𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝟭𝟲 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 - #𝗔𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆𝗟𝗶𝗳𝗲

Before tomorrow’s remembrances, I want to acknowledge and celebrate an important personal anniversary today. This September, 16 years ago, I launched my agency. I was not an entrepreneur (I have always considered myself to be a small business owner) and did not know everything about running an agency, let alone how to run a business. I was nervous about failure – what would happen if I couldn’t find clients? Who was I to run an agency? How did you secure a business name and a domain to match? What did I know about P&Ls, cashflow and leveraging business lines of credit? What the heck was a 941 or NYS-45?

Would anyone find out I was an impostor?

I launched Communication Strategy Group as a technology public relations agency with one client and a couple of referrals and three things happened:

First, I learned. I learned what I needed to know to run a successful agency. I learned how to prospect for clients. I learned how to onboard new clients. I learned how to listen to what they needed and make solid recommendations. I learned how to meet and exceed my clients’ expectations. I learned the way to hire contractors and employees. I learned how to file my taxes on time.

Second, I developed my own voice. I started as a tech PR firm, but a question from a chance meeting with marketing guru @Seth Godin moved me to think harder about what made me, my team and my agency “different.” It’s easy to push to be better, stronger, faster. But it is a real challenge to be different. We became a brand storytelling agency. And last month we rebranded and renamed the agency to Brandtelling. Today, I have a strong voice, purpose and direction. You can’t shut me up! Some of you know that’s not new 😉.

Third, I had the trust, love, support and guidance of family, friends and professionals. My wife Patty and my daughters decorated my first home office and set it up with pens and paper and a desk blotter. It was very touching and meant a lot! Their faith in me has never wavered. Our dogs would come and lie down at my feet as I worked at the computer or made calls. @George Cavooris, my CPA provided solid guidance and support to build my accounting system and teach me what I needed to know about business. And @Michael Mauro and his team at @Merril Lynch have provided my family with the financial management guidance we need to put both daughters through college and learn how not to worry about money while building a business. My team: @Michael Simbrom, @Mark Kindley, @Karen Franse, @Gayle Kesten, @Jennifer Bosavage, @Rich Mullikin, @Brian Cohen, @Jess Chebuske, @Patti Myers and many more provided their friendship and professional guidance to help me serve our clients. And speaking about clients: @LogicalisUS, @CosmoCom, @ISC, @AFCO Systems, @Island Tech Services, and others were among the first clients to trust my fledgling agency to care for their businesses.

Over the past 16 years, many things have changed. The world of public relations has morphed into branded journalism and content marketing. Brand Storytelling has come of age. Social media has both united and divided us – making the world smaller with wider gaps between us. And you can learn almost anything you need by typing a few phrases into Google.

But what hasn’t changed is the trust, love, support and guidance I have received. I want to thank everyone who has believed in me and supported me as I have grown and as the agency has matured. Thank you for your support and prayers – and business, let’s remember that I run a small business!

It is not for everyone, but this has become my life and I fully support those of you who are making similar journeys!

#agencylife #agencyleadership #branding #brandstorytelling #brandtelling #linkedincreators #marketing #gratitudepost #gratitude