Happily Ever After

This has been an exciting year for many of our fellow Murad colleagues and friends — with a barrage of life events from babies and birthdays to engagements and travels. There is always something worth celebrating in the halls of Murad — and luckily celebrating just so happens to be one of our strong points.

Just recently I was lucky enough to attend the nuptials of our very own Casey Cochran, print and direct mail manager extraordinaire, in none other than the beautiful and exotic Antigua, Guatemala. For those of you unfamiliar with the treasures of this little Central American gem may ask ‘Why Guatemala?’ Hailing from the wilds of Sacramento, CA and the great plains of Nebraska respectively, I’d even put money on the fact that the bride and groom don’t know anyone in a two country radius. On one of their adventures they made their way to Guatemala and fell in love with this little town and felt that what better place to share their love with family and friends. Random? Perhaps. Romantic? Totally.

Upon arrival, we spent the first night dining amongst the ruins of a sixteenth century monastery. The vine covered walls illuminated by the candlelight and flashes of lightening were equally haunting and endearing, we quickly discovered this little town had much more to offer behind its concealing walls of concrete (judging, book, cover — applicable here). Under the ‘more to offer’ category we must include the Irish pub we frequented and the array good restaurants that kept us full and happy throughout our stay, and the pièce de resistance — Cerro de la Cruz, a huge cross perched in the hills overlooking the city below and framed by a dormant(?) volcano was nothing short of awe inspiring.

The grand finale of this amazing adventure concluded with none other than the ceremony (and consequent pandemonium). In a torrent of rain, thunder and lightening the bride and groom said ‘I do’ amongst the quaint group of family and friends. A fire-blessing performed by the local Shaman invoked not only oohs and aahs from the crowd but some serious claps of thunder at all the high points leaving us all to believe this guy really knew his stuff.

The following events of the night were nothing short of spectacular. The musically inclined group celebrated around the piano (and on the dance floor) with the bride serenading the groom with ‘Son of a Preacher Man’ and a wedding guest leading a rendition of ‘Piano Man’. The night concluded with a bang — or, dare a I say ‘splash’— as the bride jumped into a near by pool (wedding dress and all) followed by her loyal wedding party and friends. This high class pool party was one of the best dressed I’ve ever seen.

With just enough time to dry off we caught our flight back to US and reality. As our Murad family grows we welcome them with open arms. Congratulations to our friend and coworker Casey — to many more adventures!

Happy (un)Birthday

I think the Mad Hatter was really on to something with the whole ‘un-birthday thing’—why should celebrating you be restricted to just ONE day a year? Germany gets it, they’ve dedicated no less than one month to celebrating their favorite beverage and look how well that caught on—people are chicken dancing their way across the globe as we speak. And Disney, the inventors of the original un-birthday, celebrated their 50th anniversary for no less than 2 and a half years.

When I was little, I followed this mantra religiously until I realized that celebrating everyday like a real birthday can become a logistical nightmare—hello. . .you aren’t the only one privy to having an un-birthday or two and purchasing gifts can put a major strain on a five-year-old budget when your income is dependent on how many teeth you happen to have lost that month. So, I focused my efforts on that one special day and dedicated myself to planning the coolest birthday parties around—Murder Mystery party (you’ll never guess who dunnit), pajama party (I heart feet pajamas!) and a Double Dare party so good my friends were washing slime out of their hair for weeks.

As my next un-un-birthday rapidly approaches (how’s that for a double negative?) I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to grown up (although I still refuse to consider myself a ‘grown up’ even at the ripe old age of 27). I look back on how much things have changed—and how they haven’t. While I’m still a sucker for a good theme party and pointy hats, it’s easy to get caught up in the rush of the day to day and forget to approach each day as a day worthy of celebration—a day worthy of eating cake. Luckily I survived the quarter life crisis that snuck up on me last year in the form of the undying urgency to repaint my bathroom no less than three times just because I needed a change—and came to the realization that you just can’t sweat the small stuff. Groundbreaking, I know.

