Rancho Mesa's media communications & client services team Alyssa Burley, Lauren Stumpf, and Megan Lockhart have the honor of recording the first episode in the new StudioOne™ on opening day of Rancho Mesa's new Mission Valley office. The three reflect on the excitement of the office's grand reveal, and highlight new features of Rancho Mesa’s new home.

Show Notes: Subscribe to Rancho Mesa's Newsletter.

Director/Host: Alyssa Burley

Guest: Megan Lockhart, Lauren Stumpf

Producer/Editor: Megan Lockhart⁠

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

© Copyright 2023. Rancho Mesa Insurance Services, Inc. All rights reserved.

Transcript

[Introduction Music]

Alyssa Burley: Hi! This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa’s Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today’s top Rancho Mesa news brought to you by our safety and risk management network, StudioOne™. Welcome back, everyone. My guests are Lauren Stumpf, Media Communications and Client Services Specialist and Megan Lockhart, Media Communications and Client Services Coordinator with Rancho Mesa. Today, we have the honor of recording our first episode in the new StudioOne™ inside our new Mission Valley office. Lauren, Megan, welcome to the show.

Lauren Stumpf: Thanks! It’s awesome to finally be here in the new studio.

Megan Lockhart: Yeah, thanks for having us.

AB: Yeah of course. So, today is Opening Day – and it’s the first day in our new office. First, we want to thank Kim Vasquez and Lori Stone for figuring out all the logistics for the move and implementing all those final details that have really made the office move-in ready for our team. And, a huge thanks to Char Garcia for taking on the interior design of the new office and managing the project with the contractor. That was a big job that she took on. She did an amazing job bringing a rustic industrial style throughout the office. And the brick in the lobby and the hall, and the herringbone flooring and all the exposed ceilings really make quite an impression when you walk in. So, Lauren and Megan, what was it like this morning when everyone gathered outside our suite and you were waiting to see the new office?

LS: It was really exciting. Definitely everyone was just eager to get in and see their new home. And it was kind of cool, like, they had the front blocked off and we felt like we were waiting for a play to start or like the opening curtains to have the final, like, stage revealed. So, yeah, it was really cool and just really exciting.

ML: Yeah, there was a lot of suspense-

LS: A lot of suspense, yeah.

ML: -and I think that you guys did a good job of that. Because, I think it was much better than just walking into the new office and being able to have the big reveal.

AB: All of that was by design.

ML: Yes, absolutely. And everyone was just waiting in the hallway in anticipation.

AB: Yeah, we thought long and hard about how we wanted to present it because we thought if individuals just walked in one by one as they normally, you know, come into the office, it wouldn't have had that like “wow” factor. So, I think that having everybody kind of wait outside, and the music, and the balloons, and all that stuff kind of added to that.

ML: Absolutely.

AB: So, I actually filmed when the doors opened this morning and I walked around filming people getting their reactions, and that was kind of cool. And some of the comments that I heard were things like, “wow, just wow”. And, you know, “this is so cool” and things like that. And, you know, we were really hoping for those reactions, obviously. But, what were some of the reactions that you heard from other people?

LS: I think it was definitely better than what anyone could have even imagined or expected. Like, I knew it was going to be good because Char, you know, has just done an amazing job with everything in the past. But, it was just really beautiful and like everything and all the details and the kitchens and you could just tell like everything was very well thought out. And it's gorgeous. It’s beautiful.

ML: Yeah, it was designed with love.

LS: Yeah.

ML: It definitely has a home feel.

LS: It's comforting in a way.

ML: It is, it’s comforting

LS: Like, peaceful here.

ML: It's like, you enjoy getting your work done in an environment that's- that has that nice, comforting feel. But, I also feel like you guys not showing us really much up until then, some progress, but not any final reveals, not any final decorations or even examples of the themes. You know, it was, it made it even more of a surprise and-

LS: It was worth the wait.

ML: Exactly.

LS: Because I was eager. I was hoping you would show us photos beforehand, but I'm glad that it was more of a surprise and that we waited.

AB: Yeah.

LS: Made it special.

AB: That's awesome. And I know, like, we showed, like, the floor plan, I think. But, it's kind of hard to see because- or visualize it- because it's just a bunch of cubicles and it's just a bunch of lines on a piece of paper. But when you actually walk in, it has a totally different feel. What about the size of the office?

LS: It’s very spacious. Yeah, it was a lot more like because, you know, I thought the hallways were going to be kind of skinny and narrow and like, not as much room as it actually is, but it's really nice having those rooms open up through the hallways. It just makes it feel so much more open and spacious. And it's nice having the natural light come in here, too.

AB: There's so much natural light.

ML: It feels very airy, feels very roomy.

AB: Well, that's good. And you know what’s interesting is you mentioned that it was it feels homey. And I think that the Santee office had that feel, too. But these are very different styles. But, you can kind of see that it just it feels like Rancho Mesa, even though it's a very different style than what we had in the in the old office.

ML: I feel like we made it even more of ours with the cabinets that are blue. And yeah, all the different little details.

AB: Yeah. Because I mean, the kitchen is completely different than what was here before. And so everything, all the finishes were picked on purpose for Rancho Mesa.

LS: That’s awesome.

