13 Going on 30
When we founded our event company in 2008, of all the business planning scenarios we imagined, nothing could have prepared us for the seismic shift our industry, our lives and our business have undergone over the last year.
Early this year, we were lucky enough to meet—in person—for a weekend of strategy and planning. It was just the three partners—Anne Frey-Mott, Beckie Jankiewicz, and myself. We were at a critical time for our business and had been for over a year since we’d last been able to meet in person. We have been heads-down focused on the twists and turns thrown our way by a global pandemic. We had a lot to accomplish, but one thing was quickly very clear: the most important thing we were doing was simply being together again.
Almost every small business in America and around the globe felt the impact of the pandemic on their business. Yet for our 13-year-old, women-owned event business, this year has been the ultimate test.
“For our 13-year-old, women-owned event business, this year has been the ultimate test.”
We built our business more than a decade ago on the promise that being face-to-face moves business forward. It’s something that resonates deeply with me. My first real job was building events for the then-fledgling Fast Company magazine. At the time, the founding editors trusted me with the simple mission of bringing the magazine to life.
I often tell people that I never knew a job like this one existed (I was an English major in college with my teenage heart set on being a poet!), and I am so glad I found this line of work. It’s been the perfect intersection between creativity and logistics. Coming up with big ideas and then making them happen. Envisioning an experience and then bringing it to life for a group of people. There’s something really beautiful about seeing a group of people enjoying the experiences you planned, interacting in ways that you envisioned, making connections, and learning new things.
Spending time with my two business partners in the same place for the span of a few days brought the passion for this job back to me in full force. To be able to walk and talk and share a meal together made the biggest difference. It really reminded me how deeply I believe in the core mission of what I do: connect people.
The absence of this thing that we have grown so accustomed to—getting on planes, setting up spaces, guiding hundreds of people through an experience—has deeply emphasized what it means to be in the same space as other people. And what we miss out on when we can’t do it.
I recognize this same realization in so many other colleagues, clients and leaders. The communal acknowledgment of what it means to be together. The desire to go back. The hope to gather in the same spaces, share ideas, share inspiration, and then bring that renewed energy back to our work.
As we embark on another year (or 30) in business, we know that there is only one way and that is forward. We look forward to connecting more and more people. We look forward to designing new ways for us all to come together and use the power of our shared connections to fuel innovation, collaboration and change. And we look forward to seeing you in person again very soon.
