Working virtually, and not all together at our respective office locations, has our team members thinking about all of the elements that make H&M a great place to work. We wanted to give you a glimpse into some of our thoughts on our culture, our history, our offices and some funny memories. These thoughts, from some of our team members, are fun to read through as we anticipate when we can all be back together again:

Our Marion office has a lot of history within it!  In the past, we have shared some of the office space with other companies.  One company that I thought was interesting was a dance studio!! There are two levels above our main ground level.  Way back in the day, these two levels were apartments! It seems there were a total of four apartments, two on each level.  It is fun to walk through and see the old architecture, wallpaper, layout, and imagine who lived there and the lives they lived.  My favorite part about our Marion office is the location!  We are within downtown.  So we are walking distance to a lot of interesting places and great restaurants.  During the cities annual Popcorn festival, we are able to watch the parade right in front of our office.  At lunchtime, we walk around the festival to find something good to eat and meet back at the office to eat together and catch up with each other.- Julie Roe

Fun Facts: Our Marysville Office has Nerf gun wars! (rubber band wars) (rotten banana wars)…  essentially I like the playful atmosphere at our office.  I might die at a traditional “stuffy” accounting firm.- Joee Brandfass 

There is a Jason’s Deli right next door to the Columbus Office. Many of us in Columbus eat there often. It’s not uncommon for me to pick-up lunch from there at least once a week. I’m a creature of habit and order the same thing almost every time. When I walk in to pick up my order they know me by name and have my order in hand. I think this may be a sign that I eat too much Jason’s Deli.- Natalie Bruns

A funny memory from our old Marysville office is the walk down the alley between one of the town parking lots and our building.  Sometimes the alley had large puddles or fairly deep snow or slush to trudge through.  If you weren’t paying attention to the weather forecast, you were in for a potential cold and wet dress shoe experience.   We learned to reach out to our team member and ask for updates.  I still call her Meteorologist Mary because she knows the forecast. One of the greatest features of our Marysville office now is the parking lot right by the building! – Chandra Reau

We consume a lot of coffee at the Columbus office. Really, at all of our offices. We run on caffeine it seems. Another fun fact about our Columbus office is how long we have been a tenant at Grandview Yard. The development was very new when we moved in… just one building and a big gym was all there was. Now, it has taken off and continues to grow. It has been really fun to watch it grow! – Carmen George

We love to celebrate birthdays and special occasions with food! You can often find us in the kitchen in Marysville celebrating over cake, breakfast foods or even chips & dip. Any excuse to step away from our desks for 15 minutes to socialize with team members while eating food is appreciated. Of course right now, we still celebrate but do so at a safe distance.– Danielle Cottle

There is so much history in Marion, where we have an office located right downtown. We are looking forward to the opening this summer of the Warren G. Harding Presidential Library and Museum just a couple blocks from our Marion office.  The opening coincides with the 100^th anniversary of the Harding’s famous front porch campaign.   This is an exciting development for the Marion community as it is expected to eventually draw scores of thousands to the city annually. – Bradley Ridge

When you enter our Columbus office, a doorbell rings. The sound of a doorbell fills the whole office so we can be sure to greet our clients as soon as they arrive if someone if not sitting up front. However, if you are walking in the front door as an employee, everyone knows you need to yell or name or “it’s me”, to save everyone from getting up to answer the door.- Molly Pensyl

Like many other offices we like food. Many days we find ourselves pondering our lunch options early in the morning. We often like to have lunch delivered or picked up and brought back to the office. Pre-pandemic we would gather in the library or conference room and eat together. This offers a time for us to share stories and catch up on each other’s lives. We talk about kids, parents, current events, and anything else on our minds. We often find ourselves discussing the new happenings and openings of new business in downtown Marion and seeing who has the latest news on the topic. Sometimes our discussions involve some fact checking to verify certain information. Then it is back to work until the next time. Hopefully someday we will be able to return to these team lunches as we are all missing them right now. – Shannon Robinson

As I reflect on the recent pandemic and how it has changed all of our lives in such a dramatic short term period – some of the ways where we are all most impacted are as part of our daily work lives and routines.  These changes and even items that have been taken away from us -such as:  our office coffee is actually much better than my now daily home brew, I am actually tired of wearing jeans and sweat pants working from home and I look forward to putting on business casual clothes again, working at the office is MUCH quieter than at home with a couple of elementary children now being home schooled, I do in fact like going out to eat for lunch and I am frankly tired of my peanut butter and jelly or cold lunch meet sandwich, and lastly but most importantly I simply do not get see as often nor that have that face to face interaction conversation with our awesome clients and co-workers (yes, Team and Zoom meetings are good cross over option – but the face to face still better to me) who also are good friends and extended family members. Also, in the Marysville office we traditionally would have a quick Friday Team breakfast meeting to recap the week and plan for the next week (which have obviously not been happening during the State’s “stay in place” orders and “work from home” directives- Stephen Smith

Although we have our physical locations, due to the technology-driven nature of our firm, we have the ability to work anywhere and connect with our clients. Never has this been so evident as now. I think that everyone should also know internally we are a very collaborative firm where we will bounce ideas and questions off of each other to solve our clients issues. I think that Holbrook & Manter truly values the collaborative spirit.- Mark Rhea

We celebrate birthdays together! In Marysville, there is always one person who likes to make the birthday person special by playing a fun little prank on them. Being a new team member, I felt very welcomed right away by all from every office. This was very comforting and a change from previous places of employment. During busy season, the stress level doesn’t seem to get too high. We all have a work together attitude which is a great help. Taking time to once and awhile to laugh together or be silly helps relieve the stress too!- Emily Zuver

After doing some thinking I think the culture here at the Marysville office is something that I have come to really miss during these strange times. Whether it be the goofy antics with Joee or just some of the light-hearted moments together as a team. I think that the Marysville office really has it’s own flavor that makes it different from the other offices and that makes me look forward to getting everyone back in the office and being together again. You never realize how much a team and atmosphere means to you and supports you until you are not around it every day. Being one of the few who are still coming to the office it has given me a sense of appreciation for those around the office and the general buzz or energy that they provide.- Cody Seiter