A Wheelie Festive & Reflective Week

by Amanda Guy, Designer

Hey Everyone! It's Friday once again, and that means it's time for another blog post about A Wheelie __Fill in the blank__Week.  And this week is the last full week of the year for all of us here at Wheelie. Things are pretty festive around here with the holidays just around the corner. This also means that there might not be another blog update from me until after the new year hits. So let's take some time and reflect, shall we?

2015 has been full of so many amazing things. It's actually pretty difficult for me to collect all of my thoughts on the last year in one blog post, so I'll do my best to keep things organized for you.

I began 2015 celebrating with friends at Kalispell Brewing Company, my old workplace. Many beers and cheers were had and all of a sudden 2014 was gone in a flash of suds. Fast forward to mid-January, and I started working with Wheelie Creative Inc. and their non-profits. I immediately loved working here. I found myself looking forward to driving up to Whitefish and couldn't wait to hang out at the office with the rest of the Wheelie crew. Who knew that a couple weeks into the job, I'd realize that this was my dream job and have been loving life at work ever since. 

Working in Whitefish has not only been fun for me on a professional level, but a personal level as well. I've met so many new, fun, and  interesting people during my time at the company. Some of these people are professional acquaintances as well, but are totally down to shred on the mountain with us in the off hours of the day. We do really love our chairlift meetings, and we look forward to more of these in 2016.

It's completely crazy to me that it's already the week before Christmas and in two weeks we'll be welcoming 2016 into our lives! But this is great, because we have big plans for the new year and all that is to come. We'll keep crushing it on designs and future projects on a day-to-day basis while making sure we take time to play. The team that plays together works well together. Couldn't be more accurate for this office of creatives.​

With the year coming to a close I'm going to run off a list of what all has happened at Wheelie this year.

• I began working here!
• Lisa hired Dan to be our Operations Manager after Lauren moved to Seattle. (Hi, Lauren!)
• Shortly after, Stella, our Media Coordinator popped into our lives.
• We developed several websites and gave old websites a facelift.
• We designed bike jerseys and signage.
• We ran six figure campaigns that were wildly successful for our clients.
• We ate more pizza than we did in college.
• We made bazillions of logos and branding packages..
• We bought comically large desks and carried them up two flights of stairs.
• We started creating branding videos for some of our favorite locals businesses.
• Oh yes, and we began the long process of making maps for mountain biking trails in Big Sky.
• We said goodbye to our old friend, Scout, and welcomed Eddy into the office.
• We completed the Spencer signs project for the Whitefish Trails system and then 
• Mountain biked until our legs nearly fell off.
• We shredded the mountain with clients and friends.
• We even met new girlbros and invited them to join our fun-loving, mountain posse.
• AND....Began our search for a new, larger office.

Just so many things! In just one year.

One thing that I didn't mention in my list above, but I'd like to acknowledge a little more thoroughly now, is the opening of Spotted Bear Spirits.

This week Lauren Oscilowski officially opened the doors to her new distillery in Whitefish. We all attended the soft opening on Wednesday night and enjoyed her delicious vodka in some amazing fresh cocktail creations. This project has been ongoing for most of 2015, and we could not be more proud of Lauren and all the work she has accomplished.  I have to say, it's pretty cool to walk into a tasting room and see all the projects I personally worked on hanging on the walls and sitting on the shelves.

This is especially true for a girl who had four jobs and full time school this time last year. Life is just so good now, and I am extremely thankful for Wheelie Creative, Lisa Slagle and everyone that I have met along the way.

On that note, Happy Holidays and a very Merry New Year to each and every one of you.
We cannot wait to work with you in 2016.
​
-Manda