MCM Brands hosted our 2nd annual team week in June. As our team continues to grow, so does the number of “remote team members”. We use this week to bring everyone together under one roof at our head office in Fletcher, NC. We also welcomed HR representatives from our parent company, Koozie Group, along with several special guests who attended or presented virtually.
While we are all very well-connected during business hours it is great to get us all together in one building for a week of training, team building, brain storming, process improvements and giving back. We top off the week with a family BBQ.
Team week is jam packed so we can fit in as much as possible while still leaving time for team members to get their day-to-day work done. We started the week with business updates from General Manager, Lee Blount and now CEO of Koozie Group, Pierre Montaubin. We had virtual sessions with our HR benefits coordinator and CLC’s non apparel Senior Director Missy Ingram and Manager Franco Johnson. In person sessions consisted of Licensing 102 presented by Licensing Manager, Liberty Fish and the buyer experience presented by our newest team member Director of Sales, Nicole McDonald. Previously a buyer for the Duck Store, Nicole brought a lot of information to the team about the ‘other side’ of our business.
Other Highlights included…
A very thoughtful presentation from Customer Service Manager, Rebekah Stephens regarding C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. One of MCM’s top customers purchasing all types of Chelsea Teddy Bears to help comfort patients and their families during tough times. Collectively, Koozie Group donated over $500,000 to more than 100 nonprofit organizations in 2022, with C.S. Mott Childrens Hospital included.
We volunteered at Asheville’s Manna Food Bank. Manna is a private, nonprofit service organization working to end food insecurity in the 16 counties of Western North Carolina, including the Qualla Boundary. MANNA links the food industry to over 200 partner pantries and other human service organizations to get food to thousands of families’ tables. We were tasked with sorting donations, checking dates and then re-boxing them with a good mixture of food to be distributed.
All team members participated in the Myers Briggs survey. Joe Malta, one of our HR guests from parent company, Koozie Group, provided a fabulous presentation that included individual MB Type indicators, break-out sessions, and lots of eye-opening discussions. The entire team benefited from this. We learned a lot about how we work individually and begin to understand how others may differ.
A store visit to Western Carolina University, an outstanding partner of MCM’s was extremely beneficial for the team to understand the importance of merchandising, packaging, labelling and a great excuse to catch up with our friends from WCU at the same time!
We had fun with other team building activities like, College Logo Bingo, Lego races, and trivia. 1983 bore 3 of our team leaders here at MCM so we celebrated Lee’s, Rebekah’s and our Art Team Manager, Jaclyn DeSantis’s 40th Birthdays with fun 1983 themed trivia.
We were able to enjoy some of the tasty local cuisine, including catered lunches and fun dinners out and around the Asheville area. Everyone would agree the end of week BBQ was the best. Lee’s mastered his burger and dog grilling skills and it’s a treat to have the boss cook for us. Local families were invited, we had a bounce house, tailgating games and LOTs of FUN! It was the perfect way to end the week. Our motto of “Play Hard, Work Harder” was most definitely in show during team week.
