I have been a Career Consultant with Calgary Alternative Employment Services for over a year and can honestly attest to never having worked with a better team before! We are eleven eclectic advocates, with wildly differentiating opinions about many things, all sharing a fierce passion for extending ourselves to others and making a difference in our communities.  Oh and a serious love of eating!

Whether it is a planned event, an impromptu outing together, or even a serious meeting, there are always talks of “What are we going to eat?” Aside from it being kind of essential to living and necessary for keeping that ‘hanger’ out of the workplace, it is about more than just filling our bellies.  It is about self-care; this concept that anyone in a “helping profession” has likely become familiar with and is probably getting quite good at practicing. Upon consulting the experts via Google, I found much support for the benefits of eating together, showing that it; reduces stress, improves brain functioning, aids in conflict resolution, improves work performances, etc.  All findings simply solidified that we’re doing the food thing right at CAES!

The Mac and Cheese Mondays, Taco Tuesdays, or the office potlucks are about pressing PAUSE! They’re about taking a moment away from our stressors, collaborating and sometimes humorously working through each others’ battles, inspiring one another with tales of the paths we’ve walked, networking with local businesses, celebrating our hard-earned “wins”, growing closer and more efficient as a team and generally taking care of ourselves so that we can better extend ourselves to others.

So, get out there and eat with your team, it’ll make you a better one!