With Salv, everything is possible

Last month I reached my 1 year milestone at Salv . 🎉At first, I planned to write about how much I love this company, how much I’ve grown this past year and how lucky I am to be on this crazy awesome ride with such talented, caring, and incredible humans. 

But, instead, I’m just going to share one really cool story that sums it all up. 

Last November (9 months ago) I started training for a triathlon. Triathlons were something I’d thought about a lot when I played football — they felt like just the right challenge and hobby to have. 

So, with my great coach Kevin Vabaorg, we put together a yearlong plan that included shorter sprint distances and then one longer distance goal — an Olympic distance (🏊 1.5km 🚴🏼40km 🏃 10km). It felt huge but at the same time really exciting. So I started training according to his plan and really waited for this huge event to happen. 

Then before summer the first blocker arrived. I realised in Estonia there were 2 events that did the Olympic distance, but neither of them was suitable for me. I was upset. Really upset. Then I talked to my coach and we decided, “If I can’t do an official event, we can do it on our own as training”. It was good enough. 

AND THEN! I went out to lunch with Taavi Tamkivi — Salv ’s CEO. He asked how my training was going for this Olympic distance. The moment I mentioned I was doing it on my own as a training event instead, Taavi’s face lit up with an idea. “Wait, Mari-Ann, why do it alone? Ask others at Salv — maybe they’d also love this challenge. We could have a Salv Triathlon!” Suddenly, the excitement around our table was palpable — if an event didn’t exist, I could create one. At Salv. So I posted the idea in one of our slack channels. And waited. 

Suddenly, the support and enthusiasm started pouring in. I was shocked.

By the end of the day we had 6 individual starters and 2 teams who participated as a relay. That meant 1 in 5 of our Salvers were interested in joining. Wow.

So it was clear. We were going to have a Salv triathlon. 

I got goosebumps.

OMG WE’RE GOING TO HAVE A SALV TRIATHLON!!!!🤩🤯

Deep breath. 

It’s happening.

So we started training. All of us. We encouraged one another. Tracked our trainings together in Strava. Pushed each other to get better and better.

Fast forward a few months and, well, WE DID IT!🏆 It wasn’t just our brave competitors, but also all the volunteers who helped pull everything off to have our event in a safe and enjoyable environment and who cheered us on at every turn. 

To say this meant a lot to me is a huge understatement. When I was running, a thought was on repeat, “I’m so glad I didn’t do this alone. I’m so glad I didn’t do this alone. I’m so glad I didn’t do this alone.” Though I was sweaty and tired and my body was screaming in pain, my heart was still full of joy for these 3+ hours, because it was amazing to see how much effort everyone put in, how everyone was walking around with huge smiles, and how we had this shared feeling of “We made it!” 

So, sure, I could have just simply said, “In Salv you can set personal goals and get support from others to reach them.” But, really, as you can see from this story, it’s much much much more than that. There’s always someone who cares, someone who cheers you on, and someone to run the distance with you — so you aren’t left doing it alone. 

This is the culture and team I love to give my time, effort and knowledge to. To many more years of growth, development, and pushing me beyond my limits. 

Onwards.❤️

More 📸 from Mallory Taulbee here.