Sunning in Cancun- Meadowbrooke Gourds Team Building Vacation of 2025

As many of you may know, every few years, we close our small business and go on a company vacation together along with our spouses, significant others and sometimes even our kids. We have been doing this since we started the business in 1995 with our first trip to Santa Barbara, CA. Over the years, we have been to places in Texas, Florida, Colorado, New York, Tennessee, Antigua, Punta Cana, and this year, we made it to Cancun, Mexico. 

We normally like to go somewhere warm to escape from the cold, snow and wind. Cancun did not disappoint.  The water was crystal clear and so blue. The kids enjoyed playing in the sand and swimming in the pool.  We also were able to see very interesting animals as we walked around. We stayed at an Iberostar and the resort, although huge and sometimes exhausting to walk, was very clean and the landscaping was beautiful. Sometimes when we go on these trips, we stay in one huge house or a few smaller houses (yes, we live together for a week) but at this resort we each had our own room. 

We use this time to get to know each other outside of our normal work environment.  We learn who the true person is that is working beside us each day and get to know their family (if they come along) and what they like to do outside of work.  We met a few mornings during the week and enjoyed a special company dinner. Other times, we could be found sitting on the beach or by the pool, meeting up after dinner for drinks and entertainment or enjoying some of the excursions offered at the resort. 

Before we left for our trip, we asked everyone to write down what they would like to accomplish personally in 1 year and 5 years. When we met on Monday morning, we went around and asked everyone to share what those goals were. This is incredibly insightful when you hear what people really want to happen in their personal lives and helps to understand where their passions lie. It was intriguing to find out that many in the company have some very similar goals.  

At our meeting on Thursday, we broke up into teams and did a scavenger hunt. We were paired with others that we do not normally work with on a day-to-day basis or are married to. I asked Sandy, one of the wives that went along, if she would be willing to make up the scavenger hunt for us and she did a fabulous job. There were three teams, and each team had ten things to find with an hour time limit. The first team back was the winner. I was part of Team Iguana (yes, we won!) along with Brandon, Joe, and Candace. There was also Team Peacock and Team Koi. To complete the scavenger hunt we needed to stick together and work as a team to complete a variety of tasks ranging from meeting new people and finding out where they are from, to taking photos of specific key features of the resort with our team. 

I personally look forward to going on these trips. I have been able to go to places and see beautiful scenery, historical sights and share these experiences with my children when they were younger. I also am extremely lucky to be able to spend time with co-workers that I genuinely like to be with.  Morale when we get back from trips is up and everyone is always in a better mindset to start the new year.  I’ve heard “the greatest asset of a company is its people” (Jorge Paul Leeann) and I’d say we have some great assets here at Meadowbrooke Gourds.  

Dori