To celebrate 3 years of HOO KOO E KOO (the digital agency I started) and all the beautiful things that happened lately, we decided to add one more great moment. We organized our first retreat!
2 weeks ago most of our core team has gathered to spend 9+ days together on the coast of Oaxaca, Mexico.
In a typical HOO KOO E KOO fashion we had people from Algeria, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Philippines, Poland and the USA — and none of us lives where they started. We rented a house by the beach and we finally got to spend some time together on one continent.
This retreat was an experiment, to see if we can have fun, bond but also work at the same time. We have a lot of projects on, and it was somewhat risky. So our very badass production team programmed the hell out of it just in case ⚡️
We explored Oaxaca and learned to surf.
We did some yoga, jogged, meditated and relaxed.
We worked (a lot!) and exchanged ideas and tips for making things happen. For me it was amazing that our team members would wake up and slash through their work on their own accord. Initially my biggest fear was any negative impact on ongoing projects — but there was none and the flowing exchange of thoughts allowed us to likely even bring things to a new level.
Apart from the core team we invited a couple of members of the HOO KOO E KOO Tribe to join us. Chester couldn’t join as he needed to take care of things back home. We had his virtual presence all along…
…but still missed him dearly. Next time nobody will break a leg before the retreat 🤞.
We shared some incredible food, bonfires, music and experiences of local ceremonies.
We hosted talks on innovative & effective ways to impact climate change on a global scale (with Jørgen Bo of Choose.today) and spreading our ideas, products & art (with Chris Erthel of Meller, one of the best social media marketers around!).
We also released 400+ freshly born little turtles with a team of local sea turtle sanctuary.
More than anything, we had some beautiful time together, beyond the daily Slack, Hangouts and swapping files around.
To me, personally, it’s been just incredible how we all flowed together. How everyone contributed their talents, skills, ideas, breakfasts, driving, teaching and pouring mezcal. How everyone connected and I think truly became friends (some went on to travel together after :)). It impressed me how everyone worked hard and didn’t let anything slip despite cell towers going out and paradise just waiting to distract with its beauty all around. We not only had a beauty of a time, but also kept delivering on all of our projects. What a badass team ❤️
HOO KOO E KOO is growing and it feels mega important to dig deeper to nurture and grow our culture. We began mostly as a group of friends that get to work together and as the team expands and we onboard new people, it will be important for us to inspire a team united by love for beauty, giving, nature, creative problem-solving and finding inspiration in all corners of the world.
The purpose of HOO KOO E KOO is to help bring positive future for humanity through the best designs, products, collaborations and startups. It seems only possible if our time — despite being distributed and decrentralised — is as human as possible :)
Love and a red nose can’t be hid.
- Thomas Holcroft
More of these to come ️🌴
Pssssst. HOO KOO E KOO is hiring! 🤷♂️
