Our founder had a moment. A moment on her slightly bent, very used road bike at a popular intersection in San Diego, where she waited for a red light next to a Honda SUV. She didn’t own a car, yet there she sat on a roadway next to a consumer product that she promoted.
There had to be a better way.
Welcome to Mixte, a communications company based on doing business the right way with good people who want nice things for our communities. If ever there were an organization that exemplified living life by bike – but with a twist – Mixte Communications is it. Mixte has engrained bicycles at the very core (and in the very name) of the organization.
“The vision for this company — and the foundation of all we believe — began on bikes, so the name Mixte — a classic step-through bicycle frame — says it all in one word. Bicycles represent something we love and symbolize every piece of business we represent,” Hampton says.
Mixte began when CEO Jamie Hampton left her career at a prospering public relations agency because of conflicting transportation views described above.
Instead of finding work at another agency, Hampton built an entire company around a culture of riding bikes. Now she and her team of four have constructed a company culture revolved entirely around bicycles. Each employee has his or her own laptop instead of desktop computer to enable working on the go. It’s not uncommon to see two Mixte employees on their bikes early in the morning, headed to a client meeting with computers and work supplies in their bags. She’s ensured all her clients’ welcome bike parking in the office, just for Mixte staff. Hampton has built a company culture so that commuting by bike can be just as professional and successful as anyone who commutes by automobile – maybe just a little sweatier.
When they’re not pedaling around town, Mixte employees spend time at a restored art studio they’ve made their office. The tables, made from recycled materials, are painted with images of people riding bicycles with the word, “BIKE” painted extra large across the surface. The office has a space dedicated for employee (and passerby’s) bicycles and the fridge is always stocked to encourage healthy eating on the go. Wood letters in the front window greet people with: Mixte hearts bikes.
One of Mixte’s oldest clients remains the San Diego County Bike Coalition – the region’s only countywide bicycle advocacy organization that supports the rights of all people who ride bikes in San Diego. Hampton offered her services to the organization pro bono for the first year, now continuing their business partnership at a severely discounted rate. With Mixte’s help, the Bike Coalition has become San Diego’s premier voice for the rights of all people to safe bicycling and walking.
Hampton spreads her passion for bicycle commuting to everyone she meets. She’s individually taught dozens of people in two states (California and Oregon) to learn life on two wheels instead of four. She lends bikes to start. And finds free bikes to pass along the love to those who can’t afford them. She has mastered the art of life without a car and takes pure joy in teaching others to do the same, especially the untraditional bicyclist. Want to wear work clothes to commute? No problem. Don’t have the right supplies? Don’t worry, Jamie does. Have no idea which routes go where? She’s got you covered and she’ll show you the way – just follow her. In her own words, “One mile at a time, anyone can learn to ride their bicycle to work or the park or the store or the beach or the ballgame or around the block. We don’t always have to drive a car, in fact, sometimes a little sweat is really good. I feel proud that I’ve kept my heart and my business in this place.”
Like all good leaders, Hampton leads by example. On any given day, the 2013 San Diego County Commuter of the Year can be found in heels, dresses, jean jackets, dangling earrings, saddlebags full, whizzing past cars sitting in traffic throughout the county. She may even be the first person to your meeting.
She also believes playing as hard as one works, so Jamie spread the love of bicycling globally as her past three major vacations involved bicycle touring and camping along the Pacific Coast, through Turkey, and in Spain and Morocco.
Hampton has now become the quintessential example of a successful entrepreneur, small business owner, bicycle commuter, teacher, advocate, and enabler of all people to live a healthy, happy, and efficient life by bike.
