Core FOUNDATIONS - Why Core Values Aren't Enough
- Nicole & Julie
- Jun 10
- 4 min read
Updated: Jul 3
by Nicole Jankiewicz | June 10, 2025
Yes, Core Values Are Important! But There's More.
*This is a rewrite of an original blog written in 2018, seven years ago, about the importance of Core Values.
While that all still holds true, we've found that expanding the Core Foundations of how we do business has been invaluable.
When we first decided to come up with our Core Values for EPIC in 6 words or less, we thought it would be impossible. There are so many aspects of our business that are important to us! How could we possibly share that in 6 words!?
So, we grabbed some markers and went to the white boards….
EPIC Core Values
We brainstormed. We debated. We noticed patterns. We took the list on a road trip.
Eventually, we landed on these six words and phrases—
Discipline = Freedom – Funovation – Raw Communication – Reliability – Clarity to Conviction - Bridging the Gap
Here's what we learned...
These values became more than a list—they became our decision-making compass, a way to communicate what matters to us, and a guide for clients, collaborators, and team members who resonate with the same heartbeat.
And Here’s What We’ve Learned Since…
Over the years, we realized that having Core Values ALONE wasn’t enough.
Running a business is not just about knowing what you stand for; it’s about building a foundation that can hold you—one that helps you stay aligned through seasons of growth, change, and challenge.
Your business is not just a structure. It’s a living entity—one that breathes with you, flows with you, sometimes triggers you, sometimes expands you, and always mirrors back your own evolution.
Core Foundations
If we only focus on Core Values, we miss an opportunity to design a business that truly honors who we are and how we want to live and work.
We now explore 5 Core Foundations:
Values, Traits, Beliefs, Principles, and Operational DNA.
Values
The values that guide everything you do. They’re your North Star—not a list you frame, but a living force you reference every day. These easily identifiable qualities are your cornerstone.
Traits
How you are in the world. Your company profile - rhythms, quirks, energy patterns, strengths and preferences.
These are discovered after some deep exploration and understanding of yourself and your business. Understanding your traits and behaviors allow you to identify your company's personality and profile.
Beliefs
This is your personal why, your purpose, and your focus.
What do you believe about work, about worth, about service? This is where you define the lens through which you see your business and it's purpose—not what you “should” believe, but what you actually believe. This is where your passions, past experiences, and life's culture shape your purpose.
This is the mission that keeps you aligned when the shiny-object syndrome hits (and it will). It’s your reminder of why you started this thing in the first place. It’s your promise—to yourself and to those you serve.
Principles
Core Principles are not handed down from a book of business rules. They are the personal and intentional ways we choose to operate — how we show up for ourselves, our clients, our teams, and our greater ecosystem.
This is about doing business as a living practice, one that honors who you are and what matters most to you.
They might include; honoring wellbeing, fostering creativity, practicing radical transparency, or making space for play and flow — or they might look completely different.
The key is this: you define them, you live them, and they become a compass for how you build, lead, and grow your business.
And because we believe in a new way of doing business — one that is relational, regenerative, and aligned — we encourage you to choose principles that support your wholeness, your energy, and your deepest values.
Take what resonates. Leave the rest. Your business gets to be an authentic reflection of you — not anyone else.
Operational DNA
This is the backbone of how your business functions—the systems, processes, and structures that support your work behind the scenes.
It’s the how that brings your values, principles, and creativity to life. It includes how you communicate, deliver services, make decisions, handle logistics, and design for sustainability.
Your Operational DNA should feel like an authentic extension of your rhythm, not someone else’s blueprint.
It's also what makes you special.
What are your unique traits and differentiators. What makes your business unmistakably YOU?
The more clearly you can name this, the more magnetic your business becomes.
From Values to Foundation
In our own journey, we’ve gone from listing values on a whiteboard…to building an entire operating foundation that supports the way we truly want to live and work.
It’s not about perfection - It’s about alignment. It’s about building a business that lets us stay anchored in our soul—not constantly chasing hustle, validation, or “shoulds.”
Building an EPIC business is not about fitting yourself into someone else’s blueprint.
It’s about designing a business that honors:
Who you are.
How you work best.
What you’re here to offer.
The kind of impact you want to make.
And it’s about doing all of that with joy, integrity, and a deep sense of alignment.
We help you define and design the foundation of your business in a way that supports sustainable success, creativity, and wellbeing.
If you’re ready to build a business that holds you (not the other way around), reach out.
Let’s build something real—together.
💛 Nicole & Julie
“If you consider that Zappos sold their business to Amazon for $1.2 BILLION dollars, and the CEO says if he could do ONE thing differently, it would be to create their values at the very beginning, then that should be a sledgehammer of a clue for you to do the same.” ~ from an article in Huffpost.
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