90 days later: What I learned about Boxman Studios

Who am I?

My name is Virginia. For those of you who don’t know me (which is most people, it’s okay, now you do) I am the Marketing Intern. So why is the random intern writing a message to you?

Well, as my three months at Boxman are coming to an end, I thought I would share an exclusive inside perspective on my experiences with the company these past 90 days.

The beginning

Looking back on my first day I had no idea what I was getting myself into. As I walked up the steps to my first corporate internship, I either imagined my boss would bark at me with coffee orders every five seconds, or everything just goes over my head as I sat there looking around clueless. Neither was the case, and everyone was very warm and welcoming as they came up to my desk, introducing themselves politely. Side note- no one introduced me to the CEO and I inquisitively asked him what his job position was and he preceded to give me a funny look (tip-do your research, or just don’t ask).

Anyway, this letter will describe a few things that you don’t know about Boxman unless you’re truly immersed in their culture.

Family

The first thing I noticed was how close everyone is. You get a pretty good perspective being an intern because you just observe everyone with big bug eyes. I noticed the culture was healthy by the way people talked and helped one another. You have a co-worker like Jeanette that welcomes you every day with a big warm smile. Or you have Ryan who randomly pops his head into the room, cracking a few jokes, bringing up the energy. Then you have someone like Logan who takes time out of his day to help others solve problems. Then you have the ones like Andy who constantly think outside of the box. And of course, Jayda our company dog who is even more happy to see you when you have a treat in hand. We do this campaign called #WhereIsJaydaWednesday featuring her posing every week, most of the time she’s annoyed or caught off guard, but personally, I think she’s very cute. Needless to say, with every different person in the office, one thing that they all have in common is that they work so well as a team.

Passion

If you want to know what fuels a company’s passion, look at their why; the purpose behind what they do. When you meet a company that speaks to that internal purpose, it changes the way you look at work. What I’ve learned here is that you can’t really chase happiness because happiness is a symptom of something else. Instead, you should look for a purpose; that’s what leads to happiness. Belief in challenging the status quo and doing things differently is a cornerstone of Boxman’s philosophy. Yes, containers and modular construction are different, but it’s the people here and the passion that they pour into their work that really makes this company stand out. What I’ve learned is that we focus more on empowering each other instead of telling each other what to do.

Transparency

I’ve learned that the philosophy of being transparent and being pushed out of your comfort zone speaks to how much you are willing to grow in a company. In the words of CEO, David Campbell, “I don’t believe we truly make great change through being in a constant comfort zone. Uncomfortability is the catalyst for great change. I want my team to be secure in the environment they’re surrounded in here, but also being pushed beyond what’s comfortable within reason.” At Boxman, I’ve noticed that people are more transparent in order to express and communicate things early on to eliminate any potential threats. This concept really helps me understand the importance of honest communication in the workforce. I hope I can be more straightforward with my future endeavors, especially when someone has a piece of food in their teeth.

Moral of the story

I hope this helps you understand a bit more about who Boxman really is. Now you definitely know we aren’t a bunch of trolls hiding out in shipping containers all day (well maybe Ryan). Looking back, I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot of corporate writing skills, developed clearer goals, learned from my co-workers daily, gained more confidence and experienced what it’s like to work on a team. My parting advice: learn, observe, make mistakes, be original in your work, think outside of the box and get to know your co-workers.  What you put into your work is what you get out.

Thank you Boxman Studios for giving me the opportunity to work with such an innovative company. I wish you the best!

-Virginia