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Last week, the Millwright Holdings organization, including our Bolt PR team and our sister agencies Actual and Warner, journeyed to the Music City for our first-ever companywide retreat. The three-day event highlighted what’s in the works for all three agencies and gave us a chance to have valuable in-person interactions, brainstorms, recap 2024 learnings, share 2025 plans and more.
The retreat kicked off Monday night with some festive and unexpected snowfall that put everyone into the holiday spirit as we headed to our agency wide dinner at the original Hattie B’s Hot Chicken. The snow may have been falling outside, but inside there was plenty of heat as several members of the team took part in the hot chicken challenge by sampling Hattie B’s spiciest hot chicken with a nice side of vanilla ice cream to offset the burn.
The following morning, the team gathered for a full day of working sessions on agency growth, an open AMA with Millwright Holdings Founder & CEO Michael Young and Group President Erin Vadala, group presentations and more.
Fueling the team ahead of the day, Ugly Bagel treated us to an assortment of holiday-themed, chocolate chip, asiago cheese and French toast bagels from the Nashville location. Coupled with whipped flavored cream cheese, the team indulged in freshly baked bagels before gearing up for the big event.
The highlight of Tuesday was a Shark Tank-style competition between three inter-agency teams: Agency Growth, Employee Experience and Client Experience. Each team presented an hour long pitch on ways to bring new offerings and services to all agencies.
First up, the Agency Growth team pitched the “sharks” on their ideas to grow the agencies’ client roster and keep the new business pipeline full of leads. Utilizing a high-tech deck and led by our Head of Business Development Ainsley Sheikali, the team developed a strong suite of ideas to foster new business into 2025 and beyond.
Next up, the Employee Experience team showcased their ideas for enhancing employee morale and workplace culture by incorporating more frequent team member interactions, employee incentives and new initiatives focused on continued learning opportunities and employee recognition.
Lastly, the Client Experience group debuted new client resources for an enhanced approach to client services that would increase transparency and credibility.
Following all the pitches, the “sharks” provided each team with feedback and actionable goals. Additionally, many of the ideas pitched were approved for 2025 so stay tuned for updates on these new initiatives!
The friendly competition worked up an appetite so it was off to Giovanni’s Restaurant for the Millwright Holdings holiday party where the team enjoyed some homestyle Italian food at one of Nashville’s finest restaurants. Team members were treated to agency-themed cocktails before dining on Italian favorites like risotto, pasta bolognese, red snapper and tiramisu.
Wednesday the retreat wrapped up with a special presentation from Millwright Holdings Founder & CEO Michael Young who forecasted how our agency will continue to work with our international agency partners across the world in locations such as France, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada and Japan.
Finally, the agencies broke off into intra-agency groups to recap the events of the retreat, share feedback and ask questions stemming from three days of learnings. All in all, it was truly rewarding to have the opportunity to brainstorm and collaborate in person.
In addition to the working session, the retreat provided invaluable time for planning and connecting with team members. As we wrap up a successful 2024, we look forward to taking the learnings from this retreat and implementing them across our clients, agency operations and teams in the new year.
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Contact our team to start the conversation around a customized marketing campaign dedicated to your personalized business goals. From PR to content creation and digital marketing, you tell us how far you want to take your brand, and we’ll do the rest.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
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