I obtained the job supply of my desires — dwell, mid-call — from my now-manager, Hailley Griffis, on March twenty seventh, at precisely 3:06 PM ET.
We’d been in dialog for weeks a few Senior Model and Group Supervisor function at Buffer and I had an opportunity to expertise Collaboration Day with my future staff. Then, throughout a follow-up name, Hailley prolonged the supply — and moments later, an e mail landed in my inbox:
“We’d love to ask you to hitch the Buffer journey, Sabreen!”
My coronary heart thudded so loudly I couldn’t hear the rest. I learn it as soon as, then once more. I had a sense issues have been progressing effectively, however I by no means imagined Hailley would share the information dwell!
To offer you extra context: working at Buffer had been a dream of mine for years. As an immigrant who grew up in New Delhi, India, and constructed her profession throughout continents, I had admired Buffer with extensive eyes since my faculty days. It felt far-fetched on the time, till that second on Zoom!
Hailley’s e mail learn like a dream lastly catching up with actuality.
It included a high-level overview of all the things: healthcare protection, compensation, and the beneficiant advantages Buffer provides, together with a four-day workweek. However one element stood out instantly:
“As we’ve talked about throughout this interview course of, Buffer’s annual retreat shall be from April twenty seventh – Might 2nd, 2025, in Antalya, Türkiye. In the event you select to simply accept our supply, we’d like to have you ever on the retreat, as that is actually precious time for our absolutely distant staff.”
I keep in mind feeling overwhelmed with gratitude and a deep sense of belonging. I mentioned to myself:
“Sabreen, from the place you at the moment are, if that is how heat and welcoming it feels earlier than you’ve got even stepped into the home, think about how extremely wholesome and healthful it have to be to work at an organization that values you this a lot.”
(After all) I accepted the supply that very day, and joined Buffer as their Senior Model and Group Supervisor on April twenty third. Three days after I began my new function, I boarded a flight from the Boston Logan airport to Antalya, Türkiye, to attend our firm retreat and meet my new teammates!
Trying again, whereas my onboarding formally began in Boston, with methods, Slack, and considerate prep; my true sense of belonging started in Türkiye.
Within the reflections forward, I’ll share what it was like to hitch a completely distant staff like Buffer, and the way occurring the corporate retreat so early on helped form my journey in methods I hadn’t imagined.
Becoming a member of Buffer; from supply to takeoff
After I accepted the supply, the subsequent day I heard from the fantastic Jenna Meindertsma, Buffer’s Senior Individuals Operations Specialist. Her e mail was full of meticulous particulars: system setup, tooling, my new laptop computer, e mail setup, and payroll.
One unforgettable piece of knowledge was the considerate overview of all the things that wanted to occur earlier than the Türkiye retreat: e-visa directions, flight reserving choices; alongside an organized stack of journey help paperwork. Jenna was the silent hero behind the scenes, gently nudging, guiding, and ensuring I used to be absolutely arrange.
My first two days at Buffer
On my first day at Buffer, a well-organized onboarding doc was ready for me. It outlined all the things from studying supplies to assist me steep in Buffer’s DNA to what was anticipated of me over the primary 30, 60, and 90 days.
Every little thing was checklist-style: clear and actionable, and I couldn’t wait to dive in!
This was the primary time whereas onboarding to a brand new staff that I felt like I wasn’t inconveniencing anybody. Individuals have been pondering forward for me, guiding me by means of issues I didn’t even know to ask about. Very quickly, I used to be absolutely prepped for the journey forward.
Preparing for Türkiye
Inside my onboarding doc, there was a retreat-specific part with clearly outlined objectives.
Right here have been the three predominant areas of focus for me in Türkiye:
Join in individual with Darcy Peters, my Tradition Buddy.Meet the Product Managers, if attainable: Amanda Marochko, Brandon Inexperienced, Nathan Nannenga, and Diego Sanchez.Spend time with teammates concerned in an initiative I might be engaged on, folks like Simon Heaton, Åsa Nyström, Jenny Terry, and the PMs above, who have been actively creating content material.
I additionally obtained entry to a retreat-specific Notion web page that coated all the things from the agenda to packing ideas and lodge particulars. It gave me ample time to soak up all of it prematurely.
I used to be additionally assigned a Retreat Buddy, Mick Mahady!
Mick even added me on LinkedIn and reached out effectively earlier than my begin date, sharing a treasure trove of planning, packing, and preparation ideas. That early outreach made all the things really feel just a little lighter.
Earlier than I knew it, my first two days flew by. All of a sudden, it was time to fly to Türkiye!
By the point I zipped up my suitcase and headed to the Boston Logan airport, I felt one thing I didn’t anticipate as a brand new joiner: peace.