I am lucky to say that I’ve spent most of my ‘grown up’ years working for a company who operates under this exact premise—‘Why have a bad day when you can have a good day?’—which proves to be one of the reasons we continue to grow and emerge from our teen years unscathed. 2009 marks the year of our 20th anniversary, and in honor of this momentous occasion, we are going old school and partying like its 1989—sans aqua-net hair spray and New Kids on the Block (reunion tour not withstanding)—with events and promotions galore. Giving us many reasons to celebrate—and eat cake.

Summer Daze

As you can probably deduce from my previous posts, I am, admittedly, solar powered. Springing out of bed when the sun creeps through the blinds cascading strips of light across the walls serving as my wake up call, I find I have to exude much too much energy to simply lift my head a centimeter off the pillow when the thick layer of gloom blankets the sky. Undoubtedly I’m not the only one afflicted with this condition, as I’ve noticed more and more people seem to be walking with a spring in their step and stealing away from the office whenever they can to catch a glimpse of the summer sun.

In the midst of a hectic summer of events and engagements, I just returned from a much needed getaway and the perfect summer vacation in the tropical oasis known simply as. . . .Ohio. While Ohio may not see the tourist traffic of Miami Beach or even our own stretch of sand down the street, this quaint little lake nestled between the green hills served as the perfect refuge to relax and recharge while passing the days on the back of a boat. Without a soul in sight, the glassy water and still quiet of early mornings on the lake felt like taking a deep breath, without ever drawing air. Barefoot and bathing suit clad, the days were filled with wakeboarding, hiking and jumping into the water once you’d realized you’d successfully air dried since the last douse. As a native Californian, obsessing over trying to identify what tiny little insect happens to be nibbling on my ankles at any given moment just added to the feeling of living in a real life version of a ‘Country Time Lemonade’ commercial.

Each day, more employees return from their summer time retreats with sun kissed smiles, recharged and ready to work. Short of entertaining the idea of a career change to the teaching profession to maximize summer fun, vacation is a good time to re-center yourself, and serve as a reminder to take a couple moments out of each day to bring yourself back to that tropical oasis, if only for a moment.

Murad Boot Camp

I love flip flops. . . and the inability to operate within the confines of a regular shoe lead me to believe my little tootsies have a strong affinity for them as well.  Lucky for them I live in a climate and a culture that makes flip flopping not only fashionable but a way of life—especially when the warmer weather hits the southland. While you may scoff at our thin blood and our total aversion to any temperature below 60 degrees, summer is still something to get excited about.  As the weather outside becomes more and more inviting, you won’t have to wait long to catch an employee at the corporate office gazing out the window in the direction of the beach, so close, but oh yet so far away. . . As logic would follow, where there is a beach, there is a bathing suit, and where there is a bathing suit there is, well . . . let’s just say some things that shouldn’t necessarily be there.  Unfortunately, the good intentions of a New Year’s resolution were drowned in a bowl of cheese dip at a Super Bowl party—but that is either here nor there. Either way, its crunch time. . . and push up time, and basically do whatever you can do to make your beach debut in anything short of a mumu time.

Maybe it’s this string of logic that prompted some forward-thinking employees to sign up for a boot camp hosted at headquarters.  Not only did the rigorous program test your physical strength and endurance, the nutrition and diet element proved to be a worthy challenge even for the most dedicated. But, as they say, there is strength in numbers—and thank goodness for that. Turning down a scrumptious piece of birthday cake and opting for an amorphous blob of sugar-free lime Jell-O is not something you can do without a support system (that just so happens to double as the Gestapo when it comes to smuggling in treats on the ‘unacceptable’ list. Which reminds me, this blog wouldn’t be complete without anything short of an ‘ode’ dedicated to the kid-friendly gelatin substance that was our one saving grace through the two-week period, but I’ll spare you all just this once).

As with any program, this one is still a work in progress, but not only is everyone in a healthier frame of mind, the halls are now filled with well-conditioned bodies ready to hit the beach. Plus, the success of the downsizing is prevalent in the floor plan as well, as we’re successfully fitting more desks into smaller places too.

