The Elliance Ecosystem – From the Perspective of the New Kid on the Block

Since the day I walked into Elliance, a digital marketing agency, for a “meet and greet”, my preconceived idea of what life looked like inside “the business world” was shattered. Elliance was something I’d never expected – a place full of life and character and uniqueness. I have been working here now for roughly two months and walking through the door is just as exciting now as it was on day one.

So I thought I’d give you the low down on three things that classify Elliance as a breed of its own, from the new kid’s perspective.

Culture of respect

In June, I returned from a trip where I had spent 11 months doing volunteer work with 45 other individuals. The way we orchestrated as a community was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. There was a mutual trust and respect for those you were working alongside each and every day. You did not doubt the abilities of those around you to accomplish the task at hand, and you knew that if one of you needed something, the others would drop everything to be there. There was no tension or malice towards one another. It was a community of honest conversations of respect. It felt free.

I had never imagined that I would experience again the same culture of respect I felt on my trip, let alone in business. But what I had out there is what I have found in here at Elliance. There is something unique about this place, you can feel it in the air: it is respect and it is harmony.

Shared knowledge & space heaters

Coming home after my first day at Elliance, I remember telling a friend, “Everyone is brilliant in that place. EVERYONE.” It was intimidating to say the least for the new girl on the job, but amidst that intimidation was an overwhelming sense of excitement for how much I knew I was going to learn from this place – from these people.

Elliance is a library of human creativity and experience: so much to learn and so many outlets to receive knowledge from. It’s given so freely. Knowledge and ideas, much like space heaters (it gets a little chilly in our renovated factory office space), are shared generously, without a second thought, as a regular part of each day.

Place of personality

On a typical day at Elliance, you will hear the sound of coworkers laughing as loudly as the nine o’clock train that rushes by. You will feel the energy of someone who is on the edge of a major breakthrough in web infrastructure, or the cheers of a team of copywriters and designers who have just finally strung together the perfect headline for a university viewbook – one that quite possibly grew out of a joke. You will see people sharing ideas across poppy-yellow desks and in the kitchen, an assortment of coffee mugs of various shapes, sizes and themes, lined up and waiting on their turn to be filled.

There is no question that Elliance is a place with personality bursting from the seams. Whether that is due in part to the diversity of staff – in cultural background, age, interests, and life experiences – or if in part it comes from working in an environment that encourages and brings forth the creative in us all.

And no doubt this personality is painted across every website we build, every ad and blog post we write, every printed viewbook we design, every photo or video we shoot. There is a little piece of who we are in all of the work that we do, crafted together to present who you are – as a business, a university, a nonprofit organization – to the world.