My journey to Antalya, Türkiye
April twenty sixth, Day 0 — my journey to Türkiye started. From Boston to Türkiye, it was a few 17-hour journey door to door. Boston to Istanbul: 9.5 hours. A stopover in Istanbul: 3.5 hours. Then simply over an hour to Antalya. With all of the transitions and safety checks, you want braveness, sizzling tea, and much too many granola bars.
At Logan airport in Boston, I bumped into my first Bufferoo, Brandon — a neighborhood teammate I’d briefly met nearly earlier than even getting employed. That overlap gave us time to talk, snigger, and floor the expertise in just a little additional connection earlier than departure. Thanks, Brandon!
Once I landed in Antalya and stepped out of the airport, I learn a Slack message from Jenna:
“Search for the Buffer signal whenever you arrive!”
I seemed up, noticed the signal, and ran towards it like a kindergartener. I had arrived!
As I settled into the van, we swung by one other terminal to select up Hamish Macpherson, a Senior Software program Engineer at Buffer. When Hamish hopped in, I immediately felt one other heat wave of belonging. My coronary heart began racing, and Hailley was texting me, counting down the minutes.
As we neared the lodge, I discovered myself mentally rehearsing each attainable greeting, and once we lastly arrived on the lodge, there she was: Hailley, operating towards me with a giant bear hug. It felt like I used to be dwelling. I had discovered my folks!
It was late, and after a number of rounds of hellos, I picked up my Buffer badge (tears in my eyes seeing my identify beside Buffer’s), dropped my baggage in a palace-like room, and headed downstairs for a lightweight dinner with Hailley and Hamish.
Regardless of the lengthy journey day, everybody was heat, open, and welcoming. The extent of care I used to be met with — particularly the real curiosity round how I used to be feeling — was deeply heartwarming.
The retreat kickoff: folks, goal, and a toast to $22M
April twenty seventh, Day 1 — was a slower day the place teammates from nearer international locations began arriving.
Forward of the retreat, we have been all given entry to an in depth retreat agenda on Notion — a full breakdown of what lay forward.
It was Day 4 for me at Buffer and I had a number of clear objectives to profit from this supercharged onboarding:
Meet everybody, and be the super-connector you might be. The character of my function requires constructing deeper 1:1 relationships, and I used to be genuinely curious and excited to start.Go over all of the guidelines gadgets from the onboarding doc, particularly the retreat-related ones. This included connecting with product managers, my function buddy, and my tradition buddy. I additionally wished to satisfy my instant teammates, together with Buffer’s Founder CEO, Joel Gascoigne.Contribute meaningfully in core staff classes and soak up as a lot context as attainable.Be a listener and observer. Tune into the types of working, cultural nuances, and present up as my full self in each session and team-building exercise.
With these objectives in thoughts, I set out with an open thoughts and an open coronary heart!
The welcome occasion
The primary huge second on our agenda was the staff welcome occasion, held the night after arrival. Till then, I had solely met Bufferoos in pairs or small teams. This might be the primary time a lot of the firm could be in the identical house.
Surprisingly, I felt no anxiousness. Simply pleasure to see new faces!
The welcome occasion gave us all an opportunity to drift round, mingle outdoors our typical circles, and for me — to introduce myself. I had met Joel briefly that morning for the primary time at brunch, however seeing him once more jogged my memory why I had joined Buffer within the first place.
It’s true: tradition begins from the highest. And whenever you meet Joel, you perceive precisely why Buffer’s DNA is the way in which it’s.
I keep in mind taking a quiet second to myself, simply to soak all of it in; how fortunate I felt to be surrounded by such a sort, sensible minds.
On the welcome occasion, Joel gave a toast that stayed with me, and it set the tone for all the things that adopted.
He spoke about how these retreats aren’t nearly journey or team-building, however about folks, and what it means to really feel at dwelling amongst a really particular group of people. With that, he raised his glass to Buffer being on the cusp of hitting $22 million in ARR — which we did only a few days later. We have been additionally approaching our all-time excessive in annual recurring income.
It was actually particular.
Dinner that night was cozy and intimate. It gave me the prospect to attach with smaller teams in much more significant methods.
Many people have been nonetheless fairly jet-lagged on the day of the welcome occasion, and the intentional slower tempo set for Day 1 by the Individuals staff was one other instance of Buffer’s people-first strategy: Planning the retreat in a method that gave everybody house to care for themselves.
Keynotes, context, and the primary time I felt a part of the work
April twenty eighth, Day 2 — and the primary day of classes. I used to be extremely excited to listen to from Joel in-depth for the primary time!
