When I started at Silver Fox six years ago, our designers would gather every Thursday for an hour a week to collaborate and share ideas. It was a space where we could think outside of the box, free from constraints or boundaries of corporate work. We called this weekly meeting Breakfast Club.

I thought that was a great initiative to get to know my new colleagues and enrich my presentation skills, so I participated in every meeting. Many of the designers who participated were excited have fun and satisfy their creative thirst each week. Eventually, our busy event season made it challenging to keep these meetings, so they were cancelled. During our busy season, our focus was 100% devoted to our clients, and everyone’s efforts made the mountain of work conquerable! Once our work settled down, it was time to reinvent Breakfast Club in a creative, new way.

A new format was born where team building was the main goal. In our first iteration of Breakfast Club, we would individually present an idea, however our new iteration brought us all together as teammates to share ideas. Our weekly meetings included different games that would enhance our leadership skills, collaboration and creativity. It was a fun space for us as designers

As we see often in design, new iterations and innovation are necessary. So, earlier this year, we decided to reinvent Breakfast Club—and this time, I took on leadership with the help of my colleagues, Calder and Megan. We had the challenge of creating a new format that needed to be fresh and interesting, while also offering growth to our skillsets, as designers. Keeping this in mind, I dreamt up a new Breakfast Club that consisted of four sections per meeting.

The first section, called Hot Topic, was all about our work: showcasing before and after slides, updating the designers of forthcoming projects, and recaps of events we had supported, to name a few.

The next section was called Tips & Tricks, where it offered an opportunity to learn tips from Silver Fox’s senior designers. Some of these tips and tricks helped us learn speedy ways to improve our work and learn creative solutions to overcome software limitations.

The third section was focused on presentations by the designers. Each designer collaborated by bringing fresh discussion ideas to the group, which made Breakfast club an interactive and cooperative meeting.

Finally, the last 15 minutes offered a flexible space dedicated to a leisurely activity as a group. In one instance, we shared fun stories from our experience at events, and in another instance, we crafted origami art. Organizing these meetings made me grow as a leader and helped me get to know my coworkers better in a creative, interactive space.

It was very rewarding to see our design staff participating and enjoying our once a week space solely for all things design! Through this, I was able to contribute to each designers’ growth and to growing the culture of creativity at Silver Fox.

Stay tuned for Act Three of our blog series where we will be providing an in-depth look at our training programs for skill and career development.