Creative Recharge Weeks

The Origin of Pixite’s CRW

q

– Ben Guerrette, Pixite’s Chief Experience Officer

When Ben Guerrette started tossing around the idea of an annual creative recharge for Pixite team members, he wasn’t quite sure what it would look like. As a musician, he knew how revitalizing it was to immerse himself in his music, and as a leader, he knew he wanted that same experience for his teammates. 

Like most initiatives at Pixite, the idea started as an “aha” moment, worked its way through some video chats, and landed in a Basecamp post that the whole team discussed.

• Should it be collaborative?
• How long should it be?
• What type of guidelines should there be?
• How could Pixite best provide support?
• What about teammates who don’t identify as “creatives”?

Eventually the team agreed on some basics: each team member would take a week off each year to find creative rejuvenation. It could be a creative art form that they knew well, or something completely new. It didn’t have to be a fixed definition of “art” – things like gardening, cooking, and road tripping were all on the table. If they wanted help with planning or buying equipment/lessons/materials, Pixite would support them. 

Below: Rebecca’s acrylic pour, Ben’s collage.

“I told my friends I had a creative recharge week and they were like, ‘what’s that’? So now they all think I have a cool job…well, it is a cool job.” 

– Jordan, who spent his week roadtripping, snowboarding, and journaling.

Creative Recharge Week: A Time to Explore

“We believe that creativity is part of human nature and by fostering creativity, it improves your well-being. It can go the other way, too, where improved well-being makes you more creative. It’s a positive reinforcing loop that lets people become better versions of themselves.” 

– Eugene Kaneko, Pixite’s co-founder

Pixite teammates take one week to creatively recharge each year. Everybody gets a different week, and at the end of their week they share their project: what they did, what they learned, and how they feel.

Below: Cayce’s model, Ellery’s comic, Nicole’s bookmarks, Gino’s jewelry

Creative Recharge Week: One Year In

Over the past 12 months, Pixite teammates have created jewelry, taken trains across the US, built a guitar, written stand up comedy, created a haircutting machine from a 3D printer (yep!), sculpted clay busts – and more. 

In a remote-first company, building community has to be intentional. Watching CRW presentations has given insights into co-workers that are often hidden during the workday.

“The most exciting thing for me so far has been seeing all the amazing things my teammates are capable of. It’s really inspiring to see all the different projects people have worked on and learn a different side of them from what I see at work,” Scott Sykora, Pixite’s co-founder says. Scott says that the presentations also inspire his own creative interests.

“Seeing how excited people are when they talk about their projects and how talented they are makes me want to be more creative myself.”

Ben also enjoys seeing what teammates choose to spend their week on:

“Each CRW presentation surprised me in a different way. The projects people choose are always unique and unexpected. Sometimes you think you have a sense of who someone is and what they might do but then they surprise you.”

Creative Recharge Highlights

In the upcoming months, we will be highlighting some of the creative recharge week projects that have inspired, amused, and encouraged us. Creativity begets creativity, and we hope that sharing these stories will spark something in your own creative journey.