ReTreats: A Buffer custom
However earlier than we obtained began, I made certain to drop off my share of conventional Indian snacks at our ReTreat desk, the place every Bufferoo had contributed treats from their dwelling international locations. That desk felt like a cultural bridge; small, scrumptious tokens telling tales of the place we come from. I felt proud to be a part of that bridge, and proud to be placing India on the Buffer map!
Watching others share a chunk of themselves — by means of meals, tales, and mementos — was a small however highly effective window into who we’re. It added a lot depth to the sense of connection already forming within the room.
Joel’s keynote
The welcome keynote from Joel was a beneficiant window into Buffer’s historical past.
It was the proper level-set to grasp the roads Buffer has traveled to get right here. Joel walked us by means of what has set Buffer aside over time — values like defaulting to transparency, a beneficiant freemium mannequin, high-quality content material, and a dedication to constructing a pleasant product.
Whereas I used to be already conversant in most of Buffer’s journey, listening to Joel lay all of it out firsthand introduced it to life in a brand new method.
What stood out most was his candor across the state of Buffer, particularly the climb again from a multi-year decline. He shared that after our final peak, ARR dropped 20% over 4 years — hitting a low of $17,878,510 on January 7, 2024. And the way it took considerate technique and relentless execution to show issues round. That was an actual second of perspective for me.
That’s additionally when it hit me: 91% of the present staff joined earlier than our latest progress part that started in January 2024.
That quantity alone speaks volumes in regards to the tradition of belief and resilience that’s been constructed at Buffer. And for me to stroll into an organization after a chapter like that — and nonetheless really feel the elevate within the room — was all the things!
The keynote helped me see the corporate from each angle: metrics, mission, milestones. I spotted this isn’t only a product-led firm; it’s a people-powered one. All of us obtained a Buffer-coded swag bag on the finish of the session to seal the second, which was such a pleasant contact!
As if on cue, Joel’s welcome toast from the night time earlier than set the tone — that afternoon, we hit $22M in ARR. Smiles throughout, the timing felt like an indication!
Cross-functional staff classes, and discovering the rhythm in actual time
Joel’s keynote left me wanting to get nearer to the work.
The following day, April twenty ninth, Day 3 — I joined a sequence of team-wide and practical classes that helped convey Buffer’s top-line priorities into sharper focus.
These classes helped me do greater than observe; they helped me discover my footing and begin contributing early on with readability.
Private tales and a shift in perspective
A cherished custom at Buffer retreats that I used to be most interested in and excited to take part in on the retreat are private tales.
The way it works
Teammates are break up into small teams to share their private journeys. Every group is made up of three – 4 folks, deliberately combined throughout time zones, groups, seniority, and tenure.
The thought is to attach with folks you won’t have already interacted with, and to go deep, quick. Every group had two dinner classes throughout two nights, with two folks sharing per night time — although some teams adjusted the format based mostly on movement.
It’s isn’t meant to be performative or polished; simply Bufferoos sharing who they’re, the place they’ve been, and the way they’ve arrived at this second.
Right here’s the way it works:
Teammates take turns; every individual solutions the immediate: “Begin from childhood and inform us about your life, and what led you to who you might be immediately.”Chances are you’ll merely select to talk from the center! However in case you really feel extra comfy getting ready, you may jot down some components you’d like to the touch on so that you don’t overlook.Most people find yourself talking for wherever between half-hour to an hour.Frequent themes embrace: household life and siblings, college and hobbies, objectives and failures, formative experiences, relationships (and, if related, the way you met your present associate), earlier jobs, your expertise making use of at Buffer, and your time at Buffer up to now.
My story, and what I took from theirs
Every Bufferoo was inspired to lean into transparency throughout this expertise. However, in fact, it was absolutely as much as us what to share and what to go away out. The purpose was to open up so your teammates might get to know you extra deeply, and to hear with care as your group mates did the identical.
This was an enormous departure from firm cultures I had been a part of earlier than. I used to be being inspired to be weak at work? By the Individuals staff? Is that this a lure? How weak? Why?
I had all kinds of questions circling in my head!
When it got here time, I met my group (15): Åsa, Joe Birch and Diego. I hadn’t spent a lot time with this group, and I used to be intrigued — and a bit uncertain — in regards to the depth of sharing concerned.
On our first private story dinner night time, Åsa and Diego kicked issues off, and I used to be in absolute awe of their vulnerability. It fully shook me, and crammed me with admiration for the roads my teammates had traveled to get so far.
I used to be nonetheless shocked on the depth of what was shared, however going by means of the primary spherical gave me extra confidence to open up about my very own life when it was my flip the subsequent day — which, actually, took me some time to even start to encapsulate.
