We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bree Groff. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bree below.

Alright, Bree thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

I launched my first book this summer. It’s a business/self-help book called Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously). This was maybe an odd choice for me as I don’t really like most business/self-help books: the covers with the lightbulbs or crumpled up post its, the walls of text, the content that could have been a punchy article but instead drags on with case studies that do little to advance the case. It’s all so… professional.

I decided if I was going to write a book I would write one I would want to read. So my author photo is me presiding over some kind of corporate crime scene. I wrote the book in snackable vignettes that could be enjoyed in short breaks. I wrote the book as Bree the human, not Bree the buttoned-up professional hiding behind research and cases. I had a great time writing it, and I hope/think that comes through in reading it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Bree! I’m the author of Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously) which launched this summer. It’s my first book. I was formerly the CEO of the organizational design and change consultancy, NOBL Collective, and a Partner at SYPartners, where I continue to be a Senior Advisor.

My goal in all of my work is to help people love their days—even Mondays. Right now my most powerful way of doing that is through the book! I also love speaking and have been doing more of it, and I do some consulting advisory work for organizations as well.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

I grew tired of only expressing opinions that I thought would be palatable within the dominant business culture. I felt stifled and sure I wasn’t doing my best work. I would say things like “employee engagement is good for productivity!” and know it was true—but also know it wasn’t the point. Employee engagement is good for human happiness! I was tired of shaping my opinion around capitalism.

With the book I could finally say what I believed all this time, and what I knew others believed but weren’t saying out loud. I feel more self-expressed today than I ever have in my career, and that’s because I viewed the book as a piece of art, not as a tool of commerce.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

There’s much more in the book, but my best advice is to create a culture where people feel seen and safe to be their whole, human selves. This starts with the leader sharing their humanity with the team. Here’s how I do that:

+ I show up to Zoom meetings with sopping wet hair. Because sometimes I exercise, come home, shower, and then jump on a call. I choose having a strong, healthy body over looking like the business world wants me to look. My brain works whether my hair is wet or dry.

+ I make and eat lunch during meetings. Because I am a human who needs to eat, and while a better scenario would be having a proper break for lunch, if there’s a day when the calendars haven’t given me a well-timed break, I’m sure as hell not going to starve myself out of professionalism. It’s ridiculous to have to model eating lunch, but I want my team to know that if they’re hungry, it’s okay for them to eat. Prisoners get their meals on time—why shouldn’t office workers?

+ I say what’s happening in my life outside work. I’m tired because I had to take my dad to the ER yesterday. I’m excited because I got new pajamas and they’re killer. I feel self-conscious because my hair is doing this weird flip thing today, but you all don’t mind, do you?

+ I wear stretchy pants. Sometimes it’s exercise pants so I can exercise right after work. Sometimes it’s exercise pants and I’m not going to exercise after work—they’re just good pants! I’ll admit when meeting with a client, especially a new client, I’ll sometimes wear stretchy black jeans. Hasn’t gotten me fired yet!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.breegroff.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bree_groff/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bree-groff/
• Other: https://breegroff.substack.com/

Image Credits

Mahyar Dini: Apple, Computer, Murder, Supplies
Lindsey Lerner; Book in front of face
Garrett Vandendries: Aerial shot