Finding My Tribe: An Epic First Day at a Remote Company

A Beginning in Belize

Your first day at a new job always comes with a flood of emotions and nerves. It came as a surprise to both of us that we’d have the opportunity to sign a job offer with terms stating our first day would be on a beach in Belize. Life’s funny though, isn’t it? In January 2018, this was our reality, and it turned out to be an amazing onboarding experience.

I am Tess Dailey, and I am Mike Klanac. Nice to meet y’all! As we write this, we are two of the newest members of Modern Tribe and thought it would be rad to share our experiences about becoming Triberians. Both of us have extensive backgrounds in sales and we’ve met some amazing people during our careers. We’ve both been around for awhile, and this career transition is not our first rodeo. The timing of our first day on the job with Modern Tribe happened to coincide with the Tribe annual team retreat in Placencia, Belize.

Since the company is a fully distributed organization, the three Partners (Reid, Peter, and Shane) make it a top priority to ensure their team gathers once a year to be face-to-face, build trust, align the company vision, knowledge-share, celebrate successes, and have a heck of a lot of fun. The company rented a private island about 20 miles from shore where we had time to paddleboard, snorkel a beautiful barrier reef, play life-sized Jenga, take hammock naps, play volleyball, read books, drink piña coladas, and just get to know each other. Working on a beach and having a private island to ourselves was awesome, but we both agree it wasn’t even close to the highlight of our first week as a Triberian.

Mike’s First Day at Modern Tribe

My first day at Modern Tribe was an unusual one. I found myself boarding an international flight to Belize for several days of introductions and company planning at Tribe’s yearly retreat. I’d been given access to Slack and a company email account several days beforehand, through which I was provided with the logistics of the event (meticulously planned by our Operations Manager, Rob La Gatta). I was feeling confident based on the interview process, but the inevitable first day’s nerves piqued upon landing. Within about five minutes of grabbing my bags, I learned that the Modern Tribe crew was assembling at a restaurant on the second floor. I made my way up and walked into a room of laughing Triberians sipping local drinks—some meeting for the first time, others catching up with coworkers they’d known for years. Luckily, I recognized the friendly face of one of the founders, Reid. Sensing I was either a random person or a new staff member, he stuck his hand out and facilitated a good five introductions to jump-start my trip. An hour later, I was on a bus making my way to Placencia, where we’d eventually enjoy a welcome cocktail and check in for the trip.

Mike’s Initial Thoughts on Day 1 at Tribe

As I lay in bed that night, the scent of tangerine trees cascading through my room, I took inventory of my day. The people were friendly. Many of them had tattoos, which I liked. There were people from all over the world, which I loved. On my drive in I’d shared a seat with Luca, an Italian-born developer currently living in Paris. I’d thoroughly enjoyed our conversation about Gomorra La Series, the Italian crime drama quite popular in Europe. As Americans, my wife and I enjoyed binging on the show regularly, but hearing an actual Italian’s perspective on the show gave it new meaning. This is a small detail, but this connection and discussion felt great. I love diversity, and was excited to meet people from cultures and languages (and with perspectives) I wasn’t used to. In my mind I still didn’t have much understanding of Modern Tribe’s approach to work, outside of the website and case studies I’d been provided. Certainly, quality had been communicated to me as a pillar of the company, but one never really knows until you’ve met the people and talked shop. I fell asleep that night cautiously optimistic about the week ahead.

The kind of company you want to work at:

My first full day at the retreat left me with a distinct feeling that I’ll never forget. Clearly, I was surrounded by very intelligent people, but they all seemed to be genuinely nice. Not fake nice, but genuinely interested in how I was doing, if I had questions, and getting to know me. It was the kind of behavior that happy, fulfilled people exhibit, and in conversation, you could sense that most everyone was excited to be there. I couldn’t help but connect this to the fact that they liked their jobs. Not just their jobs, but the lifestyle the company provided them. As I connected more with my manager Travis and eventually the rest of my team, a lot of my onboarding-type fears dissipated quickly. As a father of four, work-life balance is now as important to me as salary, or doing the type of work I find fulfilling (all of which Modern Tribe provides). The simple fact is, for me to be happy, I need to be around for my kids, and knowing that Modern Tribe valued work-life balance made me feel great. To be totally honest, it motivated me. I wanted to show respect for what I believe is the right formula, and to do that, I really wanted to kick ass every minute I was engaged.