It’s been a hard day’s night

I have recently learned a valuable lesson—and I’m not ashamed to say it took me awhile. Years, in fact. Yes, years of countless late-night college cram sessions complete with copious amounts of diet coke, two-day-old pizza that, in my sleep-deprived mind, was still a candidate for dinner that night (and possibly breakfast the next morning), and a roommate with an N*Sync fetish and no headphones.

This treacherous journey was all worth it to come up with this one pearl of wisdom: Great accomplishments do not happen overnight. My mom told me that once, but I scoffed at the notion claiming my ‘best work’ always happens between 2 and 4 in the morning. Little did I know how right she was. But what she didn’t tell me, and what I have recently learned, is that they don’t happen overnight, they happen over many nights in a string of events that can only be likened to a movie that went way longer than it needed to be, aka Titanic (only this ending doesn’t leave precious Leo on the ocean floor). But there is something to say about the sense of accomplishment after months of labor  when the finish line is in sight—sometimes elusive and blurry, but there just the same.

A couple of weeks ago, members of our web marketing and IT teams joined forces and set up shop with a laptop in one hand and a Redbull in the other with one common goal: to launch the new and improved Murad.com. Our heroes, resembling nocturnal creatures coming alive when the sun goes down, worked tirelessly through the night to ensure a seamless transition from old to new and only headed home for a nap around the same time coworkers arrived to begin their day, and sometimes not even then. . .By Thursday morning we were roaming the halls in Wednesday’s clothes so entrenched in our own ‘redesign’ world we joked that people could walk right through us and we wouldn’t even feel it. . . (read: ‘I see dead people. . .’)

Fueled by caffeine and 80s music, we sprinted toward to finish line while ‘Eye of the Tiger’ roared in the background. Our senses honed, eyes glued to the screen with fingers cascading across the keyboard (sometimes two) with the prowess of a jungle cat, we prepared for what felt like the ball dropping in Times Square (minus the 20 degree weather and the kissing, of course). We cheered as the stylish new home page graced our screens. The moment was fleeting as we immediately switched into ‘post-go-live phase’—but we were live.

A huge ‘thank you’ to our designers, marketers and IT team for your tireless efforts over the past nine months. An even larger ‘thank you’ is extended to our families, friends and significant others for their incredible patience throughout this experience, especially during the zombie-like aftermath that ensued in ‘post-go-live-get-my-life-back-phase.’

“All the leaves are brown and the sky is grey……
California Dreaming”

I love Fall. Maybe it’s the cooler weather ushered in by the abundance of crimson and gold colored leaves whisking through the yard, evenings creeping their way into the afternoon and the slow retreat from cooler temperatures to warmer comforts indoors. . . .ooh, did I already mention we’re located in LA? Ok, you caught me. LA, where we sport the occasional scarf and boots to indicate that technically the season has changed, in true Southern California fashion, our rendition is a bit unique with Fall simply representing the bridge between sunny and warm weather and, well, slightly less hours of sunny and warm weather. The only visible signs of fall are reflected in the changes in fashions and seeing the crimson and gold running a blitz on 4th and 10 at the Coliseum—rather than in the foliage.

Either way, the highlight of the fall season is the evening of the 31st where little ghouls and goblins roam the neighborhoods in search of tasty treats, or fun-loving grown-ups taking the opportunity to put their alter-ego on display at the office (you always thought the girl in the cube across from you had diva tendencies. . .) Haunting the halls of Murad corporate this year were a variety of skillfully crafted ensembles ranging from rock stars and cowgirls to our very own Intensive Wrinkle Reducer—who took top honors in our annual costume contest. The annual office soirée was a success complete with costume fashion show, pumpkin carving contest and stomach ache (ok, I speak for myself here after gobbling up more candy than one should consume in a month). While we all recover from the festivities, its already time to look forward to what random cast of characters will make an appearance next year. I only hope that after a year enough time has passed for the office cleaning crew to forgive me for the trail of scales (sequins) left in the aftermath of my Nemo costume swimming around the office.

