Positive WFH Stories

The release of the COVID-19 vaccine and the lifting of mask mandates has opened up a post-pandemic world. As we adjust to a new normal, many companies — EMI included — are migrating back to their offices either full-time or with a hybrid model.

The past year has had many challenges, the transition to working from home being one of them. However, there were also many positive aspects of WFH that the EMI team enjoyed. Here, we’ll share some of our favorite aspects of WFH and the memories that came with them.

Angelica Jump

On an internal call when my puppy pooped right behind my chair.

Tony Brown

I’ve worked from home for about 10 years at EMI, and for many years at other companies. So, working from home was not an adjustment for me. One positive is that, historically, some coworkers or managers believed that people who work from home were less productive. When COVID required the entire company to work from home, those people quickly learned that “work from home” often means working longer hours than when you are in the office, and some employees can be equally or more productive in a WFH environment.

Michael Holmes

My two daughters, 12 and 13 at the time, interrupting a partner call and demonstrating for all of us a magic trick they had just learned… the call went better than expected had we not had the unexpected performance! Just goes to show, every call can use a little magic!

Addie Gordon

• I enjoyed being able to pop in a load of laundry during the day.
• Fun to share an “office” with my dog.
• I turned my basement into an office/gym where I can do my workouts during lunch.
• It’s nice to be able to pop upstairs and say hi to my husband.
• Comfy clothes!

Kathleen Hock

• Spending more time with my dogs: Gus Gus and Gumbo.
• Spending more time with my family. Specifically, with COVID, my siblings who lived in other cities came back to Cincinnati se we would all sit around my parents dining room table and work in our new “office.”
• Finalizing an amazing home office setup.
• Remodeling my kitchen which lead to redecorating most of the house…
• “Met” a ton of clients face to face that would have been all phone or email previously. It truly bonded us with our client teams over the shared experience of WFH… ESPECIALLY humanizing when someone’s pets or kids jump in on a call. Good to put faces to names and spend time on the phone discussing the purpose and methodologies of research rather than just the sample collection.
• Spending more time cooking and being active since I’ve been home and want to get up and about during what would be my morning/evening commute.
• Run more errands during lunch breaks that wouldn’t be possible from the office.
• Spent time WFH all over the country when we would temporarily relocate to Florida or somewhere else for a week or so at a time. There is more of a “vacation” feeling to real life if you are “WFH” overlooking the ocean or beach.

Emma Nicolls

• I got to move back home with my parents for a few months and it was my first time living with my siblings since I graduated high school and my first time ever living with my 2-year-old sister and seeing her every day!
• My schedule for my last year of college was so flexible. I got to take a lot of really interesting classes that wouldn’t have fit into my schedule if I had been commuting to the office and campus every day.

Brittney Marston

Working from home, as a new(er) mom, I got to see my baby do all of his firsts! He started walking in May of 2020 and from then on, I feel like it’s been milestone after milestone that I got to witness firsthand which is a gift I don’t think I could even put value on. I also got him to say mama before dada– and I like to think of that as my 2020 quarantine win.

Gabby Blados

Working from home has allowed me to spend some time appreciating wildlife around my house. I have my desk right next to the window and started putting out bird seed to watch what kinds of birds we could get to come over. While doing this every day, we started getting some squirrels that wanted to join in on the fun. We bought some different assorted nuts for the squirrels, and they eventually got comfortable enough with me that I could hand feed them through the window! At times, if I took too long to realize they were at the window, like when I was in a zoom meeting, they would actually start knocking on the window for me to pay attention!

Brian Peterson

COVID gave me the opportunity to pick up my daughter from kindergarten every day, something I wouldn’t have been able to do if COVID hadn’t happened. It gave us some great Daddy/Daughter time each afternoon.

Jason Inderhees

• Spending time with my little ones is likely my favorite benefit of working from home.
  • I never realized how much I enjoy getting them on and off the bus. Without the past year playing out how it did, I likely never would have taken the time to understand just how fulfilling that simple activity is.
• Mental Health
  • Not having to drive to and from the office was a huge relief for me. I have a fairly simple commute that is made up mostly of back roads. However, I do remember when my commute was much different, and I spent about 45 minutes each way traveling up and down I-75. This commute definitely took its toll on me (specifically my mental state) and definitely had an impact on my mood when arriving to the office and when arriving home from work. I am 100% positive that alleviating the need to commute will make it on someone’s list.
• Client Connections
  • Obviously, face to face meetings have been non-existent for the past 12-15 months. Teams/Zoom/etc. calls have provided an alternative way for us to maintain some sort of connection to clients and I believe a good amount of this may carry over to replace some of the travel that has occurred in the past. It also provided an opportunity to connect with folks on a different level. I was able to have meetings with CEOs of large organizations and see them in their most relaxed environment, wearing sweatpants with kids running around in the background– really enabled people in general to connect at a different level.

Amy Carley

The generic time with my family, but also that my husband and kids got a better idea of what I do each day at work.

Andrew DeCilles

• No commute
• Lunches are able to be much healthier—no eating out or packing lunch
• No commuting
• Able to work out or do yardwork on lunch break, not time lost to commute.
  • Being able to accomplish more household tasks around work builds overall productivity and momentum.
• When working from home, I don’t have to spend time in traffic commuting
• Able to spend more time with my family in the evenings as I arrive home at 5:00 on the dot (was already home) instead of between 6pm-6:30pm
• I was able to avoid the traffic from the construction on the bridge because I didn’t have to commute.
• I started seeing a dentist for the first time in five years because there is one so close to my house.
• I have saved hundreds of dollars on gas by not commuting.
• More productivity and FOCUS overall (no side conversations, interruptions, etc.)
• I am able to more easily help with getting my kids from daycare and when they are sick, etc., because I am only 20 minutes away instead of 90-120 as I am not commuting
• I have been able to limit my workday to 7-5pm because I am more productive and can use the extra hour in the morning that I’d typically be commuting.
• I started working out daily in the morning because I don’t have to spend time commuting before I start working.
• Because I have an extra hour in the morning I have started meditating and journaling which has improved my overall mental health.

Abby Snyder

• Being able to travel to visit family (Columbus, California) but still able to work.
• Saved money on buying work clothes.
• Getting things done around the house during breaks.

Angela Hinton

• I am able to skip the commute and focus more time on work.
• Work/Life balance is much better as I am able to focus more time on my home, my husband who is ill, etc.
• I’m able to eat better and focus on my health as it’s a controlled environment and I’m not eating fast food, etc.
• No wear and tear on my car which saves me money and saves money on gas, etc.

While COVID-19 has had a significant impact on our lives and created many hardships, we are happy that some good has come from it.

Whether it was the new “commute” to the living room, spending more time with family, or finding new personal hobbies, we are pleased to share our experiences of our time working from home with you.