At the heart of the Funky Buddha are our Core Values – a deliberate and thoughtfully compiled list of ideals by which we operate, live, and create. Our Core Values permeate everything that we do and can be seen in everything from our employee policies to our class formats. Funky Buddha Core Values are at the center of both our student and staff culture. They provide a foundation on which to build excellence, and guide our continuing evolution.
A side benefit of being a business with intentionally formulated and strongly supported Core Values is an increased awareness of displays of excellence in the business community around us, and in Grand Rapids, there is excellence all around us.
This June we are shouting out the kudos to our friends at Books & Mortar Bookstore:
Funky Buddha Core Values:
- Accessibility
- Quality & Professionalism
- Continuous Improvement
- RICH (Respect, Integrity, Intentionality, Caring, Honesty, Humility) Action
- Service First
At The Funky Buddha we love growth, we love learning, we love practice……so of course we LOVE BOOKS. Imagine our joy when a real-live book store, selling actual hold-in-your-hands–smells-like-newly-printed-paper BOOKS opened right down the street from our Eastown Location!! SO EXCITED.
In their own words, Books and Mortar is: “Grand Rapids’ proudly progressive, consciously curated, and fiercely independent neighborhood book store.” So there you have it, all of the Funky Buddha Core Values wrapped up beautifully in their poetically written mission statement.
Some specific things that we love about Books & Mortar:
- The Physical Space (Quality & Professionalism): Beautiful, clean, airy, full of natural light, and, of course, artfully arranged BOOKS!
- The Children’s Section (Accessibility): In the back of their store, there is an adorable children’s section, furnished with a little table and chairs just the right size for the tiny humans.
- The Inventory (Quality & Professionalism): “Consciously Curated” As you browse the inventory at Books & Morter, it is immediately obvious that every piece has been carefully hand selected. Every book. Every greeting card. Every candle. Every knick-knack.
- The Service (RICH Action, Service First): When you step into Books & Mortar the first thing you will hear is a friendly greeting, likely from Jonathan or Christopher (the owners). These two gentlemen know their inventory inside and out, and if they don’t have a specific title in the store, they will order it for you – not a problem (Continuous Improvement & Innovation). Have questions about an author? They will give you information. Need a recommendation for yourself or for a gift? They will give you thoughtful and customized guidance.
But perhaps the thing that we love the most about Bricks & Mortar is that fact that it exists at all. That in this increasingly digital age, these two renegade-pioneer-book-nerds decided to open a brick and mortar book store. Sometimes the most Innovative thing that you can do is to invest in the basic tools – the bricks and the mortar of learning…..the BOOKS.
If you haven’t visited them yet (955 Cherry Street SE) – GO! Go right now. Go, dog. Go! (See what I did there? Little classic children’s book reference for y’all.)