I couldn’t help but connect this to the fact that they liked their jobs. Not just their jobs, but the lifestyle the company provided them.

As we broke off into groups based around discipline, several of our first conversations had a simple but effective format. The theme was a problem or area in need of improvement in our daily job activity. Removed from the rigors of daily work, we broke an issue down, then began brainstorming how to solve it. The conversation flowed naturally. I felt heard, and though I was new, my previous experiences and work history allowed me to contribute effectively to the conversation. Getting into real conversation felt great. I get uncomfortable when I can’t contribute, even if it’s because I’m the new guy. Being able to add value to a critical conversation, right off the plane, speaks to the trust and respect Tribe has for its new employees.

Tess’s First Day at Modern Tribe

Throughout my career, I’ve been on many early morning flights. However, this particular flight was different because it was my first day with the company and I was on my way to meet my new tribe in Belize. I woke up at 3:10 a.m., partially due to nerves, but also because I had to make a 6:00 a.m. flight. It was a long, but easy day of travel with zero hiccups nonetheless (thank you Rob), and I continued to get more excited and anxious to meet my peers as I got closer to arrival.

I arrived at the Belize Ocean Club resort a bit jet-lagged, yet excited, and was happy to breathe in as much warm, humid air as possible. I live in Minnesota. We don’t get much warm, humid air in late January. I was almost immediately greeted by the amazing staff with a deliciously fruity beverage called, “the latitude adjustment”. As I unpacked my suitcase from our beautiful ocean view room, I wasn’t quite sure what was next. At almost the same moment, I heard the door open and was greeted by my roommate Hillary. I’ll never forget her huge smile, hug, and an excited voice proclaiming, “everyone is in the pool, get your suit on, let’s go!”. So, I put on my suit, and quite literally, jumped into this new company with both feet. I officially met the members of my new team at a swim-up bar! My previous feelings of nervousness diminished as everyone starting hugging me like I was one of their favorite family members — one of their Tribe. There was an unexplainable connection with these Tribearians. I am forever thankful to have met them this way and it is an experience I will never forget.

Tess’s Initial Thoughts on Day 1 at Tribe

As I FaceTimed my husband the first night, I shared my happiness, excitement, and talked mainly about how genuine the Partners and employees were. I told him about the team’s passion and upbeat spirit for the company. It was awe-inspiring. I continued to proclaim how absolutely amazingly genuine and caring the people were, but I couldn’t help it because it is 100% true. As an example, Cassi, a designer on the team—and a fellow Minnesotan—proactively requested home addresses to anyone who would be helping make it possible for the Triberians to attend a week away from home. My husband and best friend didn’t know it at the time, but they would soon both be receiving personalized notes thanking them for taking shifts caring for my three dogs while I was away. Erin, my best friend, texted me the day she received the card and said she’s never known of any company being so thoughtful and kind—she was blown away.

Even though I had not yet been exposed to the company’s regular day-to-day, I wasn’t concerned after my first day meeting the Tribe. I knew I was finally with the right organization and on the right team.

The kind of company you want to work at:

During one of our daily working sessions, I was exposed to a day dedicated to “Heart & Craft”, where employees were tasked with working fast and loose, cranking something out, and getting to know team members they wouldn’t generally work with on day-to-day projects. It was an opportunity for each team to try and improve a different business challenge by 1%, and present their solution/idea to everyone after dinner.

I am so glad I work for this company.

My socks were knocked off by the team’s dedication, presentations, and the solutions presented. I will never forget this being the event in which I thought to myself, “I am so glad I work for this company”. Modern Tribe’s team of intelligent, passionate, and genuinely amazing humans solved more business problems in one day than I’ve seen solved over years within other organizations.

A Memorable Landing

Starting a new job can come with a slew of emotions, but Modern Tribe’s culture and welcoming people help alleviate any concerns the moment you join the team. Having the opportunity to meet everyone in Belize was an experience neither of us will ever forget.