GROWING OLD TOGETHER
The Best Places to Work awards are meant to celebrate culture — but the experience itself often looks the same year after year. Coordinated outfits. Noise makers. A quick cheer when a company name is called.
We didn’t want to simply show up.
We wanted to show who we are.
THE CHALLENGE
DOOLEY FOR LIFE
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DOOLEY FOR LIFE •
THE IDEA
Dooley for Life. Taken Literally.
Rather than following the typical Best Place to Work playbook, we created our own theme and experience from scratch.
While other companies chose colors or matching T-shirts, we leaned fully into our internal mantra — Dooley for Life — imagining what it looks like when you stay together for the long haul.
The result was a fully realized concept that transformed the awards into a shared performance, not just a ceremony.
THE EXECUTION
Every member of our team committed to the idea — completely and joyfully.
We traded traditional workwear for housecoats, slippers, walkers, gray wigs, pearls, Saltine crackers, Werther’s Originals, and yes, a rented motorized scooter.
Each team member adopted a persona and showed up fully in character.
Before the event even began, we hosted a themed tailgate featuring a custom-built backdrop and staged living-room vignettes: floral wallpaper, old TV trays with fake remotes, lamps, VHS tapes, a rear-projection TV with antennae, Dooley-branded crossword puzzles and BINGO cards, pill bottles filled with jelly beans, and prune juice.
Every detail was intentional.
Every prop was considered.
And every employee participated.
To elevate the experience further, we partnered with the University of Cincinnati Dance Team, supplying all costumes, wigs, pearls, walkers, and robes.
They designed and performed a custom choreographed routine at our pre-event tailgate to set the tone, then returned inside the stadium as our company name was called — turning a typical awards moment into something unexpected, energetic, and unmistakably Dooley.
THE IMPACT
The result was impossible to ignore.
A third consecutive Spirit Award from the Cincinnati Business Courier
Front-page coverage, capturing both the moment and the culture behind it
Countless shareable photos and videos
15 employees fully bought into the same idea — together
A growing reputation as the team that doesn’t just attend the awards, but transforms the experience
Most importantly, it reinforced something bigger than a single night.
“The Business Courier loves celebrating organizations and leaders that excel at workplace culture. There is no better example than one of our regular honorees, Dooley Social Studio. Not only do they do the work to win, they bring fun creativity to the event each year. Last year, they dressed as a senior citizen group and had a choreographed presentation with UC dance team members. They don’t just talk the talk, thy walk the walk of good culture and last year that walk came with a walker. We so appreciate their attendance and their participation.”
— Jamie Smith, Publisher/Market President at Cincinnati Business CourierWHY IT MATTERS
This wasn’t about winning — it was about belonging.
Each year, our team gathers to create something together, get a little weird, and celebrate the culture we’ve built — not for recognition, but because it’s who we are.
At Dooley, culture isn’t a policy or a perk.
It’s a shared commitment to show up, participate fully, and grow old together.
Dooley for Life.
