CAPIE That: Refining Our Core Values

Collaboration, Adaptability, Perseverance, Integrity, and Excellence (or CAPIE for short) are the five Core Values at the heart of Itch. They guide our work, help us evaluate ourselves, and anchor our community of boldly authentic creatives.

We had these values taped to our office walls IRL (back when we still had an office) and posted online on our website and socials. But through the years, we realized their definitions weren’t as crystal clear as they should be. A lot of the statements left too much room for interpretation.

If it’s meant to be used as the backbone of a growing creative agency like ours, we had to make it clearer and more tangible. 

Taking matters into his own hands, our People and Culture Director Lui Milanes “went insane” (his words, not ours!) and took on the job of refining and redefining what each value truly meant to the team.  

First, he broke down each Core Value—digging into what CAPIE actually looked like in our day-to-day work. He asked questions like, “What does Integrity really mean? What action shows Collaboration?”

From there, he narrowed each value down to five concrete and observable traits, focusing on everyday actions, habits, and interactions. This helped turn our core values from broad concepts into behaviors we can actually recognize and practice.

The final step was turning these traits and insights into single, self-directed statements that fully encompass the essence of CAPIE. If you can confidently say these statements out loud, then you’re on the right track! 

Check out the updated breakdown below!

It certainly took a lot of contemplation, team consultations, reframing, and so much more to get the list to this level of clarity. But every step was worth it since it meant giving Itch a more achievable and actionable set of values to build upon. 

Lui shared that while crafting these statements and definitions, he found himself drawing heavy inspiration from the Itches who already embody each core value the most. So, while CAPIE helps drive the team forward, it’s also the team members who ultimately bring these values to life—what a full-circle moment!

Now, it was time to let everyone know. Workshops were held per department via Zoom where Lui extensively discussed the renewed core values. Everyone was encouraged to ask questions and share their thoughts to help the team gain a clearer understanding of the changes and better distinguish each value from the rest. 

This change even augmented the way we assess our team during Performance Feedback. Each statement and trait was reflected on our feedback forms to help us be more specific in the comments that we give and more intentional in the way we view our work and interactions. 

For Creative Director Audrey Orallo, the new definitions gave the core values so much more depth. She loved that it was a collaborative effort to enumerate various embodiments of each core value, which showed our shared standards for quality while recognizing the unique manifestations it can have for every Itch.

The workshops proved to be enlightening for our team members too, giving them a new perspective on how certain CAPIE values show up in their work routines. 

Our Motion Art Director Stephen Sison said that he was pleasantly surprised to learn that visibility and presence were significant parts of embodying Excellence. He mentioned how he never realized that he was already practicing this value by being an active participant and listener during team onboardings and meetings.

Clarisse Alfonso, one of our Art Directors, also shared how she used to feel like Integrity had to be this huge display of strong moral uprightness. But the workshop made her realize how it also manifested in the small things, like leading with empathy and approaching feedback with the understanding that we all want to bring out the best output as a team. 

Refining our core values showed us the importance of looking at these little things and giving every detail the attention they deserve. Because in doing so, we’re able to discover more ways to make things better.

That’s just how we do things at Itch Creatives—we approach everything with the intention of improving ourselves and our craft. The same amount of effort and passion we put into our creative work also goes into building a boldly authentic company culture that we can all be proud of.