Celebrating the Holidays 2022: How Shogies Spend the Holidays Fully Remote

With Shogun being a fully remote and globally distributed company, our team celebrates many different holidays, and with it comes unique holiday traditions.

We’re proud to say we’ve made our own tradition of resting and recharging at the end of each calendar year by observing a company-wide shutdown—without gaps in service to our 35,000+ customers, of course.

To celebrate the end of another year, we asked a few Shogies (the official Shogun team member nickname) to share their favorite holiday traditions:

Christmas pajamas and pizza on the first night of December

“When December rolls around, my family enjoys pizza night while we wear our favorite Christmas pajamas,” says Shogun CEO and co-founder Finbarr Taylor. “We love kicking off the holiday season this way. And with Shogun being a fully remote company, I can be present with my family.”

Happily bouncing between family gatherings

“Being a part of a large, blended family makes the holiday season a real hustle and bustle. Most years, we have five or six family gatherings with 20+ people between December 24th and 27th,” says People Operations Manager Mathieu Thevenot.

“While packing up the kids, gifts, and food—sometimes multiple times per day—requires a lot of effort, we’re fortunate to have so many meaningful connections and close relationships with our family.”

“Shogun’s approach to flexibility and remote-first culture has a material impact on how I plan my days, prepare for the holidays, and spend time with my family,” continues Mathieu.

“Not having to commute to an office means I have an additional 10 hours per week, which means more family time I didn’t have before. Working with a team who works asynchronously allows me to build a schedule that meshes the needs of the business and the needs of my family. Less hustle and bustle during the week makes the holiday rush manageable and something we can tackle together.”

Lights, cookies, Christmas trees, and quality family time

“My husband likes to take inspiration from National Lampoons Christmas and keeps adding more and more outdoor lighting each year,” shares Shogun President and COO Kristen Habacht.

“It’s gone from a few hours of decorating to a full day outside—with more on the wish list. He goes over the top outside, and I decorate inside. We have three trees—each with a different theme—and our boys always help decorate.”

“We also do a big day of baking where everyone picks their favorite cookies to bake. This year, it’s sugar cookies, vanilla meringues, and snickerdoodles.”

“Being remote with Shogun means more time together at night to drive around and look at Christmas lights or to watch a movie with hot cocoa, and less time in my car or on a train.”