Hiking with Dr. Murad

Friday afternoons. Ahh. Even better—sunny SUMMER Friday afternoons. Just this simple string of words is enough to invoke happy thoughts of relaxation and laughter. Maybe you drifted off for a split second to dream about relaxing by the beach in the summer sun or enjoying some quality time with friends. But maybe, just maybe you found yourself back in the office posted up behind your desk manipulating a spreadsheet the size of an elephant. Ok, while the latter is probably not your first choice, for many of us it most definitely is the more probable scenario. That’s why Dr. Murad has given all Murad employees the opportunity to join him in an exercise that doesn’t involve numbers or documents. And it is just that…exercise.

One of the core Murad philosophies is that to be truly happy and healthy, you need to take care of yourself emotionally as well as physically by pursuing activities you enjoy. And with that, Dr. Murad, an experienced hiker, has invited all Murad employees to join him in one of his passions. Resembling more of a grown up version of your grade school field trip than a board meeting, each Friday a group of Murad employees would gather to enjoy the company of one another while pushing themselves both physically and mentally—especially when chasing Dr. Murad, an avid hiker, around the hilltops of the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains.

The three hour excursions ranged from moderate paced groups to more intense workouts canvassing the rocky terrain—all with Doctor leading the way. Standing beside your coworkers while looking out over the Pacific, you can’t help but feel that you have really gotten ‘away’ without having to get away at all. The feelings of accomplishment and rejuvenation were enough to carry you through the weekend feeling refreshed…because, of course, that spreadsheet will always be there on Monday.

Gray is the New Black

This season’s hot new look? Classic white paired with the sophistication of a chic gray silhouette—oh yeah, and thousands of tiny gray dots. Wait, what? Inevitably, the runways of Paris and Milan won’t be taking fashion cues from our blog, but we thought we’d celebrate our first birthday in style with a sleek new look. The fashionably modern Skin Deep Blog is packed with everything Murad, including events at our headquarters in LA, skincare tips from the pros and the latest trends and innovations in skincare to keep you looking your best.

Because beautiful skin is always in.

20% + 80% = 100% Beautiful

Did you know that topical skincare products only address 20% of your skincare needs? 80% of taking care of your skin is ensuring that you get proper nutrients on the inside. Even the healthiest eater doesn’t always consume the necessary nutrients. Medications and processed foods rob our bodies of vitamins and minerals. In truth, most of us are in need of nutritional supplements. For better or for worse, your skin is the mirror of your internal health. Given this inside/outside correlation vitamin and mineral supplements are a natural partner in your skincare regimen to achieve the healthiest, youngest-looking skin!

Paddles of Fury

We take our work here very seriously. We make great products, we take care of ourselves and we enjoy the work that we do. What we also enjoy while at work, is ping pong. Hard-hitting, Forrest Gump-style ping pong.

Since the introduction of the table to the corporate office last year we’ve enjoyed some great games, had some good laughs and shared great moments with teammates from all departments. Casual games would take place at lunch hour and after work and involve players from every corner of the office and all levels of experience. It was all fun and games until someone from a department I will not disclose (IT) showed up with a customized paddle in their back pocket. . .then things got serious. With this new level of competitive spirit came the inception of the first annual Murad Tournament, complete with brackets, judges, trash talking, uniforms and the occasional welt–a casualty of a game taken to the next level.

The tournament commenced with great excitement and with each game drawing a crowd–some crowds more vocal than others, usually dependent on how well (or one can argue ‘clean’) the game was being played. While directing an overhead slam in the direction of your boss may not get you a promotion, it will get you to the next round of the tournament. After rounds of vigorous (and sometimes humorous) competition, a new camaraderie was formed between teammates who rarely got the chance to work together.

As we begin the new year the teams have been chosen and the brackets selected as we embark upon the second annual Murad Tournament which I am sure will prove to be no less eventful than the last.