As a women-owned and queer-owned agency, Fresh Eyes Digital (FED) has worked since our founding to be an inclusive, compassionate, and respectful place to work. As FED’s director of operations, so much of my work is “behind the scenes,” but here are just a few ways that we practice what we preach when it comes to building a sustainable, ethical, and inclusive workplace and an ethical business.
A People-First Workplace with Real Benefits
We intentionally keep our team small and our client roster tight, which means we are able to offer comprehensive benefits to our team including a 4-day work week, unlimited PTO, paid parental leave, a robust health insurance package, 401K matching, a monthly internet stipend, professional development opportunities, and much more (even a lunch stipend during the chaos of EOY!). Additionally, we prioritize work-life balance for our team.
Spending with Purpose: Ethical Vendor Choices
We are careful in our decisions about where we spend our budget, always viewing it through our DEI lens. As an entirely remote, digital firm, we have no capital overhead. No buildings to maintain, or utilities to pay. We are able to pivot our budget to take time to make ethical decisions in which vendors we use, how we support our staff, and ways we can offer out-of-the-box benefits. While we are far from perfect, where we can make choices to support small local and/or minority-owned businesses, we do.
For example, we recently switched from one of the largest international banks in the world to a small regional bank. By banking small, we’re not only getting better, more personalized service, but we’re actually saving money.
While we don’t have a ton of printing needs – hello, digital company! – when we do, we use the only minority-owned union shop in the state of Minnesota. The quality and price point is by far the best we’ve worked with. PLUS, they recently implemented a 15% discount for all non-profit organizations!
Our Commitment
Fresh Eyes Digital will never waiver or stand down from our commitment to make sure all of our business decisions are made through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion, regardless of what is happening in this country. We know that by making decisions with these principles in mind, we are making the best choices for our company, and, most importantly, our employees and clients. Our small decisions can have a huge impact – and these days, that’s something we’re holding onto as a bright spot in some really tough times. If you’re looking for a digital agency that puts people first, let’s connect. Ethical business isn’t just our policy—it’s who we are.
