A Pure Romance Halloween

Napoleon Dynamite, the winner of our staff costume contest!

Yesterday, I walked into the Pure Romance warehouse. What I found was a madhouse. I was trapped between witches, superheroes, princesses, celebrities, and two beach bums with more body hair than a dozen Sasquatches. I hadn’t stumbled upon some ghostly house of horrors; I had entered the Pure Romance Halloween party.

We are a hard working company of passionate, dedicated people. We come in early, and we stay as late as it takes to get the job done. This dedication has led to a lot of growth in the least year or so, and that growth has led to new challenges. One of those challenges is having fun.

We had lost our mojo at Pure Romance. We had been successful, but we hadn’t been enjoying it.  Everything had been work work work and we had not taken the time to play a little. I think this is a problem a lot of people have. They work hard to get to a certain place in life and when they get there, they don’t appreciate it. We had fallen into that trap.

On top of that, we had hired people, but we hadn’t properly welcomed them; we hadn’t made them feel part of the family. It was like we were trying to build a brick wall with no mortar—the individual pieces were strong, but nothing was holding it together.

That needed to change. Recently, we have been holding events for the staff to get to know each other better and have some fun.

To celebrate Halloween, we all took a long pizza lunch and everyone was encouraged to show up in costume. The staff wowed me with their creativity and humor.

This is one of the things I love most about the Pure Romance staff—they jump in headfirst. From Halloween parties to national events, they give their all to everything we ask of them. No job is too big or to small for them to meet head on. That’s how committed they are to us.

A young employee named James took home the top prize in our costume contest. He came decked out as Napoleon Dynamite, and he never broke character. He wore a “Vote for Pedro” t-shirt, snow boots, and a curly red wig. But what really sealed the deal, what got his co-workers on their feet and applauding is when the normally reserved James did the dance from the movie and electrified his surprised co-workers. No one expected it, but everyone loved it.

I had heard of Napoleon Dynamite, but I had never seen the movie, so I felt a little lost. I asked a younger member of the staff who James was supposed to be, and she explained it to me, and then we started talking like friends. I learned about her, and she learned about me. The next time we have a fun event, I am sure we will talk again.

This illustrates why we are having these fun events in the first place, to add some mortar to our bricks, to build a stronger foundation, so we can continue our success.

We had a fun day and I wanted to share some of that fun with you, but there is a lesson to be learned here. Taking time to relax, to laugh and have fun is important for your business, your family, even your love life. Being serious all the time is a sure-fire way to find yourself burned out and miserable.

Give yourself permission to let loose. No matter your age, you are only as fun as you feel.

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2 Comments

  1. Lisa malnar

    Patty thank you for this blog. I loved reading it and have faced this recently as well. I appreciate how you continue to be an example of someone who reflects on their situation and surroundings and recognizes when something needs to be changed up a bit.
    You are a wonderful leader and inspiration to us all!

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