AB: Yeah. So, now that you have taken a tour of the campus, what amenities are you looking forward to using the most? Like, there's a gym, there's lawn games, outdoor tables and chairs, the food market in the kitchen, you know, the fully adjustable stand up desks, you know. We- Lauren and I haven’t had those before.

LS: That’s right. And yeah, I think that'll help with my back, too.

AB: Yeah? Okay. Good, good. So. So, out of all those and the restaurants and the libraries just across the parking lot and all the shops, what are you guys looking forward to using the most?

LS: Yeah, so we actually already explored quite a bit today. For lunch, we walked over with a group to check out the gym and it's really nice. I think we'll definitely utilize that. We were talking about going before work and there's showers and bathrooms, so I could see like using that weekly, the lawn is gorgeous too. Like, that's so beautiful to have that outdoor space and there's tons of benches and by the water fountain too is really pretty and just kind of like a little peaceful place to go during break or lunch. And, I saw the corn-hole and what was it, a ping pong table?

AB: Yeah.

ML: Yes, ping pong tables.

LS: That would be fun. We could start, like, a league.

AB: That would be fun and I think that that grass area is perfect for Fiesta Friday.

LS: Yeah, that would be beautiful there.

LS: Yeah.

AB: Yeah, it would be nice. You know, that's a big difference between, you know, we used to have it in the parking lot, which was great, and we had the shade and with the solar panels as the cover. But, it would be really nice to do it on grass.

LS: Yeah, that would be really nice.

ML: And the water fountain around there, it’s really peaceful out there.

LS: Yeah, and it's nice having stores so close to us, too. On our break, we walked to Starbucks and got that and then on our lunch break, we went to Lowe's right next door and bought plans for our cubicles and we've just already been utilizing what's around us.

AB: Oh, that's exciting. I know, I went to Lowe's this morning before I came in too, so. So, we're in the new StudioOne™.  Is it what you expected?

LS: It’s cooler.

ML: Yeah, I think it's more than we expected. It was hard to know what to expect because, I mean, I think regardless, we knew it was going to be great and an improvement. Bigger, more spacious. But also, I think there was a ton of surprises, so, much more than I expected in the best way. A lot of the cubicles, or most of the cubicles, have windows or they're very close to windows.

I think that's great.

AB: Yeah, that was really important to Dave. You know, when he first looked at the floor plan, the whole outside was offices, you know, along the outside walls. And, he really wanted to give everybody more light. And so, taking out some of those exterior offices really allowed everybody to enjoy the floor to ceiling windows. And I think that that makes a huge difference to let in a lot of light. I mean, I think I was telling you earlier that when- even when the lights were off during the day, I mean, the rooms were plenty bright, you know, just with the sunlight coming through the windows.

ML: Right, yeah.

AB: I think that that made a huge difference, taking out some of those walls and giving people a view of the outside and even some of the interior offices have floor to ceiling glass. And so, even if you're sitting in an interior office that may not have its own window, you can still see outside. I was sitting in Jim Malone's office and you know, his office in the Santee location had no windows and he couldn't see outside at all. But here, he's got a great view and he can see a lot of outside just from his desk. So, that's pretty.

ML: That’s awesome.

AB: So, if you had to describe the new office to somebody who hasn't seen it, what would you say?

ML: Yeah, I just feel like it's a step up from just a normal office. It feels like it's really intentional, all of the things that they've added and how we really made it our own by completely redoing this floor. Because you can just have, you know, a room with offices and cubicles. But, I think we really made it our own.

LS: And everything is such good quality, too. Like it doesn't look like cheap furniture, like it was just thrown together, like, it looks very nice.

AB: And yeah, there was a lot of time spent picking out all of the finishes and what the furniture was going to look like and like, the sofa in the entryway. I mean, that is amazing.

LS: It’s beautiful.

ML: Yeah.

AB: I mean, I just want to go over there and actually I want to take a nap right now.

LS: Yeah, exactly.

AB: But yeah, all of those little touches- and what I think is funny is that you'll notice that the table and the chairs that we're sitting in today are very similar to what we had in our old studio, but they're all brand new. It's just a little bit larger.

LS: Yeah.

AB: Now we can seat four people comfortably at the table and so it's kind of like I think throughout the office you'll see hints of the old Rancho Mesa office, but just updated.

ML: Yeah, agreed.

AB: And yeah, well, this has been a really exciting day. It's been a long couple of days for a few of us getting everything ready. But you know, we're really excited and we're so glad that everybody gets to see the office now. So any last words before we…?

LS: Excited that this is our new place.

ML: Yes, our new home.

LS: Yeah.

AB: All right. So, we have a couple of comments from other team members from earlier this morning. Thank you so much for joining me in our new StudioOne™.

ML: Thank you for having us.

LS: Thanks, Alyssa.

ML: Thanks.

“It's a walk. It's perfect. It's so perfect.”

AB: What do you think, Jack?

Jack Marrs: I think it's pretty incredible. I don't really know what to say.

AB: What do you think, Greg?

Greg Garcia: Oh, my goodness. This is so nice. Wow, this is amazing. Great job.

AB: What do you think, Casey?

Casey Craig: Loving it. This is amazing.

AB: Well, Daniel, what do you think?

Daniel Frazee: Let's see. Awesome x10.

[Outro Music]

AB: Yeah, it's a good way to put it.

DF: It's awesome! It's unreal.

AB: Yeah.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning in to our latest episode produced by StudioOne™. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.