What makes MegaFood a great place to work?
| Abigail McShinsky | October 2, 2018 |
How one small twist of fate landed me in the best job ever.
Looking back, I can now say I am grateful to whomever it was that broke my window on that frigid January morning, long ago. I am grateful that, on the way to the repair shop that managed to squeeze me in, I drove past a health food store I didn’t know existed. I am grateful that this initially sour experience allowed me to first notice the eye-catching little yellow label of a whole food supplement brand on the shelves of that store. Wouldn’t you know it, this brand was local- headquartered in my home-state of New Hampshire, of all places!
I guess some things really do happen for a reason.
When I first started working at MegaFood, I was madly in love with the products. Over the 7+ years I’ve spent here, I’ve fallen even more in love with the company as a whole. There’s a special kind of beauty in having your personal values align with that of your workplace. I don’t have to be a different person when I walk into the doors here – the things I care deeply about, MegaFood does too!
MegaFood recently became a certified B Corporation, which means we’ve joined a community of thousands of companies using business as a force for good. This applies just as much to our employees as it does our customers, the community, and the environment.
One way we try and keep that good growing is by encouraging our employees to find what they are passionate about, and then get out there and do it! We offer 24 hours of Volunteer Paid Time Off each year so that the local communities of our workforce can benefit from the immense amount of passion they bring to the table, whether it’s reading to children, helping plant a community garden, or helping out at a local animal shelter.
It’s probably no surprise that “valuing health and wellness” is a core value of ours that we pay a lot of attention to. While health insurance may not be the sexiest topic, it’s a very important benefit. Many of our employees are committed to natural wellness, and so having visits to naturopathic doctors and chiropractors covered by insurance is a big deal (and speaking as one of those employees, adds up to big savings!).
Want more wellness? We have an internal group committed to just that called The Wellness Warriors. They get us up and moving with sponsored 5Ks, monthly health challenges, a wellness reimbursement that goes beyond just a monthly gym membership and covers a variety of ways we make work towards wellness – home gym equipment, fitness apps, new sneakers, CSA contributions – and more.
One aspect of wellness that can be easy to overlook is our mental well-being (a topic we discuss a LOT on our company’s podcast, That Supplement Show. By focusing on fun (on-site basketball, bubbles, jump ropes, coloring books, games, and more) we ensure that we have opportunities each day to step away from our work, laugh a little, and come back refreshed.
Despite the fact that we focus on fun, though, we also work hard, and compensation is an important piece of anyone’s employment. Monetarily speaking, MegaFood believes in the importance of a livable wage, and exceeds the minimum wage as a result. There’s a tuition reimbursement program that will cover $5,000 annually towards degree expenses in a health related field (a win-win investment!). I’ve also seen my co-workers enjoy our benefit of a fully-paid, 12 week maternity leave, as well as our adoption benefit – because families come in many shapes and forms. How cool is it that MegaFood recognizes that?
All of these things make MegaFood an amazing place to work, but at the end of the day, when you look back on what you’ve done, it’s important to feel good about it. To me, that is perhaps the biggest benefit of a MegaFood career. I work for a company, and with people, that all have the same goal – to nourish a world in nutritional crisis. That’s big and scary and aspirational, but isn’t that where the magic happens? It’s fun to change the world, and fun to be a part of a company working to make that happen.
For more on the culture of MegaFood, check out my colleague Ashley’s blog on What is the MegaFood Way?.
And if you’re feeling similar to the way I did when I first stumbled across MegaFood, know that you can find a list of our current MegaFood job opportunities below!