At YETI, we recognize the meaningful milestone of employees who reach their 10-year anniversary with our Fresh Air Leave. This is a 5-week, paid time away to recharge, reflect, and reconnect. Every Fresh Air Leave story is different and personal -- whether it's spent traveling, spending time with loved ones, pursuing a goal or simply being present. We love sharing employee's stories like Stephanie Stafford who recently returned from her Fresh Air Leave! Welcome back, Stephanie!
If you know me, you know I love to work. I could go on and on about how much I seriously love my job, my team, and how I have always been excited to go into work every day. So when YETI first announced honoring employees with 10+ years tenure a Fresh Air Leave I was a little skeptical. What would I do? How would I spend my time? How would I overcome my serious FOMO! I always knew it would be a great opportunity for my amazing team, however, to showcase their talents. I've never doubted my confidence in them. It was more about how would I fill my days. I had a decent sized list of things I wanted to accomplish, and I can proudly say I pretty much was able to do them all. Somethings didn't happen and instead of being disappointed I gave myself some grace. I traveled, spent quality time with family and friends, tried new recipes, went on walks and watched my youngest child graduate high school, but mostly I was present. Being fully present is something I've always struggled with. My mind is usually in multiple places at once. For the past 5 weeks though I've been more singularly focused than ever and it felt great. It's by far my biggest takeaway and lesson. Tomorrow I go back after 38 (total) days of R&R. I'm excited to go back re-energized and ready for the back half of 2025. Thank you YETI for this amazing gift of time.