The title alliteration is a stretch…but seriously, our part-time remote employee, Sarah, worked with us in the office for a week! In this edition of our employee newsletter, Sarah reflects on all the things she enjoyed about being back as an ‘in-person’ employee at Columbia Asset Management —
The last time I physically worked in the CAM office was 2008, and it’s where I started my career 17 years ago. I worked about 3 years in Ann Arbor before moving with my husband to Colorado for graduate school, where we fell in love with Boulder and decided to put down roots. Since then, I’ve worked virtually and help with quarterly reports, payroll, website and reporting software maintenance, and various other projects as needed.
When planning our summer vacation this year, my family and I decided to take a road trip to go camping in Michigan. When I proposed to Brian that I work in the office while we were in Ann Arbor (we dropped my daughter at Camp Algonquin and my son attended camp at Wide World of Sports in town) he and the rest of the team responded with open arms!
Walking in to CAM on Monday morning I was greeted as though no time had passed since I left 14 years ago. I had a desk ready for me so it was an easy switch from virtual to in-person. As I settled into work I noticed some things had changed (new office, trains going by, etc..) and other things had not changed at all (plenty of drink and snack choices, silly side comments and us all collaborating in one big room, which really seems to help us serve our clients as well as possible as we all know what’s going on with various clients throughout the day).
Being a virtual employee has its perks: the flexibility of my position was incredibly helpful for me as I balanced being a full-time mom to my school-aged children AND part-time CAM employee throughout the pandemic. Still, being back in Ann Arbor has reminded me how much I miss the camaraderie of my coworkers and the variety of clients coming by the office. I’ve also enjoyed having lunch from local restaurants this week. We had a few of my favorites including Seva, Zingerman’s Deli, and Monahan’s Fish Market. One of the things I miss the most about Ann Arbor is the food – there is so much variety and so many tasty options to choose from!
I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with the CAM team in person again – both those that were there when I moved to Colorado and those that have come aboard since. As my workday on Friday came to an end, I said my in-person goodbyes and started the trek back to my home office. Of course I enjoy the 300+ days of sunshine and the mountains in Colorado, but I also feel lucky to still call CAM and Ann Arbor home!
Bear Market 2022