By: Shelby Carey & Laura Grayson

Let’s go back to the first week we were here. The six of us didn't know each other, we were all nervous, and one of our biggest fears was that we wouldn’t get along. Fast forward to week five. We get along fantastic, we’re constantly laughing, and we’re great friends both inside and outside of the office. We have become really close as a team — the closeness I imagine only professional sports teams dream of having. When you spend nearly every day, all day, with the same people, you are pretty much destined to be close. Over our time at HLK, we have come to figure out each other's trademark sayings. There isn’t a day that goes by where one of us doesn't say our respective saying, so let’s take a look at each team member's trademark phrase.

Well if it isn’t Queen Boujee herself (that’s what the team calls Shelby anyways). Not because she herself is boujee, but because it’s her favorite adjective. Shelby is our Account Manager or as we call her, “Account Momager.” Shelby is always on top of things and is constantly guiding us; however, that does not mean she doesn’t have a sassy side. Shelby will find a way to use “boujee” in any and all scenarios. The topic could be politics or how the Cold War affected America and Shelby will find a way to use “boujee” in the conversation. Oddly enough, it almost always fits perfectly with the conversation.

Irina, our Art Director, never fails to amaze us. Her mind is constantly running, and it’s nothing for her to come up with a killer campaign idea in a matter of minutes...and then another and another and another. Just when you think Irina has settled on an idea, another one is brought into play. The constant flow of ideas helps us make sure our campaigns are the best they can be.

Standing at a stout 6’6” our Media Strategist’s favorite thing to say is, “I’m hungry.” Jeff and the Jimmy John’s guy are on a first-name basis now and Bogart’s appreciates his business. We can’t blame him though because he is constantly working up an appetite scrolling through every research website known to man looking for the statistics to back up our campaign. (Also, it’s just pure luck and coincidence that the resemblance between Jeff and Linguini, from Ratatouille, is uncanny.)

“What is even happening?” We hear this from Laura more often than not. The desks are arranged in a zigged-zagged line where Laura’s desk is at the end. Because of this, Laura often can’t clearly hear what we are discussing, and once Laura gets in her zone she is fully immersed in her content manager duties. The combination of the two often leads Laura to look up and see the rest of the team engaging in some kind of shenanigans; therefore, we leave her no choice but to ask, “What is even happening?”

Our Strategist, Aaron, doesn't have an actual trademark phrase, rather he has various noises he makes depending on what he has found in his research. When he finds something extraordinary it’s more of an “eep”...when he thought he hit the motherload of research, but really didn’t, it's more of a “mehh” whine. Nonetheless, Aaron always pulls through and presents us with solid research that digs deeper than we could have ever imagined. Squeak away, Aaron!

Having a bad day? Feeling blue? Just need to see a friendly face? Well time to turn to Rachel, our Copywriter. Not a day goes by where Rachel doesn’t say “good morning” or “hello” to each and every one of her teammates. She always has a friendly smile to offer and if that isn’t enough to get you smiling, her writing for our campaigns will be sure to leave you with a smile.