This Culture of Clayton:
Creative Community
Our founder envisioned a working life in which employees are viewed as interesting people with precious gifts, where work schedules accommodate family life, where we can have fun at school and (usually) even love each other.
Lloyd Clayton recognized that if each associate could feel at ease, we’d create a high-energy learning environment with which to give and grow, teach and learn. At CCNH this means actively encouraging a comfortable flow of information exchange; a casual dress code; an abundance of natural window light; and the “structured freedom” to walk and meditate in a neighboring park. Two rules at Clayton are that laughter is not frivolous and that we’re never too busy for children to visit.
Yes, we may sweat or even swear at times because releasing stress is natural.
We also seek each other out— for lunch, breaks, after hours—choosing to share a collegial chat, heart-to-heart conversation, or anything else in between. There’s just something about Clayton’s culture of creative community.
Let us paint a picture for you: CCNH shares a four-story atrium of glass, granite and wood, with trees inside and out. First you’ll ascend to “come see our wings”— academics, operations support, admissions, and administration— each reflecting the distinct personalities of a workforce ranging in age from “early 20s to silvery.” Throughout 2005, 50- something renovated office spaces are being christened with the cleansing, revitalizing aromatherapy of burning sage.
Mementoes from students and graduates lovingly enfold us: original artwork, gemstone maps, porcelain and pottery, handwoven baskets, dream-catchers, wooden and metallic sculptures, hundreds of books—in fact so many gifts that the holiday edition of Holistic Times will reminisce, individually, on some of these.
Many of us surround ourselves with plants, breathing in their green wisdom and their blossoming energies. Also in this place are tiffany-style lamps, chi machines, fountains, chimes, prisms, crystals, exotic teas and teapots, opinionated posters and a melodic medley of very much music.
Among our onsite professionals are organic gardeners, frequent flyers, former healthcare professionals and therapists, artists in every media, pet lovers, political and community activists, racing enthusiasts and antique/ classic car buffs, holistic chefs, exercise teachers, you name it. Doting parents and “grand-folks” in general, you just wouldn’t believe all the things we do!
Raising Consciousness
Coming to work each day at CCNH affords each employee the opportunity to raise his or her consciousness and to experience first-hand some of the subjects we teach.
For one thing, every day is Earth Day!
In addition to using postconsumer recycled paper for almost all of our mass printing needs, Clayton College encourages in-house recycling by providing containers and a pickup service. It’s important that we do our part when it comes to paper usage, so another way we like to conserve is by encouraging students to use online testing.
Where else could the workday afford so many opportunities for social and political activism, from AIDS outreach to vegetarianism and so much more. We share our founder’s vision for environmental conservation, with all its liberties and responsibilities.
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Left: Janice Martin is in the center, demonstrating T'ai Chi with Anne Barnhill (L) and Krista Leamon (R). RIght: Some of the CCNH family enjoying an annual picnic in a local city park. |
Flowing Together
During the late 1990s Clayton colleagues received the gift and the lift of HeartMath©, focusing our intentions to internally entrain our electrical brain waves and heartbeats. As demonstrated with EEG and EKG feedback, we practiced time-out exercises to quicken emotional detachment, followed by freeze-frame visualizations that can help shift consciousness from negativity to appreciation.
With better self-management, colleagues collaborate more easily.
For many months we enjoyed another gift, school-sanctioned “heart lock-in” sessions, meditating together in the CCNH library and other gathering spots. And if the ultimate compliment is imitation, we’re pleased to report that within a year of the seminar series, HeartMath employees were enrolling in Clayton programs!
Next came Myers-Briggs© team-building and our ongoing DiSC© personal profile assessments. CCNH looked no further than our own Research Coordinator Janice Martin, LPC, ND, EdD, to lead the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory© (MBTI) at a beautiful retreat center called Solitude. With 16 blends of dominant MBTI© tendencies, our colleagues discovered the opportunities and challenges of being governed by “ENTJ” (Extrovert Intuitive Thinking Judging) or “ISFP” (Introvert Sensing Feeling Perceiving) traits—and all the nuances in between.
Clayton workgroups also benefit from interactive DiSC© (Dominance/influence/Steadiness/ Conscientiousness) coaching. “Innovative behavior modification approaches help us to better understand the foundations of our own and others’ personality traits,” says CCNH vice president Kay Channell.
“Learning how and when to ‘flex’ our preferred, ingrained ways of thinking empowers us to decide to make a situational adjustment in the interest of interpersonal community. Thus we learn more from each other and we learn more about ourselves.”
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Left: Newborn Cherice Cornner held by Linda Powell with her mommy, Carla, hovering nearby...it's true that everything stops for babies! Right: HT - sneak peek of upcoming holiday edition! |
Celebrating All That Is
It’s pretty easy for this big ol’ family to find reasons to party. We love to celebrate life and all its milestones, and we are fortunate to work in an environment whose management encourages us to do so.
During each monthly staff meeting we acknowledge employment anniversaries with little presents that are fun as well as useful, and we celebrate birthdays with a beautiful sheet cake— because sometimes that occasional no-no is mighty tempting! Our years are populated with parties, potlucks and picnics. We celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with potluck dinners and breakfasts respectively, plus an annual Christmas banquet for all employees and a guest, with great music and dancing. For many years, we’ve held employee picnics in the numerous city parks surrounding our tiny kingdom. Activities include drumming, dancing, jazz, bluegrass, sports, and just relaxing in the great outdoors.
We’ll always remember the school-wide Mardi Gras masquerade party—with Creole gumbo, Cajun red beans and rice, Mambo-Zulu-Zydeco tunes, king cake and beads and doubloons. The party was totally inspired and organized by Tara Brown, a long time resident of New Orleans.
