This might come out as the lamest Peepshow ever… but I’m just gonna go for it.

Things have been a little crazy over here at Fast Horse, and we’ve all had busy and exciting projects happening throughout the summer. From planning some breathtaking, wedding-like brunches for our Oui by Yoplait client, hosting a group of mom bloggers for a weekend getaway in Chicago, helping Sam get rid of 43,000 bottles of Mentos and organizing a Box Tops for Education Clipping Drive for Hale Elementary in South Minneapolis, I can truly say this has been one of the most fun, exhausting and rewarding summers of my life.

So many learning experiences, so many wonderful memories… so many new friends! And that is precisely what I want to focus on: How over this summer our agency has gone from a group of talented individuals working together, to an incredible group of friends doing amazing work.

Everyone knows that friendships are forged in the trenches, and this past summer there we no shortage of those around here. Thinking about all that went down this past couple of months, I came to a few insights that I want to share on office friendships.

1. When you get to know the people you’re working with on a deeper level, beyond just your generic “good mornings,” you understand the places they’re coming from and what their intrinsic skills are. This makes it easier to understand how each person can naturally fit into a project and make team effort feel effortless.
2. You develop even more empathy, which for me translates into trying to ease everyone’s workload and raising your hand to help voluntarily.
3. It makes everything more fun. Half of our office just got back from a 10-day activation that involved 18-hour work days, but if you asked me to do it all over again I would TOTALLY sign up for that. When you enjoy the company of the people you are working with, it doesn’t feel like work anymore.
4. Last but not least, you develop new relationships that can go beyond the office walls and that become part of your personal life. You start feeling more comfortable to bring your whole self to the office, open up and share more of your POV. Truly invaluable!

So that is it for my sentimental rant. Here’s to the next round of friend projects!