Little Gestures. Big Culture. Why Internal Comms is More Than Slack Updates.

Originally shared on LinkedIn, September 2025. Expanded for the blog.

I wasn't back to work full-time yet.

I was on maternity leave with my twin boys, Clayton and Colton, navigating that beautiful, exhausting, emotional season of newborn life times two. My world had gotten very small in the best possible way, late night feedings, tiny onesies, and figuring out how to function on broken sleep with a smile on my face.

Then my marketing coordinator, one of the few people on our team who is semi-local to me, suggested we meet up for lunch. Just a casual visit so she could finally meet the boys in person.

What I didn't expect was a gift basket waiting for me.

Inside were the most adorable "Deci's Bestie" onesies, Deci being the GridX company mascot, made specifically for Clayton and Colton. The marketing team had continued the love while I was out. Nobody waited for me to come back. They just... did it anyway.

I'll be honest, I teared up. Thanks, hormones.

Here's the thing though. I work in marketing. I believe deeply in internal communications. I have spent years advocating for the idea that employees are humans first and that recognizing their lives outside of work isn't a nice to have, it's a culture cornerstone. I have been part of creating those moments for others.

Being on the receiving end of one hit differently.

It reminded me that culture isn't built in all-hands meetings or Slack announcements. It's built in the small, intentional moments nobody required anyone to create. It's a lunch. It's a basket. It's a onesie that says your company sees you as a whole person, not just a headcount.

That's what internal communications is really about. Connection. Humanity. Showing people that their life outside of work matters to the people they work with.

To my GridX team... thank you. I felt seen.