I started my first company on Friday September 12, 2008.
Remember that time?
I had two other business partners and the plan was to leave our safe and cushy jobs as soon as our loan came through.
Our loan came through on Friday morning. I walked into my boss’s office and gave my two weeks.
On Sunday, the banks collapsed.
What a weird time. I was thinking: should I un-resign? Is that even a thing? Do we plow forward?
We plowed forward.
But then, two months in, my partners decided that they couldn’t leave their secure jobs. So then, it was just me, trying to get a business off the ground in the worst economic crisis that I’d experienced.
I pivoted before I even started. And then I pivoted again. I think pivot is an overly well-thought term for simply saying, finding the best way to make something, anything, work.
I learned to hustle amidst the feeling of urgency that surrounded me. And I learned exceptional things can happen with the wall grinding into your back.
After three years, the little company I built, Kickstand Communications, (which some of you may remember), merged with Lucia’s company to form Walden Hyde. (And somewhere in the middle of all that, we both brought our second kids into the world.)
Talk about out of the darkness comes light.
That time taught me how business is a process of pushing forward, every single day. It taught me the importance of working toward a vision. And it taught me the people around you are your greatest asset.
But most of all, it taught me that doing business with integrity is one of the greatest accomplishments.
I learned that being a Constructive Brand is on one hand hard, and on the other hand, the most rewarding thing you can do in business.
As Constructive Brands, when we all look back on this time and at the new future we’ve built together, we’ll know that we were able to move through this time in the best way we could.
Continue on, with integrity.