Everybody neat and pretty?
Then on with the show!
Everybody neat and pretty? Then on with the show!
-Mickey Mouse Club, 1955
Greetings, Tablers. Let’s take a journey back in time:
The year is 2011.
The location: an undisclosed, unmarked building in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
I am in an almost empty room with another person wearing latex gloves, who just finished meticulously rooting through my hair to make sure it’s my natural color (or at least that it appears to be). My fingernails have also been reviewed — they passed. Clothes, eyebrows, beard, and eye color were also topics of discussion.
This was day two of onboarding for my new job at Disney Parks and Resorts. Because there was a chance that due to my role (landscape design + horticulture) I would be in the theme parks during operating hours, I had to go through a stringent personal review to make sure my appearance matched the company’s standards.
When I recount this story to people — which I do often — the reaction is usually something like: “What the hell,” which is to be expected. However, I not-so-secretly never had a problem with it. In fact, I found comfort in Disney’s uniformity and strong sense of brand, and I took great pride in adhering to their standards.
Fast forward two years, and not much has changed. I’m standing in a J.Crew retail store in Charlotte, North Carolina, waxing poetic about how amazing the brand is to a group of new managers from all over the Southeast. I am wearing the approved suit, my hair is in the preferred style, and I am (per my approved talk track) gushing about how the brand is changing the world, one cashmere sweater at a time.
#trending:
In my past roles, I typically gravitated to companies with rigid internal structures that are tightly regulated and put a high value on employees who are able adhere to strict brand standards.
Enter: Social Tables, a company that does not emphasize those things. This is part of what drew me here, but the transition has been hard at times.
First (regardless of whether this is true or not) I struggle to not feel isolated from the rest of my coworkers based on my past positions. This is compounded by the fact that our amazing culture sometimes upends me:
Exhibit A, October 2014. Internal memo: The office will be dressing up for Halloween. I proceed to crawl under my desk and wait for conditions to improve.
Exhibit B, December 2014. Stand-up ice breaker where I have to be in close proximity to other human beings. Yikes.
Exhibit C, today. Writing this has been a process to say the least (#adaylate). I spent the better part of my Sunday writing, re-writing, changing topics, and second guessing myself on this freaking 500-word blog post.
The year is now 2015.
The location: Chinatown, Washington, District of Columbia, #420suite.
I am in a crowded room full of high-energy, unique individuals. An 80’s hair band echoes in the background. Whitney is wearing prescription glasses she has no need for. As much as all this is foreign to me, I find comfort in our un-uniformity and take great pride in representing my team and Social Tables.
A change to be sure, but an exciting and welcome one.
