A Safe Place to Work

What’s on my mind?

Gratitude.

Most people know me through Iowa Worm Farm, but my day job is running a State Farm agency—and something happened recently that I’ve been sitting with.

Our agency was recently recognized as one of the Coolest Places to Work by the Corridor Business Journal. That’s fun on its own, but what means the most to me is how it happened.

My team nominated the agency, handled the surveys, and did the behind-the-scenes work to make it happen. The fact that they see this as a cool place to work means more to me than the little trophy now sitting in our reception area.

So, are we “cool”? Maybe.

But here’s what I’m really chasing.

I want our office to be a place where I can show up as myself. A place to keep learning who I am, surrounded by people who offer some grace while I figure it out.

Growth isn’t a straight line. Mine definitely hasn’t been. It’s been messy. I make mistakes—often. And honestly, the mistakes are where most of the learning happens. If I’m not making mistakes, I start to wonder if I’m really pushing hard enough.

The problem is: I’m also a perfectionist. So when things don’t go as planned, it’s easy to get discouraged or want to shut down. It’s hard to try something new after spending so much time perfecting the old way of doing things.

But for me, that discomfort is necessary for forward progress.

Just like kids, we tend to learn faster when we’re challenged and when we’re surrounded by people modeling the kind of behavior we’re aiming for. When you’re in a group that treats you with grace, treats themselves with grace, and is also trying to grow—it changes the pace and depth of your own growth.

And all of that is happening here.

We’re a group of people who might not naturally become friends outside these four walls. Different personalities. Different worldviews. Different interests. And yet… it works.

There’s conflict and great teamwork—like a family. None of us get to hand-pick every coworker in our lives, but we do get to choose how we show up for each other. Sometimes we need a break from one another, but we still come back and keep going together. That part matters.

As with most things that happen in this agency, I’m the one who gets a lot of the public credit. But the truth is, most of the work is done by the rest of the team.

Being a “cool” place to work, for me, really means being a safe place to work:

A safe place to be ourselves, to make mistakes, to keep learning, and to keep becoming better versions of who we’re meant to be.

I’m grateful I get to do that with this team.