Live Your Values, Live to Gather

By: Emily Smith

For the last 8 years, I have had an amazing career doing something I love, traveling the world and working with a group of people that are like family.

So what am I doing here? What made me decide to join the team at Ember?

In the spirit of two of Ember’s values (be you and show everything), I’m going to be completely honest with you. One day, I just woke up and realized that I wasn’t happy at my job anymore. And what was even worse was that I couldn’t figure out why. So, thanks to some direction from a great friend, I decided to assess my values. I started thinking about the values that are most important to me, and how well I was living each of those values.

The values that came to the top of my list were:

• Accomplishment
• Achievement
• Personal Growth
• Creativity 

That’s when it hit me. My work life was no longer embodying these values. I was no longer being challenged or allowing myself to be creative. 

Can you guess what tops the list of values here at Ember?

• Approach things Creatively
• Invite challenges…provide solutions

Sounds like fate, right? 

It’s easy for a company to make value statements and then completely forget them. But Ember doesn’t just talk the talk. I knew joining Ember was right for me because they truly live their values in a way that I previously had not been. It was clear to me from the moment I walked in the door for my 24-hour interview that these values are a part of their life everyday. They show up ready to be challenged and creative. They even challenge job candidates to be creative.

I did mention it was a 24-hour interview, right? 

I’m only 3 weeks in and enjoying living Ember’s - and my - values in the workplace. I love working with people who truly “live to gather.” I’m already looking forward to week 4 and my first on-site Ember gathering and I’m most definitely looking forward to celebrating (Celebrate: another value I share with Ember) the team's hard work!

It is such a great feeling to be part of an organization that not only shares my values, but lives them every day. I'm excited to see what the future holds for us!

For those wondering, here they are:

Ember’s Values

• Live to Gather
• Approach Things Creatively
• Show Everything
• Be You!
• Invite Challenges… Provide Solutions
• Celebrate