And there I used to be, opening up my life to new teammates; sharing issues I hadn’t shared with anybody in a very long time. The following day, I might inform we have been all extra leaned in, with heat and consideration, after all the things we’d unpacked over these two dinners. Listening to teammates replicate on all the things from childhood to self-work to reinvention was merely wonderful.
A worth, lived
Buffer’s core worth of Default to Transparency actually shined by means of these story classes. I spotted: it is a firm that really follows by means of on its values. They’re actual, dwelling, respiration, and embodied. So uncommon, and so fascinating.
It turned clear: at Buffer, openness is not penalized, it is welcomed; an ideal antidote to years of company programming. I might inform my nervous system was shifting, and I used to be past relieved.
Group Vast Assist Time, an sudden favourite
On April twenty ninth, after two full days of team-wide and core staff classes, I obtained to be a part of one thing referred to as Group-Vast Assist Time.
We broke into small roundtable teams to deal with incoming buyer help tickets collectively.
I used to be amazed at how shut I felt to our clients throughout that hour and a half; fingers on the keyboard, working by means of help tickets, understanding the ache factors and blockers our finish customers have been experiencing.
I ended up having the chance to talk with 10 clients, which was such a enjoyable expertise since I’m often chatting with members of our group in a special context. And I even made it onto our leaderboard!
Apparently, towards the tip, I additionally witnessed a significant help incident play out in actual time — and it was nothing in need of inspiring to see all the Advocacy staff spring into motion.
Small wins and joyful moments, even whereas onboarding
Some roundtables continued the subsequent day, and by this time, I used to be fortunate to have met with everybody on my onboarding guidelines!
Someplace in between, it was additionally pretty to seize breakfast with the content material staff, the place Hailley gifted every of us a good looking white pocket book. I maintain it near my coronary heart, and it’s turn into the centerpiece of all my planning — together with the chicken-scratch notes for this very weblog!
One factor I used to be particularly eager to do throughout the retreat was to execute early — even whereas onboarding — to indicate initiative and earn belief.
I wasn’t certain if the chance would come up, however throughout one of many content material staff huddles, we determined to seize video content material round our teammates and their favourite Buffer options. A couple of hours later, I had many fascinating items of content material locked in — sufficient to offer us a content material runway for months. Hurrah!
It was a small however significant win for my beginner spirit and was warmly appreciated by the staff. Keep tuned, this content material is on its method!
Ending the retreat with gratitude, and a full coronary heart
We concluded all of the working classes with an unimaginable staff dinner and a late-night karaoke session, the place I sang my coronary heart out and obtained to know my teammates on a fair deeper degree.
The power throughout me felt like a strong omen for what lay forward!
On our ultimate day, Might 1st, Buffer generously gave us a free morning and afternoon, or an overflow day for anybody with staff actions or classes nonetheless deliberate. On the finish of the day, we gathered for a staff photograph and, better of all, the Gratitude Session.
For the gratitude session, all of us sat in a giant circle, held house for each other, and took turns (voluntarily) sharing our gratitude.
This was a really emotional a part of the retreat for me, and I used to be nervous to step up and converse. However after my retreat buddy Mick shared his gratitude for my presence and participation, I felt deeply seen and, and it gave me the encouragement I wanted to talk from the center.
I took to the mic and shared what this expertise had opened up for me; naming the individuals who held house, confirmed me the ropes, and invited me in. I particularly thanked Joel for being such a selfless chief and for welcoming me into Buffer with open arms. Joel’s response to the session — quiet however visibly moved — was a strong reminder that tradition begins on the high, however it lives within the on a regular basis.
A narrative nonetheless unfolding, and what’s subsequent
I come from a tradition the place candy issues mark significant beginnings. In India, you eat a chunk of dessert earlier than an examination, an necessary assembly, beginning a brand new job, or a marriage — a mild want for issues to go effectively.
Earlier than heading to the Türkiye retreat, I had packed a small reward for my teammates. An emblem of thank-you for the staff that employed me, onboarded me, and made me really feel at dwelling from day one.
So I introduced alongside a small, handmade crocheted bee to share with my teammates. A tender reminder of nectar, and the power I hoped to convey into this new chapter. Sufficiently small to take a seat on a shelf, however significant sufficient to say:
Thanks for being a part of my Buffer journey!
This retreat gave me greater than orientation. It gave me context, connection, and momentum.
I return to my function not simply with concepts, however with perspective — a deeper sense of what issues, how we transfer, and how much firm I now get to assist form.
I’m nonetheless settling in, however I already really feel deeply rooted.
I’ll be documenting extra of that journey in my 60- and 90-day reflections. However for now, in case you’re interested in life at Buffer, or the creator-led model we’re constructing from the within out — I’d love to talk! Yow will discover me on LinkedIn.
