I have recently had the pleasure of joining an organization that supports and mentors Entrepreneurs. Aptly called EO (Entrepreneurs Organization). It is an incredible opportunity to collaborate with other like minded people that have similar situations, problems, issues, and decisions to make. I think one of my favorite things about EO is the vulnerability it can create. It allows you to really open up because you know everyone else in the room has a similar ego and insecurities.

Jumping forward here, in our last meeting we discussed the challenges and privileges of being responsible to our teams. Recruiting, retention, motivation, relationships, buy-in, engagement, communication, fulfillment, production, results, etc. All these things are important and creating a balance can be really difficult to do.

One of the challenges we discussed in our meeting is the ability to define a corporate purpose that transcends the basics of what you and making money. So each one of us was asked to share the purpose of our companies, and how it helps to inspire people to work with you, for you and help you to help create the company you want. Personally I think we do pretty well here, because it’s something we work hard at. It really matters to us that our team loves what they do, where they do it and who they do it for.

Here is ours:
To foster an environment of creativity and autonomy that allows us to build relationships, solve problems, do awesome work and help others.

While that statement does “a job” of explaining what it is that we want to do and be, it is clunky, it meanders and doesn’t answer an important, yet simple question…Why? So when pushed, I was able to provide an answer just as simple as the question…Because it makes me happy. And then the light bulb exploded…

We Create Happiness! This is our purpose! Happiness for our team. Happiness for our clients. Happiness for me (in that order).

Holy shit! It hit me like a tidal wave. And here is the thing…We are a marketing agency. We are supposed to be the people that are always coming up with awesome creative ideas. The epiphanies. Well, I’m here to tell you that everyone can use a little help. Especially, when you think you are the expert. What’s more is that Will Scott (our moderator/discussion leader) helped me to understand how we could track and quantify happiness.

To say that I’m excited about this revelation is an understatement. It’s had me buzzing for two days thinking about all the ways we can incorporate the theme of Happiness and Being Happy into everything we do.

Get ready to get Happy AF!