Paul Smith

Happy holidays everyone!

For me, 2022 has been a rediscovery of joy in experience. Personally, that has meant remembering what it is like to travel, dine out, and reconnect with people. Professionally, our expansion into Texas, the challenges of return to office and hybrid work, and the necessity for productivity, culture and efficiency have created a tremendous number of opportunities to rediscover and rethink how we collaborate, what our culture is, and who we are as a company.

When planning our holiday book this year, we knew we wanted to focus on two things: our people and the communities that they are connected to. A travel guide only felt natural. Within these pages are experiences that remind us of the simple pleasures life has to offer – most importantly, ones that bring us together and foster connection. Because there’s nothing better than losing yourself in conversation over a shared meal, cocktail, coffee or view of the sunset. We hope our employees’ recommendations give you a glimpse into the many communities our company calls home and inspire you to try out a new spot in your own city.

One of my first career opportunities after

grad school was to work with a brilliant restauranteur in Oregon. My primary role was to study how to make the perfect experience for our guests by playing to the senses. For example, I learned how lighting and temperature needed to shift over the course of the evening to accommodate different clientele desires, and how just slightly raising the music at 7:30pm as the business crowd began to close their tabs and the couples and livelier groups started to roll in subtly encouraged people to sit closer together. An office isn’t as far off from a restaurant as you may think, and sometimes unassuming shifts can be instrumental in fostering a better workplace experience for your employees – something that we would love to help you discover.

We hope you have a wonderful holiday season filled with connection over shared experience. We look forward to what we can accomplish together next year.

Paul Randall Smith, MBA

Chief Marketing Officer