Welcome to the Agniverse! We’re so glad you’re here. Our team is excited to share more with our community about the ideas and practices that come together to shape this cherished space, which encompasses the multitude of people, beliefs, memories, experiences, stories, feelings, tastes, and foods that come together to make up Agni.
One of the first things that we prioritized when building our team at Agni was identifying, defining, and putting words to our values. We aspired to a place where our values would:
- Offer meaningful direction when making tough decisions and examining priorities
- Provide shared language to positively reinforce certain behaviors (values-aligned) and offer clear boundaries to discourage certain behaviors
- Reflect how we wanted to interact with each other, our external partners, and our community
- Be remembered and referenced in day-to-day life!
When I (Anna, Head of People Ops) joined the team, I started looking around for inspiration to capture these values. Our cofounders had already prepared some “guiding principles'' for how they worked together and hoped the team would work together in an onboarding presentation they’d made. I quickly realized that these were actually a living and breathing first draft of our values.
We created a resource with more on how we came up with this draft (and how you can too!).
With a little additional editing, the three of us came to a list that guides us, and that we to turn to at any time (and return to often!) to ground, unite, and drive us.
Kindness. To everyone, everywhere, at all times without exception including oneself.
We honor and care for the bodies, minds, and spirits of ourselves, our teammates, and our customers. We value professional intimacy, which means that we engage with one another beyond transactional work, but also respect personal boundaries. We believe that what’s best for you and what’s best for Agni are the same thing. We are clear and transparent with one another and ourselves about strengths, areas for growth, and in times of transition of role, responsibilities, and function.
How we live it:
- We take time to care for ourselves and celebrate when our colleagues do the same so that we can all do our best work.
- We engage in one another’s lives and beliefs with curiosity.
- We make products with nutrients that are nourishing for the body and tastes that are nourishing for the soul.
- We communicate transparently, honestly, and clearly when we perceive areas of potential growth for teammates.
- We are honest with ourselves and Agni about what Agni needs and the best person to serve that need.
- We approach conversations (especially difficult ones) with empathy and kindness.
What it looks and feels like when this value is not upheld:
- Glorifying long hours or skipping meals and personal engagements to power through more work.
- Pressuring others to work beyond their limits.
- Judging the interests, actions, or decisions of others.
- Forgoing honest conversations about Agni’s needs and personal contributions to Agni.
- Using words to undermine others and their work.
- Marking foods or other philosophies on food as bad or wrong.
Energy. Intentionality about the energy we bring to every thought, task, and interaction.
We believe that the energy that we put out into the world has an impact. Energy is at the beginning, middle, and end of the “thought-destiny” transformation. (Thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become character, character becomes destiny.) We honor our word to one another and ourselves so that we may build Agni and our worlds with dependability and trust.
How we live it:
- We consult our heads and hearts before we act, examining the origins of our decisions and behaviors and the true desired outcomes.
- We pause and reflect about the energy we are bringing to a space as well as what we need in a given moment and shift course as needed.
What it looks and feels like when this value is not upheld:
- Powering through a conversation or experience without recognizing your feelings.
- Acting without care for how your actions may impact Agni and others.
Trust. Choosing it over fear.
Agni is only as strong as the community we build and the relationships between those within it. Trust is a core tenet of strong relationships. Fear, alternatively, sows individualism and apathy. Therefore, Agni depends on trust.
How we live it:
- We assume the best intentions in others -- whether it’s our teammates, our customers, or our partners.
- We hold ourselves accountable, and we expect the same from others.
- We think of managers as coaches and direct reports as players.
- We invite our customers to trust food and their bodies.
What it looks and feels like when this value is not upheld:
- Blaming others and shirking accountability.
- Sowing guilt or resentment instead of talking through conflicts.
Balance. Between how, what, and when.
This value is our rule of thumb and is all encompassing. How we get things done is just as important as what we get done and when we get it done. The way that we conduct ourselves has an impact on the work that we produce. This is a great value to refer back to when making decisions or defining a path forward.
How we live it:
- We practice empathy, respect, and integrity in everything we do. Work successes in the absence of these qualities are failures.
- We accept the possibility that we may need to delay original deadlines in order to complete projects in accordance with our values.
- We take great care to ensure that our products are environmentally sustainable, healing, and good all the way through, even if that means they are slower to come to market.
- When we ask something of a teammate, we prioritize the ask for them (ie. this is non-urgent or this is mission critical and needs to be completed by the end of week).
- We follow through on our promises and commitments.
- We take ownership and responsibility if circumstances change and proactively communicate our new commitments.
- We know and own our capabilities.
What it looks and feels like when this value is not upheld:
- Sacrificing our values in service of getting something done faster.
- Moving forward with an action that doesn’t feel right.
- Delaying and becoming “stuck” in the how when timeliness is the most important factor.
- Repeated forgetfulness.
- Committing to things we cannot or do not intend to complete.
- Creating work for others that Agni needs from us.
Levity. Openness to the potential levity in any situation.
We embrace lightness and joy whenever we can.
How we live it:
- We infuse humor into our work where appropriate and welcome opportunities to be playful.
- We find joy in food and share that joy with others.
What it looks and feels like when this value is not upheld:
- Taking ourselves too seriously.
Having these values at our fingertips has deepened our team’s connection to and understanding of the Agniverse in so many ways. So far, they’ve helped us identify meaningful goals, give and receive feedback in service of growth, address conflicts, celebrate wins, and give meaning to evening the teensiest tasks.
We’ll share ways in which these values shape our policies and practices in future blog posts. For starters, you can check out our piece about how we choose trust over fear in our management philosophy and pay structure; we’re excited to see how they’ll continue to carry us in the direction of our dreams as Agni grows and scales.
We hope that you enjoy connecting with our values and to hear from you! Do any of these resonate on your own team(s), big, small, personal, or professional? Do you have any questions about creating or applying your company values? Let us know at people@agniforall.com or on Instagram at @agniforall.
