When You Set Business Goals

People often ask me what’s on my bucket list. What are goals I have for my business that I hope to achieve one day. My goal for this business is to create a company that inspires hard working people to give their all, be passionate and dedicated, and be rewarded for it.

Since I have started this business, every year I set steep goals for our business and at the beginning of the year they can sometimes feel unattainable. With the team we had this year, those goals were met with flying colors. I believe we officially made our goal in August- it about took my breath away! I knew I wanted to do something special to celebrate, and I might have a small obsession with planning surprises.

A Holiday Party of All Parties

I booked our tickets shortly after we met our goal and kept our Holiday Party a secret for a few months (NOT an easy task!)

In November we decided to tell the team, to give them a little time to plan and pack. Here is a little behind the scenes of how we broke the news 🙂

There is nothing better than making these girls squirm a little. When we brought them into our conference room, we told them we had a little surprise for them. They had no idea what was going on (no one was thinking about Christmas yet!) They were each given a box, and inside the box at the same time we had them open each clue one by one. First was the Christmas tree. Then they opened up the picture of the handsome John F. Kennedy (we were flying into JFK). Then the airplane, then the apple! By the time they reached the apple they had all figured it out, and people down the hall from our office probably thought we were crazy because of the amount of laughter and tears coming from our office!

We spent the next few weeks planning- where to go, what to do, where to eat, what to wear. The anticipation was growing and we were all so excited to go on our weekend getaway.

We woke up early Friday morning in the beginning of December, and were all at the airport by 6am.

Everyone was so excited to get there! Most of the people on the flight probably thought we were a little crazy with how awake and happy we all were 😉

The traveling went smoothly for 9 people, and we were ready to hit the ground running. Everyone had their plans on what they were going to do the first day, site seeing, visiting the 9/11 Museum, shopping, we did it all!

Day 1

A few of our favorite finds on the first day:

Tiny’s– the cutest little restaurant and bar in SOHO. The building was pink, so of course we had to stop 😉

Maman– we had lunch hear and the food was amazing! A little french coffee shop and bistro, we sipped on prosecco and ate a fabulous lunch. The decor in this place was GORGEOUS.

Buddakan– We went here for dinner the first night, and it was so delicious. The atmosphere was oh so NYC, it was dark and moody, and the service was great!

We met Lindsey the founder of ByNiche, who we just started working with, and she was so sweet to host us at a fabulous roof top patio (that was warm and cozy) called The Winter Room at The Roof NY.

We couldn’t have had a better first day.

Day 2

We had big plans the 2nd day, starting early since we were leaving that night. We all woke up early and made our way to Central Park. One of our fabulous photographers Laura Rae happened to be in NYC at the same time and agreed to meet us and get some group shots to help us remember the moment. We had plans for brunch at the Plaza Hotel so it was the perfect place to grab a few shots before.

When you are in New York City at Christmas time, one hotel that screams the holidays is the Plaza Hotel. Featured in so many movies, it’s truly an iconic place. I don’t know about you but my children have an obsession with Home Alone, so when I told my son we were going to New York the first thing he asked was if we would be going to the Plaza. It was the perfect place for us as a team enjoy brunch before we hit the town running our 2nd day.

After brunch we broke into smaller groups to explore more of the city before our departure. We were blessed by a beautiful Christmas snowfall, truly making the city feel magical.

Needless to say we had a wonderful time. This trip was every bit as exciting and rewarding for me as it was for my team. To see a group of women who genuinely care for each other and can have so much fun together makes my heart happy. They work so hard, are constantly pushing themselves to grow as a team, and working harder every day to help our clients receive the best service possible. This trip was in honor of all their hardwork this year!