quick lunch break and some open working time, the team regrouped for a spirited game of JeoPARTY created by Darwin and Lyara. For those of you who don’t know team X personally, we’re a competitive bunch. Team captains Samantha, Ben, and Rachel drew team members at random. Needless to say, things got loud. In the end, we all came out with loads of knowledge from the “Google Analytics,” “e-Commerce 101,” “Paid SEM,” “SEO,” “Paid FB,” and “S?*! Darwin Says” categories.
Next up was volleyball at Sandbar and dinner at Avo. The highlights included Watermelon Margarita pouches & vegan nachos.
A visit to Nashville wouldn’t be complete without a Party Wagon, so the team loaded up for a driving tour of some of the most iconic Nashville spots including The Gulch and Broadway.
Our last day was a bittersweet one. A select few- looking at you Samantha and Hillary– met up for a 6 am workout at Barry’s. The rest of us, Starbucks in hand, met on the rooftop of our Airbnb for an open, honest conversation getting specific about our growth trajectory as team members and X Agency as a business. We rounded the week out with delicious pizza on the rooftop deck at Emmy Squared and then said our goodbyes.
This was a much-needed time to bond, learn, and grow as a team. Even though we see each other every day on Zoom time, to be together IRL is irreplaceable and we’re already looking forward to seeing each other again in 2022!