Our Core Values

Our Core Values: Ideas We Live (and Work) By

LOVE IS LOVE.

Above all, we have a ZERO tolerance policy for hate of any kind. We believe LOVE is LOVE and all humans are beautiful. We believe in inclusion, diversity, representation, and equality for all.

1 The Sisterhood first. Always.

Our connection as a group is what binds us together. We believe that loving each other authentically and well gives us the chance to be our best selves. This means we're always honest with one another and we abide by a strict, "no drama" policy. You say what you mean and you say it directly to your teammate. This is the only way a group of women can work together without clique-iness or cattiness. We respect each other fully and love each other fiercely.

2 Relationships before sales.

Our connection with our venue, vendor, and wedding show clients is based on relationships. We have a no-commission salary structure specifically so that this can be the case. When our account managers don't have to worry about making a sale to make their mortgage, they can build trust with their clients, and that means long-term relationships.

3 Always do what's best for the couple.

We make decisions every day about how our website is built, how it's organized, and how it functions. With every decision, we ask "what's best for the couple?" We know that a website that works best for couples planning their wedding will work well for the venues, vendors, and fairs who are featured on that website.

4 Our clients' success is our success.

When our clients are booking weddings, whether through Here Comes The Guide or not, that's success—and that's all we care about. So not only do we root for that success, we offer real advice to help our clients achieve it, whether that means an investment with us or not.

5 Listen well. Make it better.

Sometimes all a co-worker or client or bride needs is to be heard. We always think it's a good idea to be in "listener mode", and we're committed to making things better where we can. We're also huge believers in Random Acts of Kindness.

6 Laugh often and wear yoga pants anytime you feel like it.

Being happy—and comfortable—makes us our best selves. So we share our funny memes and dance to gangsta rap together and wear yoga pants every damn day. Whatever makes us smile wins.

7 Don't meet goals, exceed them.

Our team is incredibly goal-driven. We know how to set goals and we know how to meet them. But what we really love to do is exceed them. Like, blow them away. THAT makes us smile.

8 Everything is figure-out-able.

Our team is teensy-tiny compared to our competitors and that's a good thing. It means we're always pushing ourselves to learn new things. Sometimes those things seem daunting, but we've found that everything can be figured out with smarts, teamwork, and a willingness to ask questions.

9 Work/life balance makes good business sense.

We believe our employees will be better at work if they spend plenty of time away from it. For that reason, we keep hours reasonable and flexible and we always, always encourage fresh air, sunshine, exercise, and showing up for your kids' school performances. Being a woman is about wearing a lot of hats and we've created a culture at Here Comes The Guide that allows us to wear all of them. Ok, that's a strange visual, but you get our meaning.

10 You don't need to be under one roof to be together.

We don't have a real "office". Weird, right? We're what's called a "fully distributed team", which is business jargon for "we have figured out a way not to pay crazy-expensive rent". The upside is that our employees work from all over the country and they can move without having to worry about finding another job. (That's what's enabled so many of us to work at HCTG for a decade or more). The downside? Not much of one, turns out. We've come up with lots of tools to make sure we still feel like a cohesive team, including our "virtual office" (which is super fun and even has a beach and a Starbucks!) and 2x/year girl-time retreats. The other upside? We often fold laundry while we talk business. See? That's that "lots of hats" thing we were talking about.

11 Be fearlessly authentic.

We believe in being our nerdy, Type-A selves—and we're proud of it! We also believe in full transparency and in radical candor, because we know that being honest with each other makes us stronger. And we believe vulnerability is a super power.

12 Work like you own the company…because you do.

We've created the company we've always wanted to see in the world. How did we do it? Through our collective personal investment: we each have ownership in the company. That's right. Here Comes The Guide is 100% employee-owned. That means we create the culture we want to work in, we create the goals we want to work for, and we're in charge of our own destiny. It's pretty sweet.