two guys walk into a bank...
i think being in your element is doing things that you’re truly passionate about. but it's not necessarily easy.
An example is people who love rock climbing: It doesn’t mean that it’s not nerve-racking or that they’re not anxiety-ridden, but it’s what those people love to do. For some people, it’s reading on the beach. We all have our personal element, our exercise, our fun, our work element — there isn’t just one. There may be pieces that take you out of your comfort zone, but you can still be in your element.
My role at The Element Group is to go out and tell stories. To find opportunities and share ideas, and hopefully to get people excited about what could be. That’s where I feel most comfortable. The hope is that everyone who works here is doing something that they feel comfortable — and in their element — doing.
Nate Baldasaro
Co-Founder, The Element Group
BUILDING BLOCKS
As defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary
how it all started
Element co-founders Nate Baldasaro and William Foley met while working at a New Hampshire-based firm that specialized in financial and traditional retail experiences. Their services included point-of-sale communications, branding strategy, environmental design, and merchandising analysis.
When this firm closed, Nate and William realized they had developed similar ideas about what the retail banking experience could be, and both felt compelled to take those ideas further. In 2010, they wrote a business plan and secured a private investment, planting the seeds that would become The Element Group. By January 2011, they were up and running.
during the planning stage, before launch, the word "element" kept coming up.
In their first few years working in the retail banking industry, both Nate and William had seen a lot of things they liked, a lot they didn’t, and a lot they thought could be done better. They realized that every building block of a financial institution, no matter how small or intangible, matters to the overall customer experience. And when all the components of a retail space are working together, those inside can feel it.
