How a Spelling Bee Builds Culture at Grooms Office Environments

For Jonathan and Audrey Garard, co-owners of Grooms Office Environments, nothing brings a team together quite like a good old-fashioned spelling bee. It's competitive, it's humbling, and most of all, it's an opportunity to bring levity into the workplace.

At Grooms, the annual spelling bee has become a rite of passage for employees. The Garards launched the tradition in 2015 to foster a sense of community and friendly—though often humbling—competition among their staff. "Ultimately, when you are growing as a company and you're looking for things that you're hoping are fun, [a spelling bee] is kind of the great equalizer, right?" says Jonathan. It's an activity in which everyone, regardless of ability or age, is able to participate.

The Grooms team strives to make their spelling bee as official (and fun) as possible, with a stage, a trophy and the official Scripps National Spelling Bee list. Although, according to Jonathan, who often emcees the event, competitors never make it past the fifth-grade level words. This year's winning word? Skedaddle.

Andrea Mueller, Grooms' marketing director, says the best part of the spelling bee is how quickly it humbles even the most confident participants. Words are selected at random with varying levels of difficulty. It doesn't matter whether you have a college degree or not, everyone stands an equal chance of being humbled by the luck of the draw.

For some, though, the competition offers the opportunity to make themselves company legends. Tamra Lovelace won the 2026 bee after only a week on the Grooms' team. Three-time Grooms Spelling Bee champion Larry Hicks is a member of the company's install team, and he proudly displays his trophies on the dashboard of his delivery truck. This year, Hicks served as the pronouncer while suited up in a full bumblebee costume.

Now, the Garards are exploring the idea of a community spelling bee with partner companies. Details are still under development and the goal is to have the proceeds benefit the winner's nonprofit of choice. "When you build camaraderie between local companies, it's a really good thing," says Jonathan. "Then if you can do it for a good cause, it ties community and companies and creates a community culture that is worth the effort." Positive company culture, friendly competition and an opportunity to give back spell success for the Grooms team.