Eight Eleven’s 25th Anniversary Core Values Highlight Series: Family
2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the Eight Eleven Family of Companies! Making it 25 years in any industry is no easy feat - especially one as competitive as consulting and professional services. Throughout this time, we have survived multiple recessions, adapted to massive technological shifts, and expanded our reach to 32+ markets. Although our focus areas continue to evolve, our unyielding commitment to relationships and the needs of our clients remain consistent and firmly rooted in our core values.
Yes, our core values have not only provided a strong foundation for everything we do but also continue to guide our growth. As we enter this next exciting chapter, what better way to celebrate than by sharing stories that highlight how meaningful each core value is to our employees, processes, and organization as a whole? To kick off this series, we are taking a deep dive into the core value of Family.
“We Grow Together Professionally & Personally”
What does “Family” as a core value mean to Eight Eleven? Understandably, some get a little nervous when an organization starts throwing around words like “family” to describe its employees or culture. However, our commitment to “family” is more focused on growing together, professionally and personally, than a description of our workplace culture. It’s why we offer maternity and paternity leave to all our employees as well as time off for those who choose to adopt – because we know families come in all shapes and sizes. We also know that it truly “takes a village” to raise a child, which is why we continue to support our employees in growing their families through benefits like free financial concierge services and real-world advice from our employee resource group, Eight Eleven Parenthood. In fact, the last 25 years have resulted in the birth of 166 children, with 14 more on the way – and that’s just counting the families of our leadership team!
Here at Eight Eleven, we aim to create an environment where employees feel empowered to grow, and our focus on family helps make that a reality – but don’t just take our word for it. One leader whose journey embodies this, is our Director of Internal Hiring, Paige Hackman. With over 13 years with the company and four wonderful children (JoJo, Sawyer, Madden, and Porter), Paige has experienced quite the growth since she started as an intern in August 2012. We sat down with Paige to discuss that journey and how our core value of “Family” has shaped her time at Eight Eleven.
Family Matters
As the Director of Internal Hiring, Paige and her team are responsible for attracting and interviewing new talent for the Eight Eleven Family of Companies. Finding the right fit can be a challenge for candidates and employers alike. One piece of job-searching advice that Paige always stresses was given to her by her mother when she was first looking for a role out of college. “My mom would always remind me that you spend a lot of time at work, so you want that time to be spent with a good group of people who still challenge and push you to be a better person in all areas of life,” explained Paige. From the very beginning, Paige felt a special connection with her coworkers at Eight Eleven. Over the years, these initial cubicle buddies have grown into some of Paige’s strongest relationships, with many still working at Eight Eleven.
(2017): Paige poses for a picture with fellow team members at her destination wedding.
Too many people falsely believe that one’s personal and professional life can remain separate, almost as if they have no correlation or connection. However, from her experience as both a manager and a recruiter, Paige insists this mindset is unrealistic. Regardless of work-life balance, there are plenty of scenarios where the events happening in your personal or professional life will shake up your world and ultimately impact both. “It was early in my career when I experienced the first loss of any grandparent. When my grandpa passed away, I was blown away by how many people at Eight Eleven showed their support. Every company has a bereavement policy, but this went so much more than that because we had such a strong personal relationship.” shared Paige, “As a manager, I strive to continue that example so that my direct reports can come to me with any issue they may be facing. When people think of my team, I want them to say, ‘She cares, she puts family first.’” From weddings to funerals, new births, professional achievements, and everything in between – Paige takes pride in being entuned with all aspects of her team’s lives and credits their success to that mindset.
(2024): Paige’s team celebrates a bridal shower for one of her employees in addition to welcoming a few team members back from maternity leave.
Growing Together
With “Family” as a core value, Paige’s sentiment is not only shared by fellow Eight Eleven leadership but also embodied by the actions and policies of the organization. In addition to an encompassing policy for bonding leave and employee resource groups, the organization is constantly rolling out enhancements focused on supporting its employees. As Paige explains, “Your life changes as you grow older, your priorities become different, and I feel like Eight Eleven has done a great job evolving with its workforce. We have a lot more nursing mothers, and now we have mother’s rooms and wellness rooms across our offices. That wasn’t a thing when I first started having kids, so it’s been fulfilling to see that our growth as a company also includes improving the lives of our employees.”
(2024): HQ families take time out of their day for trick-or-treating and fun crafts at the company’s annual Kids Halloween celebration.
(2024): Eight Eleven Group’s Enterprise Applications Manager, Chad Coffey joins his family in cleaning the community for Eight Eleven’s E3 Day of Service.
However, you don’t have to be an Eight Eleven employee to appreciate the company’s relationship-focused approach to everything it does. “I hate to sound cheesy, but after all these years, my husband and kids are very much a part of Eight Eleven. The Halloween party is probably their number one favorite thing that they get to do. They love coming to do crafts, have snacks, and hang out with all the other Eight Eleven families. Eight Eleven is a big part of our life, and my friends and family can tell I’m proud of where I work, which not many get to say!” highlights Paige. This is something that many employees across the Eight Eleven Family of Companies can proudly say. After years of attending the Rewards Trip as a “plus one” or joining in volunteering for the annual E3 Day of Service, it is not uncommon for Eight Eleven spouses and children alike to be friends outside of the office as well.
A Place Worth Calling “Home”
Throughout our conversation with Paige, she couldn’t help but circle back to her mother’s advice, that the people you work with and the company you work for have a major influence on your life. After hearing her story and the many ways Eight Eleven upholds its core value of “Family,” it’s safe to say that Paige made the right decision in her career. Or as best said in her own words, “I think about all my favorite moments in my life from starting as an intern to getting married and having kids - everyone around me has helped celebrate each success. I love that it's not just me going to work 8:00 to 5:00, and then having a separate life, but it feels like my work family is also a part of my biological family.”