Creating Change Begins with Us

During my time at SE2, I’ve been blessed to work on important issues such as preventing kids from smoking and vaping, strengthening community hospitals, providing quality preschool for more young kids and expanding medical care access for families who need it.
I’ve learned to write for a diverse array of audiences and instances. 
I’ve done (and redone) tasks that I was sure I had mastered, only to find there was a better way to do it.
I’ve stared down the fears of many a Sunday night, so that I could hit Monday morning ready to take on the world.
I’ve found solutions to problems that I was certain I was unprepared to tackle.
I’ve learned to challenge my own instincts and push myself to do things I didn’t know how to do.
I wouldn’t trade my time here for anything in the world. And I hope that SE2 plays as valuable a place in the career and story of every one of our team members. 

Who We Are

An amalgam of challenge and learning and growth has always defined SE2 and it continues to define us today.
Each and every person on our team and in our network contributes to our company’s DNA. You make us the strong, successful agency that we are.
We are small but mighty. We work with clients from important and powerful organizations who choose us to help them advance their important and impactful issues. 
We perform with the intensity of the top agency in our market, even when we get an occasional second to a worthy competitor. 
And we have some pretty good fun while doing it.
We follow every tangent, explore every rabbit hole, and indulge in every digression – all in pursuit of asking questions and finding answers.
We recognize that our culture is a unique and precious thing. So we think about it, analyze it, talk about ways to improve upon it – in the hope that we can become even better than we are today. 
My belief is that the SE2 language and cohesion that we share is an understanding and collective commitment to the values that define us – and bind us together.
Those values are far from just words or company jargon, but guide every aspect of how we do our work.
They illustrate what we believe is important – for our company, our community, and each of us – so that we can have fulfilling careers in communications.
And so, as we wrap up 2019 and prepare for the year ahead, let’s take a collective pause.
Let’s celebrate the accomplishments of the past year, acknowledge and welcome the challenges ahead, and think about the values that guide us.

What Guides Us

| 1 | Work with purpose

We value spending time on important issues that affect people’s lives. Because interesting, impactful work is what gets us out of bed every day and keeps us motivated year after year. 
Our clients work to educate kids and power communities. They keep people healthy and ease the voting process.
They work to make their own corporate cultures diverse and inclusive, and to protect kids from marijuana, tobacco and vaping products.
Every day, we have a choice: To do the traditional marketing and advertising performed by the vast majority of agencies, or stick to the narrow but important niche we have created. 
Every day, we choose the latter: Work, with purpose.

| 2 | Curiosity and resourcefulness

We value asking questions and searching for answers. And we look for ways to give every client the benefits of our best thinking and our best approach.
We demonstrate our commitment to this value by investing time and resources into teaching and learning from others and from one another.
Because we know that if we’re not asking questions, we’re not learning. And if we’re not learning, we’re not growing.
So we choose to ask questions, to seek answers, to be resourceful, and to find even better ways to do things.

| 3 | Going all-in

We value our team and are committed to being great teammates. We treat each other, our clients and our vendors with respect, even when differences or frustrations occur. 
We support each other and take satisfaction in helping one another succeed. 
We go all-in for our clients and dig deep to understand their issues. Because we know that going that extra mile or spending that extra hour is often the most important mile, or hour of all.

| 4 | Results and performance

We value having a culture of accountability – for ourselves, our company and the work we produce for our clients. 
We embrace high standards for performance and want to be surrounded by other high performers. 
We meet our deadlines, manage our budgets and deliver high-quality work. We value efficiency, but never so much that it diminishes our commitment to excellence.

| 5 | Innovation and growth

We understand that the world in which we live and work is changing rapidly – for us and for our clients. 
We recognize and want to meet the challenge to be ready for the future by changing how we work today. 
We want to design smart, innovative solutions for our clients and value smart, innovative thinking in ourselves. So we stay abreast of the latest trends impacting our industry and work to innovate, in ways both small and large.
Because we know that growth won’t simply happen to us. We have to make it happen by prioritizing it each and every day. 
We won’t be satisfied – as individuals or as a company – with the status quo. Because we know that to stay stagnant is to die. 
So we choose to learn, to innovate and to grow. And we choose to evolve in order to meet the demands of the future. 

Moving Forward

Those are the values that guide SE2. 
My hope is that we all, now and over time, understand them. 
That today and every day, we live them. 
That, on occasion, we even question them – then reaffirm our commitment and work to uphold them.
That we are accountable and hold each other accountable to them. 
They are the constellations that surround our North Star: our vision for the future.
So, as we begin a new year, here’s a toast:
To positive change in our collective work, our communities, and our world. 
To embodying and working toward that change – right where we are, with what we have.
Here’s to purpose and curiosity, to results and performance, to innovation and growth. 
Most of all, here’s to our amazing team. I am honored to work with every one of the people on our staff and in our network of clients and partners. I applaud your efforts on our behalf.
Thank you, everyone, for a great year. 
Here’s to a successful and prosperous 2020.