This 'time' it'll be different

How working with a globally distributed team is a strength (and a challenge)

View of Tokyo from my hotel room two weeks ago … the jet lag was real!

Occasional long haul travelling is one element of my role at Like the Wind. And I love (almost) every aspect of those opportunities to spread my wings. The obvious ones include meeting people (I’m an unapologetic extrovert), running in unfamiliar places (hopefully with those people I have met), discovering different cultures, indulging in new food and drink, uncovering music I was not aware of … the list goes on and on. Then there are a few less obvious aspects of travel that I enjoy - airports for one: they seem to be places outside of time and geography which I find rather relaxing. And the food on long haul flights (most of the time). I also love watching movies in the middle of the day or night, relatively guilt-free.

The only part of travel I don’t enjoy is jet lag. And as much as I try to refine my routine and invest in the best tools to minimise the disruption (memory foam eye shade FTW) I almost never feel great the day after a long flight. Which illustrates how time is such a curious thing. Crossing timezones confuses me mentally and physically.

But it’s not just when travelling that I have to navigate the complexities of time. Like the Wind has always been a fully remote team. Long before Covid 19 forced companies to facilitate employees working away from the office, the (admittedly small) group that created the magazine were never in the same place at the same time. That was partly born out of necessity: the business was not big enough to justify an office. But mainly it was because my co-founder – Julie – and I wanted to work with people who were passionate about running, flexible in how they worked (everyone was part time) and were great at their jobs. Those people happened to live in different places. So we figured out remote working.

In recent months, the LtW team has grown significantly. More than 200%, in fact. And we have gone from being somewhat globally distributed to having team members in eight timezones. And with that distribution comes challenges, especially when it comes to having the odd “all hands” video call, which is important when there are so many new team members and so many exciting projects and plans on which to work.

Of course there is a positive aspect to the geographical spread: the team is the living embodiment of one key tenant of Like the Wind - that it serves a global community of runners who appreciate great storytelling. The team includes people from the west coast of the US, the Rockies, Australia, Japan, the UK and mainland Europe. Sure, there are huge swathes of the planet where we don’t currently have a team member, but rest assured we are working on that. And we have always encouraged contributors - writers, photographers and illustrators - from every corner of the planet, so that we have a truly global spread of stories.

Sure, there is a bit of inconvenience to having everyone on a call at the same time. For a couple of team members it will be very early. For others, very late. But no one is complaining. The team spirit is already strong and everyone recognises that we’ll achieve - and exceed - our goals if we are all aligned and work together in the most efficient way possible. What better way to create a media company that serves a particular type of runner wherever they are in the world, than to be that type of runner, spread all around the world?

And when the thought of what it means for the team to be on a call at all times of the day and night starts to worry me, I can at least take comfort in the fact that coffee is our friend.

Cheers to wherever you are in the world. Remember, LtW is ‘there’ with you in spirit (and very happy to ship a copy of the magazine to your letterbox to be there in physical form as well!)

Simon

Simon Freeman
Like the Wind publisher and wannabe time traveller.