Lip Sync Battle boosts SECC builds friendships new opportunities for DFI
When entries opened for the 2019 Indiana SECC Lip Sync Battle, Indiana Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) secretary Angie Smith saw a unique opportunity.
Employees of the small agency of about 70 total workers had long wanted to be part of some of the Indiana State Employees’ Community Campaign’s (SECC) signature activities, but by virtue of having a relatively small number of employees, organizing teams for the various competitive events wasn’t always practical. But this time was different.
“It’s kind of funny because we actually always have been wanting to get into one of the competitions,” said Kirk Schreiber, DFI senior bank analyst. “The Paddle Battle… we’ve talked about doing that, but we’re kind of a small agency, so we’ve never really done anything like that. [Smith] saw [the Lip Sync entry notification] and she said something to another employee and it just kind of went from there.”
Soon DFI’s “Fab Five” was born. Smith, a longtime SECC contributor, first tasked her colleague, Sharmaine Stewart, with joining her. The duo soon added Kelly Nelson, Cheryl Loveless, and Susan Ellison, expanding into a full-on band.
Now they were getting somewhere, and thanks to some positive peer pressure, the group, all of whom work in administrative roles, was able to draft a few male co-workers bringing “The Great Eight from the State” into existence – and eventual Lip Sync Battle legend.
“Once they decided what song they were going to do, they looked at some videos, saw the videos, and decided there was going to have to be some extra people,” Schreiber said with a laugh. “They got three of us guys -- different individuals they thought would be able to help them. We got volunteered.”
With the “band” finally together, the group went right to work. They selected Donna Summer’s 1983 smash hit “She Works Hard for the Money” as their song, and went about putting together an array of costumes and props that would make for an entertaining show. Stewart would portray Summer while the remaining seven members would act out various scenes in an homage to Summer’s live performances of the song in the early ‘80s. The projector screen behind the performance ran a slide show of DFI employees doing what they do best – well, other than perform in lip sync competitions, of course.
The Indiana Department of Financial Institutions won the 2019 Lip Sync Battle with a performance of “She Works Hard for the Money.” They had plenty of fun putting their performance together, and one of the group’s leaders believes the experience helped the group grow closer as friends and colleagues. Seen here are Konnor Miller, Cheryl Loveless, Kelly Nelson, Mitchell Boyer, Sharmaine Stewart, Angie Smith, Kirk Schreiber, Susan Ellison.
Knowing they were up against some major competition from last year’s winners, the Indiana Department of Revenue (DOR), as well as a fellow upstart, the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS), DFI went all-in on a humorous performance that ended up being the audience’s top choice.
To be named the winner, after wanting for so long to be part of events such as this was “the icing on top of the cake,” said Schreiber. “It felt really good to us because we’ve always wanted to be in some kind of competition. Winning was just a nice bonus.”
Best of all, the rehearsals helped bring the DFI team closer together. “It was fun,” Schreiber said. “We all enjoyed it, had a good time practicing and getting to know each other better.” In that way, the Lip Sync Battle turned out to be an amazing team-building exercise -- that also happened to support a great cause.
“All the hard work and everything people put into it … talking through the issues… It made us all come closer together,” said Schreiber.
The team is still excited and basking in the glow of their Lip Sync Battle victory, and some of the team members are already in the early planning stages for an encore. What shape that performance will take remains to be seen, but Schreiber joked that the men involved in this year’s show wouldn’t be taking the lead – they’re leaving it up to Angie and others in her office who choreographed and designed the 2019 performance.
“I put the kibosh on that,” he joked. As the Lip Sync Battle appears ready to grow to include more teams in future events, Schreiber believes other teams should shake off any potential stage fright and sign-up.
“I think the bottom line is that it does bring your staff and team together in a more cohesive way, not only from a work standpoint, but from a personal standpoint of getting to know your fellow coworkers better,” he said. “You do it for a good cause, and in the end, you had fun.”
Story by Brent Brown, INSPD