Our Tenured Team

We recently ran a LinkedIn poll, curious to know:

“What are people most thankful for at their current jobs?”

Compensation didn’t take the top spot. Company culture and people appear to be more valued in the workplace than other factors. We’re not surprised. At Experiences For Mankind, we’ve built the foundation of our agency guided by an ethos that brings value to our clients, consumers, and of course — our team.

Over the past 13 years I’ve been at Experiences For Mankind, I’ve been given opportunities and room to grow with the team. I started at EFM as an intern — my first job out of SDSU. Javier and I quickly found a mutual understanding of each other’s work style to the point where he became a Sponsor of mine for many years. Of course, there have been sacrifices made throughout the years — but I wouldn’t replace it in any way. I’m so happy to now have the reigns to continue making Experiences For Mankind a great design agency.

I started my career at Experiences For Mankind as an Art Director. Over the years, my position has evolved into solving unique business challenges for both our customers and our own business. More recently, I’ve had the ability to steer the ship and impact our outcomes for a variety of clients, industries and channels in both B2C and B2B.

The key aspect of what’s kept me around all these years is being fortunate enough to work hand-in-hand, building relationships with our amazingly talented team.

I’ve stayed at Experiences For Mankind for so long because they took a chance on me when I just graduated college, with little agency experience. Our leadership has allowed me to learn by doing and guided me along the way until I got to a point where I could manage clients and team members on my own. Over the years, I’ve grown more comfortable with my Account Management skills in the agency environment. Coworkers have turned into friends, and now they’re truly like family.

EFM is special. There’s no other way to put it. And it all comes down to our team.

Every individual here is wildly talented yet somehow humble and kind. Even stranger, everybody actually cares, both about the work and for one another. We root for each other. We are fiercely protective of each other. We trust each other. Not because of some team-building exercises, but as a result of so many late nights and eleventh-hour triumphs.

People like to talk about culture, but I believe we have something different here. It’s something that’s rare and near impossible to find in any workplace. As corny or cliché as it sounds, we’ve built ourselves a little work family. And that, to me, is something worth sticking around for.

Over the past 7 years, we’ve had times where we’ve thrived as well as some rough patches. But going through tough times together really shows you the character of the people you’re working with, and builds a sense of purpose that’s uncommon in the workplace. Once you experience that, the energy and joy you get from working with those same people becomes truly irreplaceable, no matter the challenges you face.

What I’ve found at EFM is an agency that truly empowers every single person to have a voice, but more importantly to be heard and have an impact, on our work, our processes, our client roster, our culture, you name it.

Our agency is full of people that LOVE what they do, and they bring their passion to do more, to do better every day. We’ve contracted over the years into a smaller team, but one that is so exciting and rewarding to be a part of.

I’ve had my eyes opened to what leadership means (hint: it’s NOT management). My journey here has made me better as a creative, as a professional, as a person and a friend. I’ve had other companies come knocking on my door in the last 6 years, some with amazing opportunities. But nothing offered has been able to turn my head from this team, and the potential we have ahead of us. EFM is my home, and these folks are my 2nd family.

Are you looking for a place to create your next long-tenure career moment? Send us a note, we’re always wanting to connect with Designers, Account Managers, and Strategists.