Written by Allison Jarrell, Metro Music Makers Founder and CEO
Every year, we set aside time to celebrate the people who make Metro Music Makers such a special place to learn, work, and grow. We call this celebration the Purple Unicorn Awards, and it is always one of the most fun times we have together as a team.
This year, we gathered at Puttshack for mini golf, awards, and a lot of laughter. We don’t often have so many members of our team in one place, so having time to play, catch up, and celebrate together was especially meaningful.
What Is a Purple Unicorn?
At MMM, a Purple Unicorn is someone who brings something uniquely wonderful to our community. It’s someone who shows up for their students and clients, supports their teammates, embraces growth, and brings their own personality and gifts to everything they do. In other words, the kind of person who can be pretty hard to find.
Our awards recognize all kinds of contributions. Some celebrate accomplishments from the past year, while others recognize team members who really lived out our core values: Be Authentic, Bring Your Best, Collaborate with Kindness, Pursue Growth, and Be Flexible.
We also honor people who have made a lasting impact at MMM, along with a few fun awards that are very specific to the personalities on our team. Since we held this year’s celebration at Puttshack, we even added some mini-golf superlatives to the mix.
This Year’s Purple Unicorn Awards
Some of this year’s awards included:
- MMM Hall of Fame: Mark Grundhoefer, celebrating 10 years with MMM, and Nita McKoy-Hamm, celebrating 13 years
- Most Lessons Taught: Awarded to Alex McKeel
- MVP: Most Purple Unicorn Spirit: Awarded to Krystal Worrell
- Achievement Awards: Recognizing accomplishments and contributions from the past year
- Core Value Awards: Celebrating team members who brought our five core values to life
- Legacy Awards: Honoring the lasting impact team members have made at MMM
- Puttshack Superlatives: Celebrating a few of the most memorable moments from our time on the course
Of course, the awards are only part of the fun. There was plenty of laughter, storytelling, friendly competition, and time to simply enjoy being together.
Our team members spend most of their days traveling to homes, working in schools and facilities, teaching online lessons, or serving clients in our clinic. Although we are always connected through our work, we aren’t often in the same room. That is part of what makes gatherings like this one so important.
We’re proud of the talented, caring, creative people who represent Metro Music Makers every day. They truly are a remarkable group of Purple Unicorns, and we loved having the chance to celebrate them.
Want to learn more about the people behind Metro Music Makers? Meet our team.