Over the last few decades, hustle culture has become incredibly normalized (and often praised or rewarded). This is especially the case in the fast-paced world of digital marketing, and the life of an agency.

Late nights feel normal, 24/7 availability becomes expected, and real productive rest takes a backseat to the constant demands of balancing marketing, client accounts, agency responsibilities and more.

An Agency Redefining Workplace Wellness

When we think of “traditional workplace wellness,” we think of corporate gym discounts, health screenings, or fruit in the breakroom. These programs are usually designed to improve employee productivity, reduce healthcare costs, and encourage “healthy habits,” but they often lack depth, personalization, or real long-term impact.

At Radiant, we take pride in doing things differently – and we’re here to redefine workplace wellness.

For us, workplace wellness isn’t just a benefit or a buzzword. It’s part of who we are, how we collaborate, and why we believe happy, healthy teams create better outcomes.

Wellness is truly woven into every part of our work culture – and this is how we do it (take notes!)

Prioritizing Rest, Recharge & Wellness

Creating a culture that prioritizes rest is key to workplace wellness.

When the brain is at rest, the Default Mode Network activates, enabling “diffuse mode thinking” that helps form new connections and spark creative insights. Taking breaks not only clears mental clutter but also quiets the inner critic, making space for more innovative ideas.

Here are a few ways we’re putting this into action at Radiant:

Radiant Happy Health Days:

Every quarter, our team gets a dedicated day off to do whatever fills their cup and sparks their joy. This can be anything from taking a long weekend trip with the family, to simply taking some much-needed ‘rot’ time on the couch with Netflix and snacks. We close the agency for the day – no emails, no tasks, no worries.

Summer Fridays:

Everyone can log off a few hours early on Friday afternoons to enjoy the summer months. Calls are rescheduled, inboxes are closed down, and team members are signed off to soak up the sun!

“As someone who travels often, Summer Fridays have sparked so much joy in my life weekly! I’m able to log off a few hours early on Friday to get a head start on my weekend travels, without any feelings of work-related anxiousness, or the need to be ‘available’.” -Lauren, Radiant’s Content Strategist

Wellness Challenges:

Movement, mental well-being, sleep, screen time reduction, de-cluttering…you name it, we’ve likely experimented with it! These wellness challenges are a fun way to create a little friendly competition and prioritize the things we know matter for true wellness. (For example, people who work out regularly report 40% fewer poor mental health days each month compared to those who don’t.)

A few times a year, Tess organizes team-wide wellness challenges like step count competitions or sleep tracking goals. Yes, there are fun prizes (like an Oura Ring!) but more than that, these challenges bring us together, spark healthy habits, and remind us how powerful it can be to support each other (even if the competition gets a little intense sometimes.)

“It’s amazing to see how everyone rallies around these,” shared Tess, “encouraging each other and celebrating wins together. It makes wellness feel fun, inclusive, and something we want to do, not have to.”

We’ve found that getting intentional about rest, recharging and daily wellness help reduce stress and fuel our creativity, allowing us to work with a clear mind and a joyful heart.

Investing in Professional Growth: Kaizen, Coffee & Virtual Lunch & Learns

We’ve seen that lifelong learning is linked to improved well-being, self-confidence, and a greater sense of purpose. In fact, 80% of adult learners reported improvements in self-esteem, which is why professional and personal growth are such important aspects of wellness.

Here’s what professional growth looks like at Radiant:

Continuing Education Stipends

We offer annual education stipends for conferences, courses, and anything outside of our day-to-day work that we’re interested in pursuing. These stipends can be used for any learning opportunity that will help our team develop new skills to apply to our daily activities.

To further integrate learnings and ‘spread the knowledge’, we encourage team members to complete a quick event takeaway doc and share their favorite insights in our weekly standups.

Kaizen & Coffee

Each month, we host Kaizen & Coffee sessions! These are an opportunity for teammates to share knowledge over coffee (and yes, there’s always a coffee gift card involved!).

We all hop on a video call with coffee in hand and have the opportunity to learn from one another – whether it’s from their own ‘zone of genius’, a podcast, or professional or personal experiences. These sessions are a relaxed and casual way to keep us curious and help us grow together as a team.

Lunch & Learns

A few times a year, we host Radiant Lunch & Learn sessions, where we’ll gather virtually to eat lunch together (yes, there’s more gift cards involved) while listening to a guest speaker present on a new and intriguing topic.

Got books? We do!

Reading for as little as six minutes daily can lower stress by up to 60‑68%, making it even more effective than music, tea, or walks. Which is why our Radiant Marketing Book Club has been going strong for over two years! Throughout the year, we explore topics like deep work, perfecting our morning routines, and leadership.

A mind at rest stays at rest, so by focusing on learning and keeping everyone curious, we’re able to ensure our team is energized and full of creativity during the work week.

Building Connection & Community: Virtual & In-Person Retreats

Taking a human-centric approach is a core value at Radiant – which also fosters true workplace wellness. Through our work and in our work, we foster genuine human connection, prioritizing the well-being and individual needs of all. We put a lot of heart into creating opportunities to bring our remote team together, even when we’re miles apart.

