Written by: Mikaela Crimmins - Chief Strategy Officer.

Ten years ago, I joined Orchard as a plucky Account Director because they were doing something different. Digital was new. Being bold was rarer. And Orchard's 'invent better' mission wasn't just a tagline, it was how we operated. Nothing was too new, too hard, or too untested. We never said "we can't." We always asked "how might we?" 

Fast forward a decade, and I've never been prouder. At our recent away day, I watched that same spirit, the one kickstarted 19 years ago by four brave founders (Sarah, Andy, Martin, and Wai), absolutely pulsating through our people. 

Here's the thing: Orchard doesn't just have a mission to 'invent better.' We live it. Our offsite wasn't about getting on the same page through PowerPoint death. Instead, we tackled real briefs under brutal 90-minute deadlines. The catch? Every solution had to be a living, workable prototype. 

Any company can have cool merch and a fancy logo. The real test of culture is whether you live and breathe it when the pressures on. 

After watching our team turn impossible briefs into working prototypes in under two hours, I'd say we've got our answer.