At Sara’s Grommet job interview, the very first thing she said was “I grew up a poor black child.” Ok, we know she stole that line from Steve Martin. But it worked. We fell over laughing. That is pretty much how Sara approaches tense situations, a reality she must have encountered often growing up one of eleven children. Disarm with humor, work really hard -- and then close the deal. She has closed plenty of complicated multi-million dollar transactions as a former investment banker. There’s no business development playbook at Grommet, so Sara is writing it for us in her inimitable ego-less way.

Video of Sara

“Fearless” is the first word that comes to our minds when we think of Jen. When she comes in the office on a Monday, we never know if she just scaled Mount Washington or mastered a new cuisine, and we look forward to seeing what off-the-wall Grommets she uncovered in her weekend travels. Speaking of courage, Jen had the chutzpah to make a living in sales for Bristol-Myers Squibb, then to leave that big paycheck to spend a few years raising her two sons, and then to start her own event planning business. It makes perfect sense that she was the first person to join Daily Grommet at its founding…even a startup can’t scare this woman.

Video of Jen

Kate is fast on her feet and happiest with a full e-mail inbox (ok, that’s just plain odd). But that’s because Kate is always on a mission to uncover good people and share their stories with the world. Kate’s a natural-born communicator and activist. In fact, her efforts to protect Halloween from being “banned” in the Los Altos, Calif., school district sparked a media maelstrom that only Kate could handle -- with a flash of outrage behind her eyes and a warm smile to disarm any detractors. This killer talent has landed Kate in outward-facing roles at companies like Hill & Knowlton, The Weber Group and Robert Half International. There’s no bushel known to man that could ever hide Kate’s colorful internal light.

Video of Kate

It came as no surprise to learn that Jesse grew up in a Northern California commune. He has that intellectually curious and indie point of view you’d associate with an alterna-childhood. It serves him well in crafting each and every one of the Grommet videos, covering a huge range of subjects from women's health to golf pros, and from Haitian social enterprise to personal money management. Here’s why: After all is said and done, and we have earnestly shot acres of video showing all the aspects of a story that we are passionately committed to including, Jesse has to step around the fray and see the true core of the Grommet story. And then confidently serve it up without leaving too many gems on the cutting room floor. Maybe his experience swimming naked above the Arctic Circle (yes, he has) built up his sangfroid. However he got it, he needs it, and we do too.

Video of Jesse

If an e-mail can inspire love at first sight, then the long, articulate message Katherine sent us on the day we launched Grommet is what, at root, made us rabid to land Katherine on our team. That and the fact that she is one of our earliest Grommets suppliers. What we didn’t know at first is that she’s also a total quant jock. She can make the numbers behind Grommet sing as well as her thoughtful words. What charges her up about this company is that we inextricably tie our success to the success of the Grommet creators. She learned the importance of such integrity and values while managing the Polartec business at Malden Mills. Aligning ourselves with the Grommets is both fair and brave -- like Katherine.

You know it’s a great hire at Daily Grommet when, within the first month on the job, you hear people saying “I’ll check with Ray,” or “Let me talk to Ray and figure this out.” It’s especially impressive when that new team member is a fresh grad. Within just weeks at Grommet, Ray’s ears must have been burning, and that’s a good thing. Ray’s hobby is basketball and he’s already making career-layups for us on a daily basis.

Let’s say you call Daily Grommet. Let’s say you discover that the person on the other end of the phone is surprisingly irreverent. She’s personable, she’s professional but not exactly…“corporate.” We’d say you are probably talking to Chew-hoong. Whatever the task in front of her—active tennis coach, customer service ninja, or impersonating a giant honey bee (as she did for a local fundraiser) she is fiercely determined to put her spin on it. Just try her. Whack a problem her way and you will see it enthusiastically served back to you, solved, no charge for the smile. No video of Chew-hoong yet…working on getting her in one.

Ann is a writer and editor who dreams about building a modern house but settles for fixing up an old place, one DIY project at a time. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three kids. Her favorite Grommet is Fair Trade Sports.

Rita Richardson proofs copy and writes for Daily Grommet from West Harwich on Cape Cod. She enjoys reading, writing, cooking, herb gardening and exploring the shore and Cape villages. She is a frequent contributor to The Essential Herbal, a quarterly, and has written a small book on lavender for the Cape Cod Lavender Farm. Favorite Grommet? Sweet Grass Farms room diffusers.

Cara, based outside of Washington, D.C., writes about business, technology and life as a suburban mom. She likes to read, knit (though wishes she were better at it) and laugh.