Here are some ways we’re staying connected:

Creative Collaborations

Throughout the year, we host a mix of creative virtual and in-person events for the team. We’ve done everything from cooking classes and tarot card readings to trivia games and brainstorming sessions.

The goal of these events is simple: to provide a relaxed environment to laugh, share, and remember we’re all human behind our screens and outside of our client work.

In-Person Retreats

Despite being a remote team that’s located all around the world (we’re talking everywhere from Italy and Alabama to Japan and North Dakota), we still make the time and effort to plan in-person retreats in Radiant’s home base: Arizona.

This provides the rare opportunity to truly unplug from work and get to strengthen our friendships outside of the office through fun team-bonding activities like happy hours, trips to the bowling alley, and dinners together. Sometimes our teammates even get the chance to bring their spouses and children, giving us a glimpse into each other’s lives and strengthening our understanding of each other, which is a crucial part of feeling connected.

Even as a small agency, we choose to invest time and money in these in-person get-togethers because they spark fresh creativity and deepen the bond and trust that remote teams need. It’s the kind of intentional culture-building that even big corporations sometimes skip, but at Radiant, we know it makes a true difference.

These intentional moments aren’t just about perks, prizes, or trips. They help us build real connections, spark new ideas, and keep us all feeling like one united team no matter where in the world we’re working from.

Reducing Stress by Design: Focus Blocks & Weekly Workload Wellness Check-ins

While we love our wellness challenges and team trips, we also recognize that the day-to-day workflow is a huge make-or-break part of workplace wellness. A workload and workflow that feels overwhelming and unorganized can easily lead to burnout.

Here’s how we create focus and balance:

Focus Blocks

At Radiant, we counteract that in a variety of ways. We started by adding focus blocks to our own calendars to protect quiet work time and limit distractions. This also allows us to focus and achieve deep work while also providing breaks from being “available.”

“Being able to turn my Google chat on “Do Not Disturb” (with a friendly note attached, of course!) when entering a focus block instantly gives me a calming feeling that helps me begin to focus more deeply. It’s also a great feeling being able to trust your teammates to handle shared client work while in the midst of your own focus time.” -Lauren, Radiant’s Content Strategist

Weekly Workload Wellness-Check-Ins

Weekly workload wellness check-ins with Natalie, our Project Coordinator, also helps keep workloads balanced so no one feels stretched too thin.

Weekly Team Standups & the “Small” Things

Our Monday morning’s at Radiant also always start with our Weekly Team Standups.

By sharing wins and gratitude at the start of these calls we are able to kick things off with a dopamine boost and some expansive energy.

We also celebrate the team through small touches like gifting platforms for birthdays, special events and appreciation days. Additionally, through surveys and frequent 1:1 checkins, we strive to create a continuous positive feedback loop. These small touches all come together to create a bigger impact and a “people-first” culture.

“One thing we adapted this year was expanding our team feedback,” Tess shared, “With two annual surveys we can focus on Work and Productivity (inspired by our book club pick ‘Deep Work’) in one, Work-Life Balance and Culture in the other. This helps us hear what the team needs, and keeps surveys short so everyone participates. Most importantly, we show that feedback matters by identifying opportunities and taking clear and specific steps to improve.”

Workplace Wellness & Radiant: Creating Ripple Effects of Wellness

At Radiant, workplace wellness isn’t just something we list on our website or a trend we participate in for social media (but, yes, you will see us share the fun stuff!). It’s part of our everyday culture, workflows and agency vision, from team rest days and book clubs to careful workload monitoring and team retreats.

The result? A healthier team that shows up ready to provide the best possible client outcomes, with a joyful and expansive mindset.

We even try to pass our culture of wellness to our clients, whether it’s being mindful of their time zones, sharing small thank-yous in the form of gifts and thoughtful cards, or simply making every email and interaction feel a bit more human.

For us, redefining workplace wellness isn’t about a list of perks on a job description. It’s about building a culture where people feel supported to do work they’re proud of, together.

Key Takeaways: Workplace Wellness at Radiant Marketing

• Workplace wellness is a core value at Radiant, not just a perk or trend. It’s woven into our team culture, daily workflow, and leadership philosophy.
• We prioritize intentional rest through quarterly Happy Health Days and Summer Fridays that encourage team members to fully unplug.
• Ongoing learning fuels wellness and creativity. We offer education stipends, Kaizen & Coffee sessions, and a long-running Book Club to support growth and curiosity.
• Remote connection matters. Our team bonds through creative virtual events, in-person retreats, and team-wide wellness challenges throughout the year.
• Workload wellness is part of the formula. Focus blocks, wellness check-ins, and team satisfaction surveys help us prevent burnout and promote balance.
• A people-first culture leads to better outcomes. Our commitment to human-centric wellness keeps our team engaged, energized, and delivering meaningful results for our clients.