We at CCNH send our thoughts and prayers to the residents of the city of New Orleans and the residents of the entire Gulf Coast area during this time of crisis. We have contributed both goods and money to relief funds, and will continue to do so. Wishes and hopes for your safety and well-being flow from us to you. |
Far from unsung heroes, our dedicated operations support group is celebrated and appreciated each year on Administrative Professionals Day.
Naturally, when CCNH turned 25 this spring, one party just wasn’t enough! So we kicked off the year-long festivities during opening ceremonies of our 2005 Natural Health Conference in the Atlanta area.
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Left: 25th Anniversary party...Sherri Johnstone, admissions advisor, with her husband Michael; and on the right Director of Admissions, Laura Reynolds, and her husband Jeff. Right: 25th Anniversary party...Anne Barnhill and Ann Harper. |
Coinciding beautifully with Earth Day, around 300 students of natural health gathered for a champagne toast and a “family recital” of classical music by flautist/media buyer Cheri Poole and guitarist/editorial consultant Carl Lowe. We heard hours of inspiring stories amidst glittering balloon arches and the delicious temptation of two chocolate fountains to complement the fresh fruits in the hor’s doeuvres.
In a celebration just for CCNH staff, family and a few special guests, we gathered on a beautiful May evening for a most memorable dinner party. After a delectable dinner, Lloyd and Kay delivered heartfelt congratulatory speeches and joined us in a champagne toast. Before serving a gorgeous three-tier cake for dessert, each employee was presented with a silver keychain engraved with the college’s 25th anniversary logo. During dessert, we enjoyed a special surprise: a short-film that featured our longest-tenured employees talking about the college’s evolution, combined with a unique presentation of the “Birthday Song” sung by several speakers and guests from the 2005 conference. All in all, it was “an affair to remember.”
Yet we must confess that CCNH’s best-loved celebrations are individual and personal: baby and wedding showers! It seems that almost every year we are blessed to add at least one baby or spouse to our eclectic family, and we all get invited to each others’ weddings. Oh how we love to celebrate our brothers and sisters’ loves and new lives!
Teaching Each Other
Every day’s a school day at CCNH, with learning opportunities for each and every colleague. Many of our associates have earned (or are earning) degrees, certifications or other advanced training while working here through generous educational benefits. Each of us is encouraged to participate in conferences, classes, workshops and seminars.
Over the years Clayton has led a number of in-house holistic health fairs, with internal experts and guest lecturers that stretch our thinking and inspire us to ever-broaden the CCNH curricula.
Originating at our annual Natural Health Conferences (NHC), we now sponsor onsite herb walks led by adjunct faculty, plus learning lunches and other internal classes.
Clayton has sponsored fundraisers with Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer, and numerous educational sessions during trade shows and conferences with adjunct faculty members Linda Page, Ann Louise Gittleman, Darryl Patton, and Stewart Mitchell, plus advisory board members Elson Haas and Rudolph Ballentine.
Following this spring’s NHC, UK naturopath Stewart Mitchell soon returned to the US for several days of meetings and gatherings at CCNH. Stay tuned for more news of exciting international collaborations with these and other leaders of natural health!
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Left: It's the kind of place where wedding showers and parties may include a suprise duet serenade! Center: "N-E-W-S-T-A-R-T" skit, at a CCNH health fair. Right: We gather outdoors, every chance we get! |
Honoring The Human Spirit
Just as we celebrate our own accomplishments, CCNH is passionate about honoring the human spirit through giving back to society. Rather than playing “Secret Santa,” for instance, our group selects charities and donates money and needed items.
We love providing for children and families’ holiday celebrations, fund-raising and donating food for local shelters and the humane society. One of our Christmas programs, Kid One, transports children and expectant mothers in need, for medical care throughout the state.
Last year when staff member, Lori Lasseter Hamilton, was visited by breast cancer, our company rallied around her and raised money during our local Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, a 5K run/walk to fund research, prevention and treatment. The “athletes” are elated to report that our school poet and sassy newlywed finished the race triumphantly and she is beating the opponent.
We’ve also bowled for Big Brother/Big Sisters in recent years and, fortunately, donations are not based on final scores! This is a great time for all our teams and a wonderful program for young people.
Another way that CCNH honors the human spirit of our literal and symbolic family is through our memorial scholarships and research grants. Each year, a total of four scholarships and two research grants are awarded to newly enrolled or existing students.
Two of our scholarships celebrate the lives of two of the college’s original pioneering spirits, Lloyd’s mother Peg Clayton and his aunt, Sarah Shelton, while the other scholarship celebrates the life and work of Nella Oppenborn, who designed our first herbal studies program. The Cheraskin Research Grant is available to a PhD candidate from the School of Natural Health and a PhD candidate from the School of Holistic Nutrition, and honors the life and work of holistic nutrition pioneer E. Cheraskin, MD, our first Director of Naturopathic Research.
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Left: Annual health conference gathering. Right: In the pink: Lori Lasseter Hamilton with most of her 40-odd "Lori's GRRLs" teamates, who are running again this year as "The Bare Hearts." |
Bringing It On Home
Clearly, Lloyd Clayton’s notion to allow associates to wear their favorite jeans to work and feel free to step outside to breathe fresh air is working out just fine. With some of the typical work-aday restrictions lifted, there’s no doubt that we think, work, contribute, and appreciate on a deeper level. Inspiration, brainstorming, giving, caring, celebrating, and intuition are just a few of the words found in the CCNH cultural lexicon.
Our work culture spills over into our personal lives, touching and improving our quality of life at home and for our beloved families. It is a privilege and an honor to be able to both learn from and contribute to this culture of CCNH that remains ever evolving and growing.
Tara Nicole Brown and Mary Grace McCord
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