I closed down the LA office in July of 2020. Obviously, we all went remote at that point and Brian and I weren’t locked into Portland yet, but pretty close. I was SO relieved to not have that $5k a month overhead. But being 100% remote can be hard! All the research shows that hybrid work is the healthiest and most productive, especially for a job that requires a lot of creativity. But with our team in two different states that’s obviously not possible. Jess, Mal, and Caitlin are 100% remote, working from home in LA, with a handful of in-person lunches or dinners to connect. Then up in Portland, we have Gretchen and myself, of course, and our wonderful photographer/friend, Kaitlin who is freelance but we shoot together weekly so she’s adopted as a team member for our retreats. Gretch and I work from home most Mondays and Fridays, then prep and shoot together Tuesday – Thursday. It all works because my LA team has been with me for so long so we have a real rhythm and routine, not to mention so much consistent communication and extreme trust. They are real pros and need no hand-holding. But after a few months without seeing each other outside of Zoom calls it’s like any long-distance relationship – you just really need to connect in person. We try to see each other once a quarter at least, – whether it’s up here for a retreat, in LA, or more of a destination (Like Nevada City/Grass Valley two years ago, Long Beach, Round Top, the mountain house, etc).
So Where Are We On This EHD Retreat???
MEXICO!!! We all arrived in Todo Santos, Mexico, last night for a three-night hang session (and they are staying after without “mom” :)) We usually prep out blog posts and schedule them so you don’t miss any content days when we are out of the office together (you guys don’t even realize we are OOT). But trying to keep up with daily content and prepping for the upcoming weeks while also trying to be present and connect, is soooo HARD. Jess ends up staying up late to make sure we are dialed in or we end up phoning it in because we are writing with cocktails. Then after we are back, everyone suffers trying to catch up on emails AND prepping the next few weeks’ posts (while likely being depleted from traveling). As the business expands outside of the blog, I love that our team remains this lean. But if we don’t take some time off here and there from the daily content we won’t have time to think creatively, and we can’t create space for new ideas. That’s all to say that for the first time in EHD history, there will be no blog posts this week until FRIDAY (so taking off today – Thursday). But what we are doing this time is real-time social stories of our trip (not banking it to align with a blog post – which we will, of course, publish after we are back).
So if you want to watch the 6 of us connect, hug, laugh, ride horses, drink margaritas, and “boat brainstorm” in Mexico, then head over to the IG account this week and show us some “likes” if you are into it. We are staying at a beautiful Airbnb built and designed by the owner of deKor, one of our favorite design stores in LA (and Ojai). We’ll of course tour the whole thing for you. The goal of the next three nights is just to connect, laugh a lot, and probably tell inappropriate stories that any HR team would be appalled by. Hell maybe we’ll even come up with some great content ideas or a way to reinvent the holiday gift guide (LOL), but for me, I will be taking off my boss hat and hoping to connect with these wonderful friends who work so hard for EHD and show them a percentage of appreciation they deserve. Come back Friday for a great design post, head to stories to see what our Airbnb looks like, and see me gallop on a horse like Jessica from The Man from Snowy River. 
Opening Image Credit: Photo by Kaitlin Green | From: Farmhouse Front Porch Reveal
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