THE IMPORTANCE OF FOSTERING AUTHENTIC WORK RELATIONSHIPS
Paige Hull
Smoot and I still pinch ourselves daily that we get to work in this creative business with so many talented people. It became very clear early on that we loved collaborating and working with others - may it be on an interior design project, an event or retreat, photo shoot or anything in between. We’ve developed long term relationships with so many of the folks we’ve been blessed to work with.
In this fast-paced, technology-filled world, we can lose sight of developing real relationships vs. quick, superficial ones. It doesn’t help that many of the relationships we have made with peers are through the internet - some we’ve never even met!
But that’s the world we live in now and keeping a check on how we view and develop these types of relationships is a big area to keep your eye on. Especially since long term relationships can sustain changes in positions and companies…I can’t tell you how many people we’ve worked with that held one position, only to end up in a whole other company or business years down the road.
image by Natalie Yerkovich Photography
Jami Supsic was the first editor we worked with when we were featured in Country Living magazine in 2014. We loved working with her and have enjoyed watching her career grow. Several years after the feature, she reached out to include us in a few smaller stories in Country Living that you can see here and here.
Several years later, she went to work for HGTV magazine. Even though that publication is not a fit for our brand due to the bright colors of the magazine, we’ve kept up with her personally and sent her a few designers and projects to consider when she made the switch!
Having a two way street where you both benefit is so important!
I recently came across a great article that talks about how to develop more authentic relationships in business. They start the article by saying this:
Building authentic relationships in business is not complicated, but it does take patience and a shift in focus. Instead of measuring success by the number of deals closed, measure it by the number of authentic relationships developed and nurtured. Authentic relationships payout much larger dividends than closed transactions. Focus on building genuine relationships, and they will build your business for you.
'Click here to read the full article.
Our focus throughout the years has stayed steadily on building these types of meaningful business relationships and we’re convinced that it is one of the reasons we are where we are today!