We recently talked about shoes, a collector’s item for our owner who prefers custom Nikes, sees them as a tribute to WHYFOR and loves them for all their nostalgia. And for a minute, we had to be reminded what shoes actually were — those relics of wardrobe that now feel so foreign. 

Because, for the past few months, we’ve been barefoot. A lot.  You have, too. Don’t even lie — we know sneaker sales are down 75 percent. 

Like most of the country, a reported 88 percent of it, we went remote in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, moving our workspaces from our desks at our office to our own kitchen tables and our own, breezy back patios — back when nice weather was still a thing here.

And then we just kept going.

We kept going so hard we launched three new websites for two clients a week apart. Because, that’s what we said we’d do, pandemic or not. And to be clear, we went “hard” in a “we’re in a zone” way, not in a “we’re slaves to our jobs” way.

That’s not our thing.

It totally could have backfired. Creating websites in a shared space is hard enough, let alone doing it across a dozen or so different households. Moving everyone home, including team members who had only recently joined WHYFOR in the days and weeks before the pandemic, forced us into a new, who-needs-shoes routine. And, it didn’t backfire.

It clicked.

With WiFi, laptops, Zoom meetings, Slack chats, patience, humility and creativity, we ushered projects to the finish line, bringing new life and functionality to the online home for a trio of brands that trusted our ability to shepherd their organizational missions — the anatomy of who they are — to their audiences. 

And then we exhaled, for just a minute, before teeing up new projects, from COVID-related crisis response to lead generation campaigns to additional website design.

It’s just how we do things, wherever we are.

Now, Pine Canyon, a luxury golf community in Flagstaff, more accurately appears as the refuge it is, tucked among pines with unbeatable views of the San Francisco Peaks.

And the spirit of Talking Rock, a rustic retreat in Prescott, shines through, illustrating the energy that comes with vast, high-desert open space and the freedom owners are afforded to build a distinct western getaway.

For Springboard Healthcare, we synthesized their critical strengths, fusing their ability to build meaningful relationships in the medical field and their commitment to continued education.

Remote work works for us, and for the people who want us to work for them. This whole barefoot thing works, too. It might be a secret ingredient. Or, even a superpower. 

Stay tuned.