In 2012, we moved into our first office space—a 4th floor walkup at 424 Broadway with no window. The building was old and sloping, so we nicknamed the part of the office that was on a tilt “Charles Hill”. Our elevator operator spoke no english, hated people, ate bananas and then grilled the banana skins on his space heater. (Was it possibly for their aroma? We had no idea why.) So when we moved to the 4th floor of 401 Broadway, we thought we had most definitely arrived.

We set about decorating and painting, including painting the floor, and then Sam had the bright idea of painting a room completely black so we could immerse ourselves in creativity. She aptly named it The Black Room. We outgrew the space in 2 years and moved to the 6th floor, suite #601. It was an old lawyers office, covered in dust and ripe with cigarette smoke— but it was ours.

 

On March 6th 2020, we left our beautiful custom-built office space for what we thought was just a few weeks. However, weeks turned into months and the end of our lease drew near. We remained hopeful, but we knew it was unrealistic that one day soon we would return to the office. How could we ask our team to come in, when as owners we still weren’t comfortable leaving the house?

We closed the physical office space for good in August.

Working remotely has taught us a lot about communication and if there’s one thing we’re good at as an agency, it’s that—communicating and doing so transparently.

After an intensive team survey and internal work equipment assessment, we learned that not everyone wanted to work at home alone and not everyone wanted to come back to the office. The result? A new “Work Here if You Want To “ program at the 195 Montague Street location of WeWork in Brooklyn.

Pending state legislations, teammates who feel comfortable working in a socially distanced environment will be able to book times for collaborations at The Charles WeWork office. Not everyone can work there at once, but it’s a step toward in-person collaboration in the meantime.

“I came to The Charles for the culture,” says Vickee Yang, Studio Coordinator. “After realizing that all my coworkers were now working remotely, I was a little concerned about how I would connect with everyone. Surprisingly, this has made us even more close—it’s allowed us to be creative and find new ways to bond. I’m excited to lead the “Work Here if You Want To” program, starting in 2021.”

Want to work at The Charles? We’re hiring.