There is no doubt, however, that the pandemic has put an immense strain on all of us, especially on our mental and physical well-being. It seems we are always on, akin to our machines.

In transitioning from an office working space to working virtually, it is evident that our employees have fewer opportunities to disconnect from work and decompress. While our results and attendant growth highlight that we are producing more, we are all working longer and sometimes harder in this new virtual digital norm.

This is why we created Wellness Week. It was born out of an intention to create time and space to hopefully stop all work, so we can collectively relax, refresh, and refocus.

When we were all in the office, we could engage in spontaneous downtime. There were impromptu breaks for naps (secret photos have been stored and used for later laughs), water cooler conversations, a joke that temporarily created uproar, collective lunch with conversations extending to the origins of Dryopithecus Africanus and the existence of fire breathing dragons. Even changing the bottle on the water cooler was an activity. The newest staff member regardless of rank was accorded the privilege, with open commentary on spillage. There was also formal downtime for team building and unwinding activities like dominoes, board and video games, boot camp, Monday night football, treks up Mountain Spring, after staff meeting food and drinks and on and on.

This National Heroes Holiday is an opportune moment to thank our employees with a gift all 'heroes' deserve, rest. While we get weekends off (almost), and vacation time, we wanted to be deliberate about completely shutting down (or getting as close to that state as possible). It is going to be a tremendous challenge for some of us, given our new habits, yet the intention remains relevant.

Symptai's culture has always been centred around taking care of the people who take care of our business. Since the pandemic, we have expanded our way of expressing this culture by onboarding Tea House Therapy (with the excellent Sonia Wynter and team) to support our mental health. Employees are encouraged to engage in at least one therapy session annually, and for those needing more support, as many sessions as the Therapist deems necessary. The only cost to them is their time and willingness to create the outcomes they desire for themselves.

It was from this culture that paternity leave, extended maternity leave, flexi-time, unlimited vacation, denominating our salaries in US dollars and so many ideas were born to serve us. It is with this culture that we are embracing Diversity and Inclusion, and consciously growing our complement of women (42% in a technology company), ensuring we have equal pay and deliberately creating space to hear even the lowest-pitched voice. It's real work creating our own sub-culture in a society with a markedly different super-culture.

So gone is the lunchtime Book Club, and Veggie Tuesdays (I hear a section of the choir saying Amen to that one). Goodbye Boot Camp, no soda day, and pay to eat junk food. We are focused instead on creating new norms to access the satisfaction those activities gave us and we are grateful that we had them for the time we did.

Finally, we are grateful to our many clients who have allowed us to shift timelines to afford us this opportunity and are happy to welcome those of you joining one or more of our summits. We hope to come back recharged to serve you.

And personally, from me, there are not enough words to thank the 56 (and growing) of you and our newest creation, Kingston Tech. Enjoy your time off.

A letter from your CEO, to the Extraordinary People who create Exceptional Results!