Nov 30, 2021 PricePoint Moves

It used to be called the Freshman 15, now it’s the COVID 15. Getting enough exercise can be tough when it’s hard to get out of the house. As it seems everyone is looking for ways to stay healthy, I thought I would throw in PricePoint’s two cents on how we encourage movement around here.

For the PricePoint team, working from home is nothing new. We’ve been an entirely remote company since we started over a decade ago. When you live and work in the same building, you don’t have many reasons to get out and move. Knowing that’s not good for anyone in the long run and being well accustomed to the joy of sweat-induced endorphins, our CEO, Ben Heller, came up with a plan.

The PricePoint Physical Challenge

His idea was simple. We would track our hours of physical activity each week and self-report them at our staff meeting. Physical activity wasn’t just defined as working out, but also included yardwork, going for a walk, or whatever each person found to be exercise. My definition was anything that left me out of breath, sweaty, and sore (I got a lot of yardwork done that first summer!)

But we are only human, after all. As time went by and the weather grew colder our hours started to drop. Ben decided to crank the heat on our team activity to incentivize our participation.

Being the data-driven company that we are, Ben had records and already knew everyone’s weekly average after months of keeping track. Added up, our average weekly total was 45 hours, so that became the baseline for the group. Together, we had to reach at least 45 hours every week to keep our challenge going. I knew somebody else would have to make up the time if I didn’t do my part.

And what about the prize? PricePoint would pay us $120 for a shiny new pair of sneakers if we hit 45 hours every week until the first day of spring. For most of us, it wasn’t so much about the shoes. We all make enough money to afford shoes. It was about not letting the team down. I didn’t want to be the one who made a teammate miss out on the prize. “No one wins alone,” said the great Mark Messier. Succeeding (or failing) as a team is a key aspect of the PricePoint family.

Did we all lose the 15 pounds last year? Probably not. But our physical challenge is alive and well, reimagined this year as $10 per week per employee in Bitcoin. We’re still running, gardening, riding our bikes, doing yoga, skiing and snowboarding. We’re feeling pretty good all things considered and the Bitcoin stash is growing. The challenge is working. Most importantly, we get out and keep moving.

We’ll check back in next year to report on how we made out.