A note by Mig Reyes — October 27, 2017

Trunk Club has been such an influential chapter in my career. It’s been an amazing year—one worth celebrating with you. You’re what makes this place great.

I’ve always thought it important to reflect on meaningful moments in your career and share what you’ve learned along the way. I was honored to hold my post as Design Lead at Trunk Club for just a bit over a year, but the lessons I’ve learned here I’ll keep for a lifetime. Here are two.

Everyone is a leader

From first-time managers to first-time Vice Presidents, Trunk Club has fostered the growth of so many leaders—it’s inspiring to see. To me, leadership isn’t necessarily an indication of where you are in your career, but rather, a craft you practice in every stage of it.

Everyone, in every role, has an opportunity to lead. As I look at our technology organization, we live and breathe a teacher:learner philosophy. I’ve seen junior talent step up to teach seniors new tricks, and I’ve seen seniors create paths for others to follow. That’s leading, for each other.

If you’re looking to lead, ask yourself what you can do to make work easier and better for the people around you. You don’t need an elevated title to do so.

You don’t need permission to foster great culture

So many of you have reached out to thank me for what I’ve done to shape culture here at Trunk Club. Albeit flattered, culture isn’t any one person’s responsibility. It’s everybody’s.

Culture doesn’t stop at happy hours and dance parties. Culture is who we hire, and how we hire. Culture is how we pick our heads up from the daily grind to pause and celebrate our teammates. Culture is reminding each other that we’re all connected to something bigger than ourselves.

Teams like IT and TC Service embody rich culture—it’s infectious seeing their teams rally for each other. Individuals like Suzanne Ekblad, Jennie Chamberlin, and Drishay Menon embody rich culture—they rally everyone else around them to come together. All of these people do this without anyone asking them to do so.

If you’re looking to foster great culture, ask yourself what you’re doing to bring people together. Like leadership, you don’t need a special title to make it happen.

Beyond the lessons learned, I’m overwhelmed by all of the meaningful friendships I’ve made here. Creative spirits, unexpectedly phenomenal dancers, and relentlessly ambitious people that make for a workplace that never really felt like “work.” I’ve been to your weddings, celebrated your birthdays, and explored this city with you.

A special thanks to John Tucker. You asked me what I wanted to do with the next stage in my career, and I remember staring squarely back at you saying, “I want to lead.” Without skipping a beat you replied, “Let’s make it happen.” You’re a big part of the relationships I’ve earned this last year.

Lastly, to Fresh, a.k.a. our Design Team

It has been a tremendous honor and responsibility getting to work for you. We started as a misfit group of designers that happened to sit next to each other. Over the course of a year, we became a family. We worked together to elevate the role of design within Trunk Club. When no one was looking, we became a strategic business partner that other teams rely on. We’re better writers, better typographers, better researchers, better prototypers, better men, and better women today than when we started. We developed a strong allergy to workplace politics and held each other to never be mediocre.

This particular product design team is best in class. It took all seven of us to get it there. To Chris Curry, Danny Freed, Eric Troyer, Jimmy Yoon, Kelly Burke, Patty Ni, and a shout out to Maya Patterson, the growth of your careers will forever be a part of mine. Thanks for letting me be your biggest cheerleader.

To everyone I’ve had the privilege of working with, thank you. I’ll miss you all! Keep in touch: and of course, LinkedIn.

Let’s be pals on Instagram and Twitter. ✌️ for now. I’ll find you on the dance floor.

— Mig Reyes