Comma's Bucket List Grant: Helping Others Get the Most Out of Life
The Comma Copywriters Bucket List Grant serves a clear purpose: to help others put life first.
In between work, spending time with family, and taking care of everyday tasks, it can be challenging to make time for the moments and activities that shake up our routines and add more color to our lives. The Bucket List Grant is one way to reward our team’s hard work by helping them fulfill a bucket list item — because life is about much more than what gets checked off during the work day.
Learn how a well-timed inspirational quote was the first step on the path toward one of Comma’s most rewarding programs.
The Spark That Led to the Bucket List Grant
When Crystalee Beck, founder and president of Comma Copywriters, started the company in 2016, she heard a quote that captured what she wanted from herself as an entrepreneur.
“There’s a Zig Ziglar quote: ‘You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want.’ That’s been foundational for me as a business owner,” she explained. “My role is to help other writers and team members get what they want out of life.”
While this piece of inspiration didn’t immediately lead to the Bucket List Grant, it did set the tone for how Crystalee shaped the company and team. Eventually, the bucket list — she credits You Need A Budget for the idea — made its way into Comma’s onboarding process. Every new team member is invited to complete a 50-item bucket list during onboarding as a way of putting their big goals out into the world. Doing something actionable with these lists was the next step.
“The idea of the grant was percolating in my mind a year before we started it,” Beck said. “At the same time, the leadership team was formalizing the company values, so I spent a good nine months thinking about our values and putting them into words. What would show that we really mean it when we say, ‘Life first’?”
And now, as of 2023, team members with three years of service at Comma Copywriters are awarded the Bucket List Grant as a way to help them check one (or several!) items off their bucket lists.
The Importance of Helping Others Get What They Want
While the idea of “putting life first” can be interpreted differently by any group of people, one thing’s clear: as a culture, we’re not great at stepping away from work. A recent study by Qualtrics lays it out:
Only 27% of US employees used all of their paid vacation time in 2021.
When people do use vacation time, 49% admit to working at least an hour a day while on vacation.
Working like this doesn’t necessarily make us better at our jobs, though. In fact, the always-on work culture can make us sick: in that same Qualtrics study, 58% of US workers attributed their mental health challenges to the stress of their job.
Creating a work culture that not only encourages putting life first through words but also emphasizes it through action, is one of the parts of business ownership that Beck finds most fulfilling.
“The grant checks and the checks we send to Kurandza are my favorite ones to write all year. I handwrite them because it means so much to me!” Beck said. “It makes Comma more about fulfilling my life purpose as a human; it helps me feel like I’m doing something much bigger and more important than making money. I’m helping people get what they want in their life, and that means a lot to me.”
Travel, Theater, and Teardrop Trailers: Checking Off Bucket List Items
Our first class of recipients included five outstanding team members whose bucket list items were as varied as their talents. Here’s a small sample of what’s on their lists:
Mary Poppins costumes for the family
Home office makeover
Relaxing spa day
Lodging and airfare to Glacier National Park
Coast-to-coast train trip
And they’re already starting to make some checkmarks. Below are just a few of the ways that our team used their grants to put life first in 2022.
Madeline Greenhalgh
“As an avid theater fan, one of the things that I missed the most during COVID lockdowns was the opportunity to see live theater. As a recipient of the Bucket List Grant, I was able to take two trips to New York City this spring to catch up on all the shows I'd missed!
Having the opportunity to see shows that are so beloved—starring some of my absolute favorite performers of all time!—with my friends and partner was an absolute dream come true. I am so grateful to Comma and the Bucket List Grant for giving me the chance to make all of this possible!”
Sarah Acheson
“With my Bucket List Grant, I decided to knock out a few things on my list and split it up into a few different experiences. My family and I went on a trip to Vegas where I enjoyed a Wagyu steak. I invested in my garden — and had quite the return — and I learned how to can the peaches we grew and harvested. Finally, we spoiled ourselves during a family reunion at Disneyland!”
Emily Coleman
“The Bucket List Grant from Comma Copywriters helped us fund our Escapod, a teardrop camper trailer. We love to camp and wanted a more convenient way to get away for a weekend. We picked up our new toy on August 5 and we've already taken it out camping several times this season. We're looking forward to many years of enjoying this bucket list item!”
Interested in working with a company that prioritizes helping you live your best life? Check out our careers page.
