I still have all the notes from the night I took Firewood’s founders, Juan and Lanya, through a branding exercise that would reposition the company and help set it on course to grow into what it’s become today. From Brooklyn, I essentially interviewed them by phone about their business—and their vision for it going forward—for about two hours in their home, with their then 3-year-old Sebastian chirping in the background before going off to bed.

Prior to working with Firewood, I’d taken a detour from copywriting and branding for some years and carved out a beat in investigative journalism that covered energy, environment and public health. Much of my reporting focused on the health impacts of environmental and industrial crises and practices—including the Gulf oil spill, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, cannibalistic factory farm activities, and Pfizer’s faulty birth control packaging.

Apart from that beat, I’d done everything from exposing the head of the Defense Department’s media operations for running a propaganda campaign against U.S. citizens during the Iraq War (yes, that’s illegal), to interviewing hip-hop pioneer Russell Simmons about Occupy Wall Street and ending “segregation” on TV.

It was exciting and satisfying work, but with a baby on the way, putting in 40–60 hours on one investigative article wasn’t going to realistically support my family. So when a friend said he’s working with a company that’s looking for a writer out in Silicon Valley, and I could still work from home after my child was born, I said, “Let’s talk.”   

I had only been writing at Firewood for a few months when I interviewed Juan and Lanya about their business and led the rebranding of their company. At the time, nearly four years ago, it had five full-time employees—now with 157, it seems hard to imagine that day.

When I emailed Lanya to see if she and Juan would be open to me interviewing them after hours so we wouldn’t be interrupted or rushed, she replied, “Okay, you made our day and we TOTALLY AGREE. Although Juan mumbled something about the NSA and should we really let Brad record us…” That mix of enthusiasm, warmth and sense of humor was, to my mind, at the heart of what set Juan and Lanya, and therefore Firewood, apart from your typical agency.

In fact, when I’d first flown out to meet them, they seemed like the un-CEOs. Which is kind of funny because during our branding exercise four months later, they referred to the Firewood they envisioned as the “un-agency.” Something distinctly different—more human, adaptive, fun.

After having coffee with Lanya on the morning of that first meeting, where we’d mostly talked about our families, our backgrounds and first-time parenting, I met Juan for lunch at The Slanted Door. There, we mainly discussed politics and his love of Frontline over hot pots of steaming Vietnamese food. As we browsed the Ferry Building Marketplace on the way out, he made a point to stop by the Prather Ranch Meat Company to pick up a “Praise the Lard” onesie for my yet-to-born child. It was a pretty lovely gesture from someone that I’d just met.

Working remotely

I’ve written for Firewood since then, working on a ton of projects—starting with AVG, a Prague-based mobile security company, as well as Google and an eclectic blend of tech startups. For the last year, I’ve been working closely with Firewood’s creative team that’s on-site at Google, which runs like the distillation of Firewood’s process—highly embedded, experienced and responsive teams working hand-in-hand with our client to deliver on dynamic, ever-changing goals.

And I’ve done all this work remotely, except for a trip to the SF office here and there over the years. I’ve seen people come and go, and others grow into integral parts of Firewood’s team.

Initially, the Google video calls (GVC) felt like minor productions, as if someone should be shouting out, “3-2-1—and you’re live!” right before the video connected. But soon enough, and especially after four years of video meetings, it just feels like I’m pulling up a chair around a table with my team.

GVC and chat on Hangouts have allowed me to work with teammates and clients with the spontaneity and responsiveness of being on-site. But since the view from my home office is actually downtown Manhattan, I’ve also learned a few things along the way that make working remotely as close to being there as possible:

Keep response times quick. Whether receiving a teammate or client request to jump on GVC, or responding to a comment or question via chat or in a doc—always aim to respond faster than someone right there in the office.

Let clients and teammates get to know you. Everyone wants to get the work done, but especially because you’re not on-site, the onus is on you to try to connect with anyone you’re working with as a person first. From there, build relationships in the same way you would if you were sharing a cubicle (thank you, technology).

Give an extra pause before hitting send. If everyone should think twice before sending off an email or text, then think three times if you’re working remotely. Most miscommunications, whether in tone or substance, can be avoided with extra attention to clarity, politeness and knowing your audience.   

The future

Now, two kids later and headlong into juggling work and parenting—“the most hilarious, relentless ass kicking [I’ll] ever love”—I’m grateful for these years at Firewood. I’ve not only done and am doing work that I’m proud of, but I’ve also been able to be there for all of my girls’ firsts. Plus, I’ve made lasting friendships along the way. Pretty damn cool.

At the end of our branding interview, I’d asked Juan and Lanya to sum up Firewood in one word. Juan said, “Possibilities.” Lanya said, “Freedom.” Then, in three words. Juan said, “A new paradigm.” Lanya said, “A human company.” Even at 150+ employees and growing, that original vision still seems to be guiding Firewood today.

I’d like to think the reason I’ve continued to work with the company from my perch here in Brooklyn—through all the years of growth and change—is because, in my own small way, I’m able to do for Firewood what it does for other companies: hit the ground running on any project, always aim to deliver above expectations, and have fun with the team while doing it. Plus, being on the East Coast, I get a head start on each day’s work.

But on further reflection, it may also have something to do with the fact that they know I still have all the notes from our branding interview, which could be leaked to the press at a moment’s notice.