COMUNiTI is Turning 10!

02 Jun COMUNiTI is Turning 10!

Whilst I didn’t realise it at the time, when I started COMUNiTI, [MARSDEN Collective back in those days] this was the beginnings of a new philosophy to work. I was championing the evolution of organisations prioritising employee engagement and wellbeing.

I fundamentally believed [and still do!] that work can and should be an experience that people love. The way I see it, humans intrinsically enjoy the construct of work — creating things, connecting with others to solve problems, and making a meaningful contribution to the world. But all too often the places where people would go to ‘do work’ were soulless boxes filled with rows of smaller boxes that ‘accommodated’ people from 9 to 5, Monday to Friday.

As a commercial designer, I could see the untapped potential for businesses and their people. For me, creating a workplace is about so much more than making it ‘look pretty’. I am fascinated by the intersection of human behaviour and built environments and it was this curiosity about how to connect people through place, that led me down this path.

After a life-changing trip to the villages of Malawi [you can read more on that here], I realised that I wanted to enhance the communities that exist within our organisations, to spark the incredible chemistry that naturally happens when people come together to think, learn, and create.

When we started out 10 years ago, we were designing workplaces and offering up a side-serve of workplace strategy — it was my opportunity to enable my clients to reimagine their space and help employees connect and be their best.

Today we are the workplace strategy firm that I dreamt us to be, and I’m so proud of the company that COMUNiTI has become. We work on projects that really solidify our Purpose of fostering the creation of communities where people feel connected. Whether it’s connected to organisational purpose, connected to each other, or connected to their own life’s work. And, work continues to be an experience that I love because COMUNiTI collaborates with people who share our values:

• Driven with Compassion: We care, a lot — about people, work, and long-term relationships. We care about the power of communities in connecting humanity through shared values. But we also know that our clients are relying on us, to strive forward alongside them, and to see them hit those project milestones.
• It’s a dialogue not a monologue: We share stories to connect and better understand. We share knowledge so that together, we’ll know more. Together, we create a shared vision.
• It’s all about the chemistry: Searching out meaningful connections, in our clients, our partnerships, and in our team, ensures we all thrive. Together we can demonstrate value, make a mark, and inspire.
• Rebels with a cause: Just because it’s always been done this way… means it’s time to bring fresh eyes, lateral thinking and a bucket-load of boundary-pushing to deliver innovative new outcomes! We respectfully challenge each other, and the status quo.
• Let’s do this! We love what we do and we do it with passion! Led by our initiative and guided by intuition, if it’s broken we fix it. We don’t tap out!

Whether it’s growing a business or raising a family, this much I know is true — it takes a village. So, to celebrate COMUNiTI’s 10 year milestone, we’ll be counting up to 10 over the next few weeks with a series to showcase the amazing community of people who have shared in our journey.

Thanks for being part of our community!