What Brought Us Joy in 2025

If you’ve worked with Chaloner, you know that people are at the heart of everything we do. We believe deeply in helping organizations grow through exceptional talent and we believe just as strongly in nurturing humanity, creativity, and heart within our own team. This year, we asked everyone at Chaloner to reflect on the simple question: “What gave you joy in 2025?” The answers were thoughtful, funny, unexpected, and deeply inspiring.

Where We Found Joy

Building community.
For Jaimie, joy came from strengthening the circle around her: “This year was all about building more community — rethinking how I live and work with my people.”

Moments of creativity and magic.
Jenn discovered joy in unexpected places like producing the talent show at her kids’ elementary school. “Seeing their confidence grow was everything.” 

New Beginnings.

Meanwhile, Amy found joy in bold reinvention: “Professionally, pivoting the company to fully meet this moment felt energizing.”

Adventure and love.
Nina shared that her honeymoon was the heart of her year: “Traveling together and exploring the world brought me so much joy.”

Nature, play, and a little futuristic fun.
Elizabeth found joy in some indoor and outdoor activities: “Nature and the release of Outer Worlds 2” brought them joy this year.

Everyday joy.
And then there’s Beth, who summed up 2025 joyfully and honestly: “my dog.” Sometimes the purest joy is the one that greets you at the door every day.

How We Shared Joy With Others

What struck us most was how much our team focused on giving joy, not just receiving it.

Amanda reminded us that joy can be a steady presence in hard moments: “I try to bring laughter into people’s lives even in difficult situations.”

Elizabeth highlighted a daily practice that never goes out of style with their take on bringing joy to others: “Compliments! Especially to strangers…”

Jaimie emphasized the privilege of connection: “Helping someone land their dream job — it never stops being extraordinary.”

Jenn echoed that joy in action this year: “Placing candidates in new roles after they’d been impacted by Federal cuts.”

Nina poured joy into her community through grassroots leadership and youth programming, sharing how meaningful it was to nurture young people who are learning to challenge the status quo.

Beth shared her signature love language: “I feed people - literally but also through growth opportunities and new challenges - it’s what I do.”

Amy offered college readiness counseling and early literacy support, opening doors for young people on the cusp of major life transitions.

These acts are practical, heartfelt, and generous and remind us that joy is a practice. We create it through intention.

What Inspired Us This Year

Because joy also comes through storytelling, we asked our team what they watched in 2025. Their answers reflect a group that loves curiosity, creativity, and a great narrative:

• “Big Boys” — heartfelt and hilarious
  
  
• “Sinners” — Ryan Coogler’s newest project
  
  
• Conan O’Brien’s travel series — reliably chaotic
  
  
• Billy Joel’s documentary “And So It Goes…” — musical nostalgia
  
  
• “Slow Horses” — a favorite for spy-genre lovers
  
  
• “Loot” Season 3 — still delivering
  
  
• “Penguin Lessons” — movie night gold
  
  

The Causes Close to Our Hearts

Mission-driven work isn’t just what we do, it’s how we live. The charities our team lifted up reflect the compassion and action we see in them every day:

• Local and state food banks, supporting neighbors facing food insecurity.
  
  
• Boston Raising Powerful Musicians (BRPM), fostering creativity and confidence in young people.
  
  
• Filling in the Blanks, addressing childhood hunger in Fairfield County.
  
  
• Beyond Type 1, funding research, advocacy, and support for those living with diabetes.
  
  
• CHIPS, a hometown nonprofit strengthening families and youth.
  
  
• World Central Kitchen, providing rapid-response meals during crises locally and globally.
  
  

If any of these resonate with you, we hope you’ll learn more and support them however you can.

Heading Into a New Year

The common thread through every answer? Joy grows when we make room for connection, gratitude, curiosity, and kindness.

As we look ahead, we’re grateful for a team that shows up with heart: for our clients, our candidates, and each other. Their reflections remind us that work is meaningful not only because of what we do, but because of who we do it with.

Here’s to a joyful, purpose-filled year ahead from all of us at Chaloner.