4 Years, 2 Months, & 1 in 3

Happy Friday Sippers,

⚡ TL;DR |  4 years at Google, 2 months on Carer's Leave, and how core memories drive both human dignity and brand restoration.

How was your week?

On August 2nd, I mark four years at Google. 

Last year, around this time, I wrote about the corporate "3-year itch", that standard milestone where you assess your trajectory, what you've built, and where you're heading next.

This year, my fourth anniversary looks entirely different.

Starting today, I am taking advantage of Google's Carer's Leave program and stepping away from my day job for the next two months. I'm spending August and September helping move my mother into a residence and supporting her care as she navigates Alzheimer's.

When we talk about great workplaces, the conversation often centers on office perks, global reach, or cutting-edge tools. But four years in, the true test of a company's culture isn't found in the cafeteria; it's found in moments like this.

When I told my boss, his response was immediate and clear: "It's a difficult time, but our aging parents need us. Good that you're prioritizing your mom's care. Focus on family. We'll keep the business moving." 

To work in an environment where leaders remind you to put family first without hesitation is what real culture actually looks like. And once you find that kind of culture, the rest is up to you; I didn't just want to say what my priorities are, I wanted to live them.

Alzheimer's is a heavy diagnosis, but living through it reveals unexpected silver linings. 

While my mom has been losing her short-term memory, the past has opened up in vivid detail. She has been sharing her core memories with me; stories of her as a fillette (little girl), and memories of her father, my grandfather, who was a chef de gare (station master) during WWII and was fired for holding up trains bound for the camps.

There are so many details about her life I never knew. In the middle of this painful transition, I feel like I am discovering my maman all over again.

The numbers around this disease are staggering:

• 1 in 3 people is directly affected by dementia and Alzheimer's.

• 2 out of 3 people are impacted by the ripple effect of caretaking.

🏛️The Brand Angle | Character Restoration & The Heritage Archive 🏛️

In marketing, we talk endlessly about building brand equity, documenting heritage, and protecting the origin story. We build archives so that when the noise of the present gets overwhelming, a brand can return to its core identity, what made it iconic in the first place.

Look at The Gap. After years of struggling to find its modern footing, the brand underwent a massive cultural and inventory turnaround under CEO Richard Dickson. Instead of trying to invent something entirely new, he delivered a masterclass in Character Restoration, recapturing the exact heritage, music, choreography, and effortless optimism that made Gap, Gap at its peak. The result? The market responded immediately, with the stock nearly doubling as the brand reconnected with its true DNA.

Human memory works the exact same way.

When short-term noise fades, the foundational brand and the core story are what remain.

One of the most profound creative projects I've seen on this topic is the Radio Time Machine campaign, which earned a Silver Lion at Cannes.

It uses Reminiscence Therapy and AI-driven radio broadcasts to transport dementia patients back to specific eras in their lives, easing anxiety and reigniting long-forgotten recollections through sound.

It's a masterclass in what technology and creativity can do at their absolute best: serve human empathy, restore dignity, and retrieve the core narrative when everything else fades.

☕ The Sip Takeaway ☕ 🍷🍸

Whether you are executing a brand turnaround or navigating a personal life shift, never underestimate the power of retrieving your origin story. When short-term metrics cloud the picture or present circumstances feel turbulent, the winning strategy is almost always the same: anchor back into the core memories and foundational values that built you.

While I'm logging off from my day job for the next eight weeks, I'm not stepping away from writing. I'll still be dropping my weekly notes right here every Friday; my lens might shift slightly toward life, family, and the human side of perspective.

Here's to four years at Google, to taking care of the people who raised us, and to holding onto the core memories that define us.

See you next week.