The summer of 2005 was hot. Not unlike Boston’s recent string of heatwaves, temperatures that August soared, prompting children across the Tri-State area to run through sprinklers, and stalk the ice cream man with abandon. I was to enter the fourth grade that September and decided to try my hand at a popular neighborhood business endeavor: the lemonade stand.
My mom, an avid proponent of health and nutrition, and never one to keep items like Lunchables or Fruit by the Foot in our pantry, unsurprisingly neglected to pick up Crystal Light on her most recent trip to the grocery store. She did, however, have a steady supply of sugar-free Lipton iced tea mix in stock, and though it wasn’t lemonade, it would simply have to do. I was officially open for business!
Was the cocktail popular with my peers? Not so much. It was, however, a hit amongst those neighborhood mothers monitoring their sugar intake, and the fathers who’d just completed lengthy commutes, parched, and looking to support a local business.
That summer, my iced tea stand grossed nearly $300, which I later donated to a Hurricane Katrina relief fund.
Greg, our CEO, likes to say that “being crafty” is his favorite of Alyce’s four core values, which doesn’t surprise me. In my short time with the company, it’s become evident that both resourcefulness and inherent entrepreneurial spirit are characteristics native to each Alyce team member.
Take our recent office relocation, for example: throughout the multi-day event, several employees moonlighted as movers, handymen, and freelance interior designers, without prompt, or second-thought. Or, consider the times we run out of shipping labels for our in-house fulfillment efforts: there’s always an army of volunteers wielding pens, scissors, and transparent tape, gladly offering to make the labels, themselves. In the face of interference, Team Alyce’s collective inventiveness is not only what makes us successful, but lends itself to our organization’s intrinsic authenticity.
While I’ve only been a part of the team for one month now, I continue to be impressed by my coworkers’ craftiness, eagerness to support one another, and impactful mission to build lasting relationships. And, as someone who strives to not just think, but live outside of the box, the fact that I’m able to work beside such like-minded individuals is such a gift!
