Everett

Being the original ball chair people, Gaiam employees tend to do a little more bouncing during the day than at most companies. A picture is worth a thousand words, so let’s go on a quick walk around our department …

To the left is me, Everett. I make sure search engines like the one on my shirt bring you to Gaiam when you search for stuff like Balance Ball Chair.

Gaiam is the perfect name for our company. A combination of the words “Gaia” and “I am”, it represents the ideal that we are all part of the single, living entity that is Mother Earth – or “Gaia” as the Minoan civilization called her.

Tucked between the Colorado foothills and a watering stop for migrating Canadian geese are the Gaiam corporate offices in Louisville, CO. We have a beautiful view of the Rocky Mountains from all west-facing windows, but it’s the view from our rooftop that takes my breath away.

The highly respected industry publication Internet Retailer has named Gaiam one of the best retail websites in the United States in their Annual Hot 100 List.

Gaiam.com is honored to be joined by other great websites like: iTunes.com, Amazon.com, BestBuy.com, Crutchfield.com, Overstock.com, TheNorthFace.com, Gap.com, Anthropologie.com and 91 other fantastic eCommerce web properties.

This post marks the start of a mini-series of posts in which we will choose a different topic and answer commonly-asked questions about it.

Obviously one can’t know everything about everything so the idea is to do some of the research for you and provide links to sites that can answer these questions in more depth.

Last month Gaiam gave two team members paid time off to volunteer for the Red Feather Development Group straw bale house project on the Hopi Reservation in Arizona. I was one of the lucky employees given the chance to learn hands-on about straw bale building techniques and the unique culture of the friendly Native American Hopi Tribe. Below are some memories and photos that Raphael Schiffman (of Real Goods) and I brought back.