When I founded my company, Cause Strategy Partners, in 2015, I wanted our employees to have a shared name. Nicknaming a team is known to have a positive effect on employee culture and cohesion, creating a sense of shared purpose and belonging.

Google refers to its employees as Googlers. Salesforce team members are Trailblazers. Workday uses Workmates. Disney employees are Cast Members. The team at Rocket Mortgage, headquartered in Motown? Brilliantly, they are Rock Stars.

Sure beats “Associates,” doesn’t it?

It didn’t take long for me to realize that a defining characteristic of the people associated with Cause Strategy Partners—our employees, our clients, our board candidates, and our nonprofit partners—share one overarching trait. All of us are passionate about a cause. Many of us have multiple causes. I sometimes joke that our team rarely comes across a cause that we don’t get excited about.

Why? Because we are Causies.

A Causie is someone who makes an intentional, substantial, long-term commitment to serve their cause.

A Causie is on a mission. A Causie sees a need and has to do something about it. A Causie commits to a purpose larger than themselves. A Causie makes service an important part of their personal and professional journey.

The musical Pippin – with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Roger O. Hirson – is a story about a young man searching for meaning and purpose in his life. In the beautiful song “Corner of the Sky,” Pippin asks rhetorically, “Don’t you see I want my life to be something more than long?”

That urge to make an impact, to tap into a deeper purpose, and to leave a legacy of positive change is at the heart of what it means to be a Causie.

Chances are that you are an incredibly busy person immersed in the whirlwind of life. You are likely a working professional with a demanding job, loved ones to look after, friendships to enjoy, a home to maintain, and plenty of outside interests to pursue.

I want you to know that it is possible to have a big job and a big life while carving out space to serve your cause. Through my work, I’ve been fortunate to meet countless professionals with impossibly busy lives who nonetheless prioritize service. They recognize that serving their cause needs to be a part of their life’s story. They’d have it no other way.

I’m so glad you’re taking the first steps in your own Causie journey. Welcome to our Causie Community, friend! -Rob