Aloha. Since I am a working student with ifridge and I never posted before, I am more than happy to start right now here on Maui. Due to the fact that I usually work from Kaiserslautern (where I study), I am not usually in any of our offices. Most of the time I work with the team in virtual space that allows me to be flexible with my schedule but sharing it with the team in real time. On the downside, my virtual work environment prevents me from sharing ideas in real time or having an espresso with my colleagues. Furthermore, you exchange information exclusively online and through calls. This requires much more trust and total reliability that everyone delivers.
So I was even more curious about the workshops in reality we had during the last days and the plenty of cool activities we did with the whole team. We went surfing, hiking and horseback riding where I finally had the chance to get to know the team better. Before this trip I hadn’t met everyone from our U.S. team so this made the last days even more exciting for me. It was nice to chat with everyone and feeling some kind of connection since we are all living the ifridge lifestyle. I think Elise put it to the point when one of our horseback riding instructors asked us “What are you guys doing here on Maui? Is it business or vacation with friends?” and she simply replied “Both.”
I think this is what really makes a difference: we at ifridge do not just have a unique approach to building great companies, but we actually are a great company. Everyone at ifridge loves to work on this team and shows 100% commitment to what we are doing. This strong belief in what we are doing and where we are going affects our work and the atmosphere in a very positive way and really makes me look forward to working full-time for ifridge in the future.
