Summer with AppianLIFE
Summer is a busy time at Appian, and the summer of 2019 has been no exception. My summer has been full of AppianLIFE affinity group activities. AppianLIFE groups link Appian employees by a common interest or purpose, to promote and support various communities at Appian. The groups include AppianWOMEN, AppianPRIDE, AppianGREEN, AppianHERITAGE, AppianWELLNESS, and AppianRISE.
With AppianLIFE, I’ve been a part of more than 20 activities and events in the past three months. AppianLIFE groups are here to help you engage, build community, learn, give back to our community, and celebrate our successes. In the two years I’ve been at Appian, the impact of joining AppianLIFE groups has included building friendships, learning new skills, and being inspired by my amazing colleagues to pursue excellence in both my work and personal life. If you’re new to Appian, the best thing you can do is jump in to AppianLIFE and see for yourself. If you want a taste of what to expect, let me tell you what my summer has been like with AppianLIFE:
Engaging
Welcoming New People with the Appian Ambassador Program
There are many ways to engage with the Appian community, and a great place to start is by being an Appian Ambassador. Whenever we have a new hire class (typically every two weeks), Ambassadors have the opportunity to sign up to meet a new hire and have breakfast with them on their first day. Being an Ambassador gives a new hire their first familiar face at Appian. As a member of the Sales department, I love being an Ambassador to our international and remote colleagues, as I frequently work with them throughout the year and we don’t often get to meet in person. This year I’ve met eight new hires (three this summer) from Spain, the UK, around the US, and located at HQ, and I’ve loved learning about them and the unique places they come from.
Mentoring Summer Interns with AppianRISE
AppianRISE is an Appian affinity group created to help employees grow together as we develop personal and professional skills, network and build relationships across Appian, and give back to our communities.
As a board member of AppianRISE, this summer I participated in RISE’s Summer Intern Mentor Program. I co-led a group with an executive-level sponsor (Thanks, Karlyn!), and we met weekly in July with a small group of interns to talk about careers, questions, transitioning from college to the workplace, and any other topics they wanted to discuss. It was so much fun to meet our smart, talented, and interesting interns (and hopefully future new hires?!) and to learn about their interning experience and future goals.
Community Building
Finding Focus and Getting Back to Nature with AppianGREEN
AppianLIFE groups are all about building community. One of the most passionate community builders I know is Jack Chen, a leader in AppianGREEN. Jack leads a weekly AppianGREEN focus group where we come together to discuss our ideas for better environmental practices both at Appian and in our personal lives. Through these weekly meetings, we’ve formed teams to research environmentally-friendly office products, planned educational and volunteer events, and shared our experiences and ideas for living a more environmentally sustainable life. I’ve learned, made friends, and have been inspired and supported by the group to make my own more sustainable choices, such as changing from driving to using public transit to get to Appian HQ.
In addition to weekly GREEN meetings, we’ve also made time to enjoy nature: We went hiking! During the Appian Spring Getaway in June in Wintergreen, VA, Jack organized an AppianGREEN hike on the Old Appalachian Trail. It was invigorating to get out into nature together to remember why we care about the environment, and what our efforts are trying to protect.
Networking (and Eating) with AppianWOMEN and AppianRISE
A consistent community-building event at Appian is the AppianWOMEN Power Lunch. Every month, AppianWOMEN hosts a lunch at HQ to bring together women from all departments at Appian. It’s a great opportunity to talk to people from departments you may not interact with, learn more about different career paths, and of course, make more friends!
In July, AppianWOMEN and AppianRISE co-sponsored an Intern Networking Breakfast to give our summer interns time to meet leaders from the AppianWOMEN community and learn more about their experience at Appian. I helped organize this event and it was really engaging to meet so many of the interns! The interns liked getting the opportunity to speak with people from outside of their departments and learned more about the many diverse departments, jobs, and interests we have at Appian.
Celebrating and Supporting AppianPRIDE
We couldn’t let Pride month pass us by without celebrating, so in June, AppianPRIDE organized a rainbow celebration of Popsicles in the Park for Pride! I can’t think of a more agreeable way to be an ally and show support of the LGBTQIA+ community on a hot summer day than through socializing over frozen treats. Thanks, AppianPRIDE!
Sharing with the Appian Free Library and AppianGREEN “Freecycle” Chat
Another way we build community at Appian is through generosity. Last year, AppianWOMEN board member, Elise Thrasher, started an Appian Free Library shelf. After our midsummer office move, Elise worked to find a great new home for the Free Library, expanding it to more shelf space and finding a cozy corner with chairs and couches that are perfect for a book break. I’m loving swapping out my book collection and broadening my literary horizons.
The AppianGREEN “Freecycle” Chat has been my own passion project. As an aspiring minimalist (ok, until it comes to books), I often have household items I want to part with, but in my efforts to be environmentally conscious, I want to be sure they find a proper home for reuse. Charities and thrift shops don’t want certain types of items, but individuals often do. The AppianGREEN “Freecycle” Chat is a place to post items you want to give away, and Appian employees can claim them, conveniently exchanging items right here at HQ. Since starting in June, we’ve exchanged dozens of items through the chat, from train sets and treadmills to moving boxes and cat beds. If it’s usable, it belongs on the Freecycle Chat!
