Turns out I didn’t know as much about these people as I thought- what an interesting, strange, funny, intriguing, off-beat crew!

Can you figure out which fact belongs to our HR Director? Director of Online Marketing? One of our graphic designers? One of our managers? Our special events coordinator?

“I applied to work for the CIA. Was offered a position and turned the job down.”

“I got lost in the woods for 3.5 days when I was 9 years old.”

“I was on the junior olympic figure skating team in England as a child.”

“”I once won a Spice Girls costume contest.”

“On the spur of the moment, decided to tag along on a last minute motorcycle trip up the coast from LA to San Fran with a group of non English speaking acquaintances whom I just met 2 days prior through a mutual friend. Had less than 12 hours to pack and find a helmet and camping gear. Neither individual spoke English and I didn’t speak a word of German. Camped under the stars for 3 nights and rode on the back of a motorcycle for 4 days.”

With that set of talent and spontaneity, we’re destined to achieve great things….

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My TOMS Family,

Please read the first three words of this letter again. Yes, i truly feel as if TOMS is a family, and from day one, i have done everything possible to treat each person with the same love and respect that i would my immediate family members. I have also watched as each of you has shown incredible compassion, patience, and support to one another with the same pride i expect a proud parent experiences seeing their kids get along. This environment we have fostered together is called “culture” in most business management books…”

An office full of young, like-minded, intelligent, funny, passionate, and creative individuals, all working toward a greater goal of making a positive impact on the world is formula for something really special.  We can’t deny that the TOMS culture is one of the best reasons we each work here. And just like strong families spend quality time together, the TOMS family does too- an annual company retreat to the snowy mountains outside of L.A. provides time for us to relax together, laugh together, learn way too much about each other, and create lasting memories.

As I was riding a lift mid-day Friday with a co-worker, we started chatting about how appropriate a ski trip is for TOMS. When you see a colleague charging down a mountain- fearless, fast, aggressive- you know that same dedication is translated in to their work. When you hear of someone who insisted they weren’t getting on any sort of ski or board… and then later tells you about how much fun they had cross-country skiing, you know that same willingness to go out on a limb translates to how they embrace new challenges back at HQ. These people are go-getters, not only at TOMS, but in so many aspects of their life… and each of us are inspiring each other to push just a little further.

We return to the office today, with the rain pouring hard, the in-boxes full, our bodies exhausted, with a few more inside jokes, a ton of great new photos, boxes of left over hot chocolate in the kitchen, an even greater sense of family.

Now if only we can convince Blake to make this a SEMI-annual company retreat….

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“If you have someone visiting, or a colleague has done something special and you want to take a photo with them to congratulate them on their work- that’s an excuse to jump in the photo booth,” said Blake.

I also think if you have a bad day, you should grab a friend and jump in the photo booth to cheer you up. Or if you have a good day – photo booth. Or if the day ends in a “y” – photo booth. Who doesn’t love a vintage photo booth?

The TOMS culture is definitely something special and its little things like this that remind us what a positive environment we work in.

So glad that big mysterious black box is gone…

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10. HQ is a big sound stage ware-house turned office. 7,500 square feet of awesomeness kept warm by little space heaters in the winter, and cooled only by desk fans in the summer.

9. We’re resourceful: one wall is made entirely out of boxes of old TOMS.

8. Most of our retailer’s window displays are made right in our make-shift wood-shop: the alley way outside our front door.

7. Two sets of brothers work here: Justin and Jordan Farr and Blake and Tyler Mycoskie.

The J.Farr bros and the Mycoskie bros

6. Our office manager, Travis, and his dad built all of our “cubicles”. Its really a family affair here at TOMS!

5. We require FUN on the last Friday of every month. A TOMS tradition since the beginning, Fun Fridays are a time for us to get together and make gingerbread houses, carve pumpkins, have potlucks and sing karaoke.

4. Our kitchen is stocked with dishes and silverware to reduce our waste, we take recycling seriously, and many of us bike to work.

3. With so much production equipment and crew in the office for the AT&T commercial shoot in February, a bunch of us employees were happy to relocate our work days to a sunnier location…

2. The audio system was installed this past year and you can always catch something unique on the loud speakers: Today, for example, is reggae… but we’ve also had the RENT soundtrack, Motown, Fleet Foxes, Andrew Bird, Mariah Carey, Brazilian Samba… It’s also great for impromptu karaoke.

Spin those tunes, DJ!

1. Our CEO’s desk isn’t in a corner office: its actually in the most high traffic area. Front and center, right next to customer service.

We’re just about at the finale of our ten Top 10 lists, but the next one NEEDS YOU. After reflecting on such an amazing 2009, we’re excited about what 2010 has in store… So what will you do in the next twelve months to change the world? We’re highlighting our 10 favorite ideas here on the blog this week, so COMMENT ON THIS POST! Tell us your ideas, your plans, why, how, when… inspire us!

Visit the TOMS website too!

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Our family vacation was complete with bonding activities, movie watching, big group dinners, jokes and magic tricks, and plenty of good runs down the slopes. Friday evening, we all packed in to one room to hear Blake’s revelations from his past month in Argentina. The room was still, but the energy was alive. To hear the founder and Chief Shoe Giver of such an incredible company stand in front you, barefoot, with a wrinkled page of scribbled notes in his hands, and share his genuine excitement for all the groundbreaking things we have accomplished and will accomplish in the coming months, revitalized our spirits to charge full force in ‘09. The coming year will not be easy, he told us, but these are the times we grow even closer (especially when you spend an entire weekend, 24 hours a day, with the people you typically spend 40+ hours a week with).

But this week we’ve traded our skis and snowboards for laptops and calendars. Although we might miss waking up early to get out on the mountain, coming in to this office and working hard to make a real difference in the world isn’t such a bad reason to roll out of bed either.

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