"You get on video calls every day," one remote worker said, "and it's so weird – like not even knowing how tall they are."
tiktok.com/@brookekas
Two remote staffers at an influencer marketing startup called Lightning flew from Canada to London to surprise teammates they'd been working with for roughly two years but had never met in real life.
The plan was actually hatched in September of 2021 at the height of the pandemic, one of the two staffers, Brooke Kasdorf, told Insider. But the documented journey was finally shared to TikTok late last month.
While Lightning is entirely remote, Kasdorf, the company's campaign director, said six employees were based in the UK at the time, including founder Abdullah Sawati.
"You get on video calls every day with the same colleagues, and you're speaking to them, and you become such great friends," Kasdorf said. "It's so weird, like, not even knowing how tall they are."
It had always been a "pipe dream" to meet in person, she said. To her luck, one day, upper management asked Kasdorf and her Canadian colleague Curtis Metzler to fly over as part of a two-week team-building workshop.
After landing in London, and after the rest of the team had assembled for a meeting, Kasdorf and Metzler blasted DMX's "Party Up" and stormed into the room, interrupting the proceedings to ecstatic hugs and applause.
The company had rented an Airbnb in Notting Hill, where they organized both work and bonding activities, she said. This included dinners, nightclubbing, karaoke, and outings to a soccer match and theme park.
Kasdorf's TikTok chronicling the festivities was viewed 1.3 million times.
Commenters lauded the company's culture, saying they were envious that the agency invested in helping them socialize.
"Girl are you hiring," one commenter joked.
Kasdorf said she's been heartened by commenters who have extolled Lightning's "immaculate" culture, including one who wrote, "I can't imagine my colleagues ever being this happy to see me." She also said that the video has resonated with fellow remote workers, which she acknowledged can be an "isolating" experience.
While the company does strive to build community, Kasdorf also noted that this viral highlight reel isn't the norm — it was a culmination of "two years of sitting at your desk at home alone."
"It's not like we're partying and having these big surprises and blowouts often," she said. "But when they do happen, it definitely feels very nice and kind of well-earned."