Learning
Self-Defense with AppianWOMEN + AppianWELLNESS
Life is about learning, and AppianLIFE is no exception. In late May, AppianWOMEN and WELLNESS co-sponsored a self-defense class taught by Kristen DeBruycker, a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt, Muay Thai Kru, Kali/JKD Instructor, and MMA competitor. Kristen taught us hands-on techniques for escaping physical conflicts and focused on the physics and angles you can leverage to escape rather than requiring pure strength. Learning these techniques was empowering and enlightening.
AppianWOMEN Python Workshop
AppianWOMEN kept the learning coming by offering a June lunch workshop with an intro to Python coding (thankfully, no actual snakes were present). While the coding may have been a bit over my technical skill level (I’m a writer, not a coder), I was welcomed at the event and enjoyed learning the foundational concepts. This workshop inspired me to pursue more advanced technical knowledge in my own role, and I’ve found technical colleagues to help me along that path.
Eat, Learn, Be Inspired: AppianGREEN + AppianWELLNESS Plant-Based Potluck & Panel
One of the great things about engaging with AppianLIFE is that if you don’t see the event you want, you have the power to create it. I’m a passionate proponent of potlucks. What’s better than making awesome food and sharing it with people? Now I’m not vegan or vegetarian, but when I learned that quite a few of my friends at Appian are, and that sometimes they go to food-centric events and don’t find much to eat, I knew I had to do something. Through AppianGREEN, we brought together my love of potlucks, my colleague’s knowledge about vegan/vegetarian lifestyles, and the AppianGREEN and WELLNESS-backed research of the benefits of plant-based eating for both personal health and the environment. In June we hosted the Plant-Based Potluck & Panel, and I got to interview a panel of vegan and vegetarian colleagues about their lifestyle choices, benefits, and recommendations for plant-based eating, all while we enjoyed the MOST DELICIOUS food I’ve ever had at Appian. I now find myself making more conscious choices to focus on plant-based meals. Knowledge was shared, recipes were exchanged, lifestyle changes were inspired, and no one went hungry. We’re now planning to hold a quarterly plant-based potluck, because there will be #NoSadVegans at Appian.
Growing Greener: AppianGREEN Gardening with Native Plants Lunch & Learn
In another effort to be literally green, AppianGREEN hosted Becky Halbe, a master gardener, naturalist, and volunteer with Plant NoVA Natives to talk about how using native plants in your green space is beneficial for the environment. We learned about many beautiful plants that are native to northern Virginia, and how making the choice to use natives benefits our local ecosystem. Whether you have a big yard or a few balcony pots, we learned that planting natives really makes a difference!
Giving Back
AppianGREEN Invasive Species Removal with Rock Creek Conservancy
Giving back to our communities is a core value of AppianLIFE groups, and AppianGREEN feels strongly about protecting our native plants and wildlife. In May we volunteered with the Rock Creek Conservancy (RCC) in DC to remove invasive species from Rock Creek Park. It’s more fun than you think to go out in the woods and rip plants out of the ground, and we all learned a lot about which common plants actually belong in the Virginia/DC/Maryland woodlands, and which ones are harmful imports. This event inspired several of our GREEN teammates to return and individually volunteer with RCC on their own!
AppianRISE Loves Cats (and Dogs)
Shameless cat person that I am, I couldn’t resist the chance to join AppianRISE for our volunteer day with Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation at their July adoption event. AppianRISE members came out to work with both cats and dogs at a local adoption fair, talking to potential adopters and handling the animals. The event was a huge success, with nine cats and 30 dogs adopted that day!
Celebrating Together
AppianLIFE is about celebrating our hard work, our successes, our passions, and our identities. As a community, we come together to celebrate it all.
Appian was founded August 11, 1999. This summer, we celebrated the move to our beautiful new HQ, and our 20-year anniversary. Around the world, Appian teams celebrated, and at HQ we enjoyed the beautiful summer weather with an outdoor party: delicious food, drinks, music, lawn games sponsored by AppianLIFE groups, and spending time with some of our favorite people.
Two years ago I took a job at Appian, but what I didn’t know was how much it would become a true part of my life, not just a place I go from 9–5. Now I’m a big work/life balance person; I’ve got cats waiting for me at home, and I can’t spend all my time at the office. But what I never expected was how the community of people at Appian would support both my career aspirations and my personal life goals and identity. Appian is where I work, but the amazing people of Appian, from my teammates to those I’ve met through AppianLIFE groups, are a true part of my life inside and outside of Appian. Appian is a company, but AppianLIFE is a community of some of the most interesting, inspiring, and genuine people I’ve ever known. I encourage you to come get to know us better and start your own AppianLIFE.
