Most workers dread returning to work in January after the merriness of the festive season.
But these lucky employees have a boss that offers even fire-breathing lessons to keep spirits high in the New Year.
“We’re going to spend the bulk of our lives at work. So how can we sprinkle a little bit more fun into that?”
From flying out her team three times to Coachella Music Festival, a quick-trip to Ibiza and intense fire-breathing lessons, business owner Charlotte Mair believes in bringing fun to the office to keep her team bursting with fresh ideas and good mental health.
Charlotte Mair is the founder of The Fitting Room, a marketing business based in West London, that has worked with the world’s biggest brands and celebs including Instagram, Meta and even Idris Elba.
The thirty-nine year old entrepreneur remembers her humble corporate days when asking to have fun “didn’t sit quite right with (her) soul.” Now, Charlotte is a trailblazer in bringing surprise to the workplace.
Boss Charlotte runs the “Don’t Forget to Learn” project every New Year to beat the January blues.
This project gets her team doing outlandish activities like skiing which makes the corporate comeback less daunting.
Charlotte told the Mirror: “January in this country can be so bleak. And thinking of the team coming back, I was like, ‘How can we make January feel that little bit better?’ For this year’s ‘Don’t Forget to Learn’… We’re encouraging them to do things that they maybe don’t have time to do at the weekends.”
She revealed what her team of employees had dared to try out: “Previously, Danielle did fire-breathing, Amy went to DJ school, Kate learned acrylic nails… and some went skiing…But also, if they don’t know what they want to do, the team picks for them!” Charlotte added in a Tik Tok that the fire-breathing session “ten-timesed her productivity.”
Charlotte even paid for a pole dancing class showing that nothing is off the limits to keep her team hyped up. She says yes to most adventures as long as it is legal.
“Oh God…Yeah, I think as long as it’s legal and respectful. I think we had someone ask to do pole dancing before from a fitness perspective… it’s pretty fair to have a conversation about those things!” she says.
Charlotte praised the benefits of these activities for both the mental health and performance of her employees, showing that being the fun boss is worth the investment.
“The point of putting it (Don’t Forget to Learn) into January was to give people an easing back into the new year and giving people a little bit of excitement when it can feel like a bit of a dull and gloomy month. And that’s definitely about mental health and giving people a little something extra to smile about,” she says.
Charlotte went on to explain: “Across the business, everybody really comes to life! There’s just this ripple effect, because there’s just a level of excitement.
“You drag your ass in on a Monday. It’s raining – but suddenly, you’re in the room and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, I did this last week, and I did this’ There’s just a different feel, and it makes January just feel like that little bit better.
“From a productivity perspective, everybody definitely comes up for the month of January because they are just living!” she explained.
Charlotte added: “All that stuff around adulting, being forced to grow up, shouldn’t be at the compromise of living, and having fun, and getting out there, and seeing things. And we’ve tried to structure this into a model that allows them to still do that.
Charlotte went viral on social media for flying out her workers to Ibiza on a whim, living by The Fitting Room’s motto of “hype, demand, legacy.”
Charlotte told the Mirror: “We were sat at the office on a Wednesday, and we just had a really busy summer. We’d been non-stop with campaigns…. And literally, I shouted across the office, should we go to Ibiza for next week? And the team were like, ‘Yeah!’ And within about 90 minutes, 2 hours, we booked it. Wow,” she says, adding on social media that the team were shocked to bump into actor Wayne Lineker at Ocean Beach, Ibiza.
The business owner continued: “We’ve done things like taking the team to Coachella three times. That’s a hefty budget, getting everyone out to Palm Springs, the tickets, hiring a house, and everything else. But it all sits within our marketing budget.”
Charlotte, who kickstarted her business with just £17.22, has a set budget she dedicates solely to allow her team to do “cool sxxx,” which leaves them mentally refreshed and inspired to pitch big ideas.
With the festive season coming up, Charlotte used rapper Stormzy’s famous venue to throw a Christmas-themed party.
Charlotte explained: “For our client end-of-year Christmas party we’ve hired Stormzy’s house party venue,” for a fun celebration with “surprise acts” for 200 clients and friends. She added: “If you’re working with us, you just know the vibe and who we are- and it will always be centred in living.”
The business owner spoke more on the importance of having a motivated workforce: “I think a lot of agencies and businesses focus their marketing on external, whereas we like to have internal proof points as well, because a happier team, a high retention of employees drives best outputs and makes clients feel encouraged because their client teams aren’t changing every other week.
“We don’t only do things for our internal team. Last year, we hired out a cinema to screen the Barbie movie and had 150 clients come to it. We took clients to Paris because Usher brought over his Vegas show. So we did 20 hours in Paris with a handful of clients,” she explained.
Charlotte spoke on the legacy she wants to leave behind as a business leader by creating a new standard for work culture: “I’m very mindful of my corporate experience and how I can shape some of that to be better for the next generation.
“In terms of leadership, I’m just reminding people that work is still work. No matter how much you love it, you still need that break…You still need to have your life outside of it… I am a big believer in having happy teams.”