Surprise!

Me and Rachel after the surprise!

Last week I told you about Rachel, who just celebrated a decade with our company.

What I didn’t tell you was that I had a big surprise up my sleeve.

On Thursday—after Rachel had received flowers and gifts and a bonus throughout the week and surely thought her 10-year celebration had come to an end—I hopped on a plane and flew from Texas to Virginia to surprise her and take her to dinner.

I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I was for this surprise. As I was thinking about a way to honor her service to our company in a meaningful way, I thought about the fact that I hadn’t seen Rachel in two years because of the pandemic. Most of our leadership team is located near Florida and we were lucky enough to get together recently, but Rachel wasn’t able to be there because of the distance. And so, I thought, what if I flew all the way to her . . . just to take her to dinner? I called her fiancé, Matt, and asked his opinion. He said “UM YES” before I could finish my sentence!

It was beyond, beyond. My eyes water just thinking about it. Instead of me telling you about it—because no words could possibly describe that special moment and that special hug—watch it here. I recorded it (with some help from Matt!) so we could treasure the memory forever.

These are the things that matter. These are the moments when I feel so grateful to have the job that I do and that I get to do it with people like Rachel. Leading a team is the greatest honor and privilege of my life.

Hugs,

Kristen

PS: I’m excited to introduce a new format for our weekly LIVE show, which takes place this Wednesday (and every Wednesday!) at 11 a.m. ET! I’ll be interviewing some of my most favorite inspiring humans and leaders. Every week, there will be a surprise guest (or guests), and you never know who! The one thing you can always count on is that it'll get real. Join us for REAL TALK every Wednesday by registering here: https://bit.ly/3kWe2kT. Hope to see you there!