What’s for you will find you
Picture this — 5+ years ago I’m scrollin the ‘ol Bumble machine, lookin for love in a hopeless place, when I found a notable athlete in the area. I swiped left, but right before I did, I couldn’t help but notice the place of work listed, and shirt to go with it…WHOOP. Well, seeing as I was looking for a new gig (along with a partner at the time — oof the joy of your 20’s) I was curious what the heck WHOOP was…so… I Googled it. It appeared to be to a fitness wearable of some sort, with a flashy homepage video that lured me in. As an athlete myself, my attention was captured. Hmmm wonder if they have any open creative roles… I thought to myself. Welp — turns out they did.
Okay, so fast forward to getting the job and joining in 2018. I honestly had no idea what I was getting myself into. I excitedly told my dad I accepted — and my excitement was met with a, ~skeptical~ at best, “what the heck is a WHUP — do you even have health insurance? ok good luck 👍.”
I remember @Allison handing off a couple email footers and logos — asking if I needed anything else. @Sully introduced me to the team, saying “Ursula has found a great home here.” As sweet as that statement was, he had no clue that the idea of “home” kinda terrified me a bit. As a commit-phobe at the time, I told myself…. everrrrything is temporary…I’ll just do a year to recover from the agency life (hah, was the joke on ME).
Welp, turns out he was right. I’ve in fact called WHOOP home for the past 5+ years. If you’re familiar with any form of the startup world, you know that it indeed feels more like dog years. It’s sorta like hanging onto the side of a train moving 100+mph, wondering where it’s going, and when you land at your final stop — you pause, look around, and wonder how the hell you got… here (did I blackout?) And by here, I mean, your final stop, your last day… like the ~hand in your laptop for good~ day. So, before I shut this laptop one last time, I’ll reflect on some of my favorite sights, sounds and people from one heck of a ride.
When I interviewed with Will at the time, I distinctly remember my last question to him being… “Whats your vision for the company within the next year (2018)?” I received a very confident reply of…“Double the size of the company.” As I looked around, that seemed…. mmm, aggressive? A very lofty goal? But we did, and in typical Will fashion, exceeded it. But like… 14x exceeded during my time here. Like 50 → 700+ employees exceeded.
So when you first have no idea of what you’re getting into, you’re willing to do a little bit of everything. A do “whatever it takes to get this rocket ship off the ground” along with a “build the plane while flying it” mentality. Take photos of bands with popsicle sticks on your phone to sell on the site? Sure. How about an app shoot next week. What’s the budget? Uh $0. Okay sure.
Then came along one of our first big hitters in marketing. Its fall of 2019 and marketing is scrambling to pull off our Sober October campaign, with the help of Joe Rogan, Bert Kreischer, and a few other comedians. One unexpected organic post by Joe later, and we soon had thousands of his cult followers drinking our kool-aid instead of their booze (so much so, it crashed our site). We went from celebrating 20 new members a day to hundreds a day.
Enter February-ish, 2020. I remember some coworkers coming back from an event, with a concerning cough — yet nothing out of the ordinary from your typical cold/flu season in New England. ((Will you ever forget where you were when Covid became… a thing?)) As the unsettling news of some crippling virus started to roll in, we were told to take our work home for a week while things…“cleared up.” A week became 2 weeks, that became 2+ years, and then the world changed forever. It’s honestly difficult to remember what work was like without 50 Zoom calls a week…
In the thick of it, we were knees deep in a shiny new campaign with our partners at Droga5 (my fellow ad nerds out there know this is for sure a career bucket list goal), and if you’re any level of advertising nerd, you’d know meeting the David Droga is nothing less than… humbling (wherever you are Tony, thanks for making this happen). We produced a massive OOH takeover campaign — with stunning billboards that were plastered all over our key markets, in cities that were then hit the hardest with Covid. So, right as the world shut down, all of our work was shut down right along with it. The team scrambled to reel back the significant investment in media that no one was going to see — with a quarantine in place that had no end in sight. We then pivoted and went on to do a 12+ hour remote video shoot on a Sunday with Droga5 — where craft service was called “Doordash.”
We navigated more uncharted territories than we had ever imagined. And through it all, we survived an entire ‘effing pandemic together. I was awed by our teams that worked furiously to leverage data and insights to help others survive the pandemic through covid detection on WHOOP. Some of us lived in a covid safe bubble house together for an entire month so that our research didn’t need to take a pause (uhh, if that doesn’t bond you, idk what will). I even directed a remote shoot at 3am in Switzerland, as that was one of the few countries still operating at the time. Then woke up and rode 116mi with my colleagues/housemates in the morning, because… what else do you do during pandemic on a Saturday morning?
We worked with talent most dream of. Ohh ya know, like that football guy Patrick Mahomes, who you ask to hit the battle ropes just oneeee more time to get THE shot. Learning alllll about golf by way of working with Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas and the Korda sisters. Like hopping on a Zoom call with Michael Phelps. Turning around during lunch to grab more guac when you’re on set for a new swim suit launch, then bump into Katie Ledecky. Watching a few female World Cup athletes kick a soccer ball that could knock you out, and allll of the Crossfitters who could seemingly snap your body over their knee if they really wanted to.
Then there’s also the talent you dream of working with that may not have had any Olympic medal draped around their neck at any point in their life, but they make you wish you could put a medal around their neck. The ones in the trenches, burning that late night oil with you. The one who give you a chance, the ones who hear you out when others won’t, and the ones that let you fail and remind you’re still human at the end of the day — and make showing up again tomorrow worth it.
We dreamed big. Real big. We launched new hardware, software, and apparel. We broadcasted athlete heart rates on television. We shipped a tv spot to run during the Superbowl. When I dropped in some architecture renders of a massive new office in Kenmore Square years ago, it really felt like nothing more than a pipe dream — yet here I am today wrapping up this reflective ramble as I look out over the Charles River on the 8th floor.
We learned a lot about a LOT. I learned a lot about myself. And to bring this full circle to where I was rambling about some Bumble nonsense — a job is like a relationship… IS a relationship (buttt not marriage, to be clear). At the end of the day, no one cares what you do, it's how you do it. No one is going to remember that awful round 2 design fail you presented. But people will remember how you made them feel. Show up, authentically. Respect each other. Share empathy. Prioritize kindness. Respect boundaries. Communicate openly. And for goodness sake just. have. fun. We spend more time at work than with our friends and life partners anyways. I’m forever grateful for the relationships I’ve created and lessons I’ve learned, that I’ll carry for a lifetime after my departure here. So with that, I’ll turn in the laptop and be cheering from the sidelines!
