At Weave, we truly embrace the core principle behind our culture; to free people to be all that they are born to be. Because of this, we are celebrating our Senior Weave Consultant Kevin Eskew as he leaves Weave today to embark upon the next phase of his journey: to pursue his Master’s degree in Animation! Over the past three years, Kevin has been so much more than a valued co-worker. To us, he is a cat sitter, mentor, urban biker, comedian, late night bar mate and, most importantly, a friend.
Earlier this week, Kevin and Paul sat down and had conversation about Kevin’s personal and professional growth, reminisced on lessons learned, and reflected on tidbits of wisdom accumulated along the way.
Why are you leaving Weave?
Kevin: I’m going back to school to become a master of animation. Throughout my time at Weave, I’ve always identified as an animator, animation has always been my passion. I’m going to California to study the craft for three years to really focus on it. Weave has been a really great experience, and I’ve learned a ton. I’m hoping to use everything I’ve learned to help define my direction as an animator.
Animation by Kevin Eskew
What impact has Kevin had on Weave?
Paul: Great question, there’s no way the company would be where it is today had Kevin not been part of the company, so I feel incredibly grateful to have met him three years ago. When Kevin arrived, it was very clear that he was a fast learner and accurate worker, so we were able to delegate to him a lot of the delivery tasks and in a very little amount of time, we moved from assigning tasks and having him competently complete them, to Kevin taking over the whole delivery team. That was a huge moment for the company growth when I was able to focus on other aspects of the business knowing that Kevin had delivery covered and he was self-managing that.
As we do with all workers with Weave, we encourage creativity. Kevin has that artistic and animation creativity that has incorporated itself into the product. With Kevin’s creativity, things started to look better and were richer in information than they had ever been before. I’ve really seen progress in Kevin; he is now a really great leader and a great manager. Outside of work it’s been quite enjoyable hanging out and having a lot of late night conversations over an IPA or a fine ale!
What is Kevin’s leadership style?
Paul: The team described Kevin as having this humble confidence. That confidence balanced with humility makes him very approachable; it makes him someone you want to follow and that’s sort of very natural. Kevin is very approachable and very capable. I would say charismatic and funny as well.
Out of the weaves you’ve created, which is your favorite?
Kevin: I mean the fun thing about weaves is that within each weave there’s a lot of room for creativity and invention. Each project feels very new, which is nice, and there’s always freedom to experiment. I can think of a few weaves in particular that were fun to build, especially early on when we were figuring out new ways to do things, like when we created the big, animated Myers Briggs view. I always enjoyed thinking of new ways to visualize people and incorporate design into weaves.
How do you feel about Kevin leaving?
Paul: There is of course some sadness, with no doubt I’m going to miss him and I think every member of the team is going to miss him. Kevin has such a positive energy and is such a great member of the team to have around everyday. More importantly, we’re celebrating with him. The very core of weave is to free people to be all they were born to be. I’ve known from the start of this company that individual’s pursuit of their own purpose is more important that the stability of the organization. The coined term for this is “The Fragile We”, meaning that the organization is inherently fragile if every individual is living on the edge of their own potential and it very well may be taking them, as it is with Kevin, beyond the organization. So a little bit of sadness combined with a great celebration and this is what Weave is all about.
How will you continue to incorporate Weave values into your life?
Kevin: I will definitely incorporate some of the principles we use for being productive and holding ourselves accountable, as well as ‘checking in’ and keeping in tune with how everyone is feeling, which are vital for engaging with life at work. I’d love to borrow some of the structures that we use and try to apply them with what I’m doing animation-wise. But beyond that, even the process of defining values, which then become pillars in your life, I thought was really inspiring and something I’d like to continue doing personally after Weave.
Good luck Kevin, you will be missed! We can’t wait to see what the future holds for your animation ambitions. To see Kevin’s animation work, visit kevineskew.org.
