Apple Culture

Part of the reason I’ve gone from blogging twice a day to twice a month is because I’m taking on more and more hours at Apple. So many of my experiences and reflections are happening now within a retail context at Apple. Due to company policy, which is a pretty understandable one, there is a lot that is kept internal and which I don’t have the liberty to blog about.

I’ve had so many positive experiences being a part-time specialist. And I hesitate to even write about the positive things that I’ve experienced because I don’t want to step on any toes by blogging about work. All that to say, I went in as a part-time specialist being pretty skeptical of the retail world. Granted I love Apple computers and have had both the hardware and software enrich and make my life easier for years. But I wrongly assumed that just because it was a retail company that it would be similar to my other prior retail experiences. And my hang-ups with commercialism in general.

I was wrong. Apple has been amazing. And the culture you become a part of when you use an Apple computer is only that much stronger when you become a part of the growing family who work for the company.

So I wanted to just share one positive thing that happened in our store over the weekend. We have what’s called 1-to-1 Training. It’s basically a personal trainer for your computer. It’s an hour a week for 52 weeks for $99. It’s the best deal in the store if you ask me. I wish I would have known about it before I started working there. I would have gotten my Final Cut training that way.

About a month ago, one of our 1-to-1 Members (a lady that was coming in for training) passed away. I never got to meet her nor knew her. But yesterday morning, I walked into the store about 30 minutes before we opened and I saw all of the people who did “know her”. There were about 30-40 friends, family, and Apple employees who were gathered over donughts and coffee celebrating her life. She was an oil painter and in the back of the store a half dozen her paintings were framed and sitting on our tables. All the backgrounds on every store computer represented this lady’s diverse artwork and paintings.

While I didn’t know her since I just started working there, it was just a beautiful picture to see so many people reflecting on and celebrating the legacy of someone who came in as a “customer” and became a part of our “family”.

All that to say . . . I love working at Apple. It’s a great place. And that’s why I don’t blog as much anymore.