Welcome to Tellwell’s weekly Plog (photo-blog)!

Between Spring Retreat and a design team Ed-Venture, we had plenty of quality time together this week. Let’s dive into the details! 🌸

A cheerful group photo of the team in a modern office hallway. Several members are wearing the DIY Statue of Liberty and unicorn costumes made from colorful plastic and tissue paper, while others lean in to join the shot. A man in a plaid shirt takes the selfie in the foreground, capturing everyone’s high energy and smiles.

Tossing caps 🎓

We have two recent graduates in our midst!

Senior Design Strategist Sandie and Story Maker Success Manager Jenny both graduated from their leadership programs (woohoo!) within the last month! They dove head first into developing deeper leadership skills, growing relationships with others in the program, and had a lot of fun along the way. We are so proud of both these ladies for the time and dedication they put into these programs and we can’t wait to see how they bring what they learned to Tellwell!

Three women stand together smiling under a vibrant arch of multi-colored balloons. The woman in the center holds a "Leadership Barnesville" certificate and a white tote bag. A circular logo for the leadership program is visible on the wall behind them.
Three people share a joyous hug in a large hall with wood floors. The woman in the center holds up a clear award that reads "Class of 2026, Jenny Johnson" while cheering enthusiastically. Behind them, a stage features a "Leadership FMWF" logo inside a large archway.

Spring Retreat 🌸 🎉

Every year around this time, Team Tellwell spends an entire day away from our desks for some group learning and team development!

We came together as a team this Wednesday for some team bonding and business/creative conversations. Throughout the day, we had discussions about friction points in our processes, how we can set our Story Makers up for success, and how “thinking inside the box” can sometimes be the best way to look at things. Whether we were together as a full team, split off for smaller team discussions, or mixed and matched for varying insights, it was a day filled with education and getting into the nitty gritty.

Five people are engaged in a professional meeting around white tables arranged in a U-shape. The room is bright and modern, featuring a glass-paned garage door that looks out onto a green yard. Laptops, notebooks, and colorful mugs are scattered across the tables as the group focuses on a discussion.
Four people sit together on a leather couch in a sunlit room, smiling at the camera. They are dressed casually in sweaters and denim, with a large blue wall behind them featuring a window-pane shadow pattern. A white coffee table in the foreground holds a tumbler with "Alumni" written on it and a glass jar of iced coffee.

Don’t think we didn’t have time for some fun sprinkled throughout!

Our first activity was Tellwell Project Runway: Hero or Guide Edition. We were split into four groups where we were tasked with creating a runway look that either described the role of the “hero” or the “guide” within the Hero’s Journey. We had outfits, we had scripts, we had music, and we had a lot of fun. Bringing a creative angle to a framework we use every single day was a fun twist. Now, who do you think won?

A woman with short dark hair and a denim shirt smiles warmly while standing at a wooden table. She is using orange-handled scissors to cut a piece of black ribbon, with bright yellow, green, and blue tissue paper spread out before her.
Four people pose playfully in a hallway wearing DIY costumes made from blue and green plastic tablecloths and tissue paper. One person in the foreground wears a plush unicorn mascot head, while others hold handmade torches and wear spiked crowns, evoking the Statue of Liberty.

Also spread out through the day was team photos around our office, eating taco lunch in the sunshine, and many jokes cracked. To finish the day off, we found ourselves at Brewhalla for Cheese & Cheers! Getting to wrap up the day with teammate connection, storytelling, and some goodies brought a lot of smiles all around. Another successful Spring Retreat in the books!

A group of nine people sit at two wooden picnic tables on a stone patio, enjoying an outdoor lunch. The patio is adjacent to a modern black building and a grassy yard enclosed by a tall wooden fence, all under a clear blue sky.
A large group of coworkers are gathered around a long wooden picnic table on a sunny rooftop patio. They are all smiling for a wide-angle selfie, with drinks and snacks spread across the table. In the background, a large parking lot and industrial cityscape are visible under a clear sky.

Design Team Ed-Venture 🎨

The design team took spring retreat as an opportunity to dive even deeper into how they can grow as a team!

On Thursday, the team jumped right in and started seeing how they can implement what we learned at retreat into their day to day work. They talked process, creative approaches, and spent quality time together (Jen was unfortunately at home with a sick kiddo, we missed you)!

Along with learning as a team, they had lunch downtown and finished off the day at the Ronald McDonald House here in Fargo (one of our amazing Story Makers). They spent the afternoon volunteering as a Share-A-Meal team, cooking and feeding the families currently at the House.

Three people smile for a selfie in front of a brick building entrance labeled "630 Suite 1" and "Wurst Bier Hall." One person wears a blue baseball cap with "OPE!" in yellow letters and sunglasses, while the others are dressed in a black zip-up and a tan fleece.
A smiling man in a tan fleece and jeans stands in a modern kitchen, stirring a large pot of meat on a glass-top stove. Several packets of taco seasoning sit on the counter next to him, and dark wood cabinets line the wall in the background.
That wraps up this week! Keep an eye out for our next plog, coming May 22nd!
A tricolor Corgi peeks out from under a person's legs during a meeting, looking up toward a white coffee table. Two people are seated nearby on a leather couch; one holds a clipboard with a document titled "Predictable Client Experience," while the other holds a white tumbler and relaxes with their legs crossed.