Going undercover at our U.S. sister company! ~NY business trip (Part 1)~
New York in December. Now that Thanksgiving is over, the city is completely in Christmas mode. The huge Christmas trees at Rockefeller Center and Bryant Park are truly beautiful.
Amid all this, I returned to the city once again, accompanying President Tsugihara (a.k.a. “Mr. Sunny-Side-Up”) for meetings with our NY partner company and for marketing research.
At first glance, a business trip to NY sounds glamorous. Even marketing research is something people around you—and your friends—always envy. But the reality is far tougher than you can imagine. This time as well, it was meeting after meeting from morning to night, and on top of that, business meals with clients while checking out the most popular menus at the latest hot spots for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Of course, we never skipped checking everything from appetizers to trending sweets. “Since we’re here, we have to gather the latest NY intel and turn it into work whenever we have a free moment! There’s no time to sleep!”—those were the words of President Tsugihara, who proudly touts being a short sleeper and a bit of a workaholic. With that, we will share a bit of the NY trend information we gathered during this intense trip!
In Part 1, we will introduce the offices we visited in New York.
This time as well, we visited various offices for meetings, and interestingly, energetic companies always have offices that feel energetic and stylish.
Above all, the office we consider the coolest in Manhattan right now is that of SUNNY SIDE UP’s sister company, M booth. M booth is a rapidly growing New York–based PR firm started 15 years ago by two wonderful, incredibly charming women, Maggie and Dale. They have won numerous business awards across the U.S., and this year again they were selected as a Best Place to Work (mid-size category). Their company colors match ours, they are also led by women, and even their atmosphere and clients are similar—truly a sister company in the U.S.
First, when you step out of the elevator,
the digital signage in the hall cheerfully introduces their latest news topics and the whole team.
The woman at reception is nothing like a by-the-book receptionist in a big-company uniform. A friendly, smiling woman sits casually with a Starbucks cup in hand.
She greets visitors and receives deliveries for the company, but her main role is handling general affairs work at the reception desk. “We don’t have a dedicated receptionist. We just made her desk the reception desk.”
As expected of a sister company—no waste. And all ~150 M booth staff members welcome you with a smile. Both Maggie and Dale communicate openly with everyone. The office, decorated in the same corporate colors as SUNNY SIDE UP, is overflowing with energy and makes you feel excited, too.
On the office walls, slogans from executives and employees are stylishly designed and displayed like posters. You might think they are famous lines from poems or songs, but apparently an in-house designer turned phrases the executives often say into posters. Every line is full of warmth.
And then there is “Mbooth”—a single-person work booth.
Everyone uses it for important calls and Skype meetings. It is essentially a phone booth—a one-person meeting room. It is a small private space, but it is well soundproofed, making it ideal when you need to focus. It seems to have made work dramatically easier. We would very much like to adopt this at our company as well.
This relaxation room, with mats and cushions covering the entire floor, is a comfortable space where you can do a quick brainstorm or even take a short nap.
In the afternoon, many people apparently bring their laptops, sit cross-legged in this room, and work while relaxing.
And in a café space that looks like it could be a real shop, people hold meetings, eat lunch, or have tea. Since many of their clients are alcohol and beverage companies, they even provide alcohol for free from midday. Some people reportedly work here while drinking beer, wine, or liquor from the morning.
When asked, “Doesn’t anyone get drunk?” the immediate answer was, “It’s all at your own risk. If getting tipsy in the middle of the day helps you do better work, then drink as much as you like!” It was so similar to what Tsugihara would say that it made me wonder if they really are sisters. (Laugh)
As a company with many female employees and female leadership, they also make sure the restroom amenities are well stocked. I could not go in, but I heard they always keep items such as hair dryers, disposable toothbrushes, floss, mouthwash, styling products, hand cream, hair ties, and more in the restroom.
“In fact, this is not a huge burden cost-wise. It is important to work in a relaxed way, but before meetings it is also important for women to look polished. Well-stocked amenities make women happy, don’t they?”—Dale’s words. Tsugihara, who is more feminine on the inside than she may appear (at least in part), seems to have decided to adopt this idea at SUNNY SIDE UP right away.
And above all, the leaders, Maggie and Dale, are absolutely wonderful. Stylish, tasteful, unpretentious, and full of warmth. Her comments about Trump at lunch were intense (laugh), but she is positive about everything, and just talking with her lifts your spirits.
Maggie is an extremely charming woman with gray hair, a black dress, and red lipstick—like someone who would appear in the film “The Devil Wears Prada.” Dale is as bright as the sun and is like a mother figure to everyone at the company.
After the meeting, Tsugihara was more fired up than ever, saying, “As a woman, as a mother with children, and as the owner of a PR firm, I was truly inspired!” While thinking to myself, “Please do not give her any more energy than this,” I watched their sister-like exchanges with a smile.
We plan to create all kinds of “fun commotion” together going forward, and it seems SUNNY SIDE UP will also continue improving our office environment so we do not fall behind them.
Following Dale’s words—“You can create a wonderful office if you spend money, but even without spending money, an office can be wonderful if there is love for the company. Ideas are what matter.”—we, with our limited budget, will use our heads and aim to create a great office!
A company that makes you want to go to the office. A company you want to work with. A company that energizes you. SUNNY SIDE UP will continue striving to be that kind of company, and we will work even harder next year!
And the report continues in Part 2…
