January felt like a quiet beginning
Purpose finds you when you move
What if everything we’re working toward slowly comes together?
I started the year with this quiet confidence, and I hope some of it reaches you too. There’s something about a fresh beginning that feels grounding to me, knowing a full journey is ahead, ready to unfold, carrying all the possibilities I’ve been dreaming of.
As we built this year’s calendar, that feeling stayed with me. New initiatives are taking shape, ones that will raise the bar and push us to grow in ways we haven’t yet.
Last year, we decided to reshape this newsletter to reflect life at Thunder: how our month actually went, what’s on the horizon, and what we’re working behind the scenes.
So here we go.
On growth and growing
There’s no better way to start the year than by welcoming new hearts and hands into our work. We’ve opened a Junior Full-Stack Engineer position for someone who’s excited to build mission-driven software products with us.
We’ve received many applications already, and some of them feel… surface-level. A lot rely heavily on AI, and while we’re not against it, it doesn’t reveal the one thing that matters most to us: personality. That human warmth behind the words. A voice that feels real, lived-in.
We also noticed that some of the questions we carefully added to the application form were treated rather superficially. It made us realize how often people apply without really taking the time to understand the company, its values, or its mission. And for us, that alignment matters more than almost anything else.
That’s exactly why we’ve put together a CV guide and an interview guide, to encourage people to show up as the humans they truly are, and to research the places they apply to. A CV should feel like a person, not a template. And an application should feel intentional.
This only reminds us, once again, that standing out still comes down to doing the work. Thoughtful work. Personal work. The one that takes a little more time, but always pays off.
We’re lucky to do meaningful work together, and that’s something we never want to take for granted.
As we grow outward, we’re also choosing to grow inward. In the months ahead, we’ll be working with Tünde Macarie, a leadership coach behind the Dig Deeper Leaders – Equipped for Impact program, to support us in becoming more aligned with ourselves and each other.
We had our first meeting this week, and it was a lovely chance to hear our perspectives, share a bit about ourselves, and find common ground. We’ll share what we’re learning as we go.
Tünde also joined us for one of our Thunder Talks, and we’re curious to explore the spaces where we can grow, soften, strengthen, and do better. Leadership, for us, is the thread that holds the work and the relationships in place, and we stay open to perspectives that help us deepen both.
An invitation for February
This month, we’re letting something we’ve carried for a long time step into the world: our leadership book.
It’s been months of back-and-forth emails and delays with the ISBN registration. We’ve struggled more than we expected. Even though we followed the guidelines, some issues came up, and now the title font, which uses different sizes, has become an obstacle, even though we’ve seen the same approach in other books.
Apparently, when a book goes through an established publisher, there’s more flexibility in how it looks. But when you apply independently, there are stricter rules to follow, rules that sometimes feel more limiting than necessary.
So we’ve decided to collaborate with a publishing house to make sure the book is ready soon.
Besides all of that, we’ve rented the venue, and we’re getting ready for the official launch on 26 February, where we’ll gather to share stories about leadership defined by humanity.
If you’ve been with us for a while, you know we always gift a book at our events. This time, we’re offering you our own. As a thank you for walking alongside us, and for believing, as we do, that leadership is something you grow into. That it’s not about ruling others, but about standing beside them, helping their light find its way forward.
It feels a bit like our first Thunder Talks of the year, but with an unbelievable twist. We truly hope to see you there. It means more than we can say to have you alongside us as we follow where this journey leads.
A new space for human stories
An old room in our Thunder home has found a new purpose. Deni and Anda took care of every detail to shape a space that carries the feeling we want people to experience when they step inside. To sense a calm, open environment, and full of intention, but also one that feels built for honesty and presence. It’s now our podcast room, soon to echo with the voices of young people who are out there making a real difference in their own way.
We want this podcast to be for anyone who feels stuck while chasing their dreams, for those who sometimes forget that the only walls are the ones they build themselves. And to remind them that becoming takes work, courage, and, of course, a little bit of patience.
The voices joining us will share the mindset that keeps their lives on track, the choices that keep them aligned with the path they want, and the principles that pushed them past “good enough” into building careers that are fulfilling.
We’re grateful to have Iulia Iurean as our first guest, a human being who truly lives what she preaches. Someone who goes the extra mile, takes ownership, and never settles for mediocrity.
Iulia, we’re so ready to hear your story.
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