Foreign Languages and Life at Crossover Graphics

Bonjour, ami. Hola, amiga. привет, друг (privet druk). As of late, we’ve been starting off our mornings speaking in languages we pretend to know. Kate, the marketing director, and Lindsey, the receptionist, chatter in the French they learned in elementary school and high school. But pretty soon, they’re asking each other to repeat words. Sarah, a graphic designer, cheerily throws in “¿Cómo estás?” (how are you?), the only Spanish she remembers. She is confused because the “Spanish” Lindsey and Kate are speaking seems quite unfamiliar. And then I might throw in some Russian just for the fun of it - “simpatichenee utka?” (“cute duck,” anyone?)

Over the last few weeks, life at Crossover Graphics has continued to get busier. With the establishment of Crossover’s new division, CGP Marketing & Advertising, and the addition of new employees from Crossover’s engagement with another adversing firm, work shows no signs of slowing down. However, we are very excited about the new challenges and opportunities ahead.

We’ve recently rearranged offices in order to fit everyone. A fun addition to our office space is a small conference room complete with a coffee maker and different flavors of latte syrup. Yum!

Last Friday, our office received a visit from Jaycee, Crossover’s mascot. The CEO’s 10-year-old daughter, Desiree Tillman, was in the office and wanted to try out the Jaycee costume. She had fun clomping around in the oversized costume, shaking people’s hands, and handing out pictures she had drawn for everyone.

Yes, life continues to be busy, but it are those little moments that make it all worthwhile. It’s hearing stories about the amazing accomplishments of ministries and businesses we work with; it’s laughing hysterically at a unintended pun that’s really not that funny; it’s praying together when others are hurting; it’s doing life together. And that, mon ami, es magnífico in whatever language you speak.

--Ashley High is a PR Intern at Crossover Graphics (www.crossovergraphics.com)

Races, New Executives, Trade Shows, & Babies

It was an exciting day yesterday - I beat Sarah (one of our graphic designers), to work! It may not sound like a big deal, but you have to understand that Sarah is unconditionally, always, and without fail, the first person to arrive at work. As I am mortally afraid of being late (have you never heard of the terrible, many-eyed Destroyer-of-Those-Who-Are-Late monster?), I am used to being the first person to arrive at everything. It has been quite a different experience for me to be relegated to “second-person-to-arrive” status.

Anyway, for about ten minutes, I relished in my first-person-in-the-building position. Then, Kate, the marketing director, arrived and off-handedly delivered some devastating news: Sarah was on vacation. Therefore, Sarah wasn’t even scheduled to be at work. Sigh. And I had been so happy. Sarah came home from vacation today and, like always, was already sitting at her desk when I arrived this morning.

And we’re glad that Sarah is back. It has been a busy couple of weeks at Crossover Graphics - a new executive, our first trade show, and the arrival of a seven-foot baby.

Shomari Tillman, our new Chief Information Officer, joined our team on Wednesday, July 8th. As he came into the office, we surprised him with donuts and streamers. To read more about Shomari and his journey from homelessness to an executive officer, click here. We are already seeing great changes as he takes the lead in organizing office procedures and policies.

We attended our first trade show, the Life Changers Conference, this past week. Lindsey, the receptionist, and Kate went early to set up our booth. Lindsey has previous experience with event preparation, but Kate was surprised at how long it took to set everything up. However, the booth looked great - we even bought bubbles to blow to attract the kids!

Probably the most exciting part of the week was the arrival of “my baby,” as Stephanie, the CEO, affectionately calls Jaycee, our mascot. Jaycee likes the color purple, eating tacos, and meeting with people and learning what their dreams are. He made his first appearance at the trade show this weekend. (Here's a picture of Jaycee, Kate, and Lindsey at the conference.)

Well, it’s about lunchtime, so I’ll close for today. And who knows? Perhaps by some magic, I’ll beat Sarah to work tomorrow.

--Ashley High is a PR Intern at Crossover Graphics (www.crossovergraphics.com)