Five Years and Five Lessons Learned
Cheers to Five Years of Delivering Results that Matter
Chirp officially launched five years ago this month, and what an exciting adventure it’s been. What started as an initial opportunity to pivot and be more present in my personal life quickly evolved into a growing business with the best team and clients in the business. We’re celebrating this milestone because of the countless team members, clients, partners, mentors and cheerleaders that helped get us here. Thank you!
In celebration of our five-year anniversary, I wanted to share five lessons learned along the way in hopes you find inspiration to soar on whatever endeavor you embark.
Follow Your Gut
Intuition is real, and it’s important to follow it whether making big or small decisions. As a business leader, you know when something feels right and when something does not. People often ask where the name Chirp came from since the logo resembles a well-known social media channel.
The name came from being present in life on a walk when a bird chirped and grabbed my attention. Based on this one bird grabbing my attention, the name and vision for Chirp became a reality. At Chirp, we empower our clients to discover a unique voice and provide the right platforms to share it with the world. Always follow your gut.
Be Different
Since day one, Chirp has been an unapologetic virtual operation that started at my kitchen table. Today, we operate from wherever and whenever the team needs to be present for our clients to deliver results that matter. Initially, the industry balked and inferred that a team must be together in person to ideate, collaborate and solve client problems. We had the technology and tools necessary to be effective remotely from day one and continue to operate fully virtual from any corner of the globe
By being different and not embracing agency norms, we were well ahead of the 2020 pivot to remote work, and we continue to stand out by being present wherever and whenever our clients need us to deliver results that matter.
Be Bold
Over a more than two-decade career, I’ve worked with countless people around the world. And I’ve been lucky in that most have been professionals whom I like, trust and respect. But there’s always a subset of people I prefer to avoid due to their bad behavior, their ill attitude, their unethical approach and/or their overall demeaning presence.
This also stuck with me when starting Chirp. To ensure we only work with people we like, trust and respect – clients or team members, Chirp embraces a no a**hole culture. This approach is antithetical to the agency model that often puts profits before people. Yet it’s the approach that assures our team and our clients that we’ll only pair them with professionals who value the
work. When there are values and expectations alignment, it makes the relationship stronger for both the client and the agency. When our clients are happy, our team thrives while continuing to deliver results that matter.
Keep Learning
After more than two decades in marketing and communications, you often tire of the same professional development options. As a business leader, you’ve an opportunity to learn about yourself, your strengths, your weaknesses, your vulnerabilities and your threats. You also have an opportunity to learn more about your team, your clients, your community and your place in the industry.
My suggestion to you is to find opportunities to learn from others the same way you’ve learned from your professional experiences and educational opportunities. By actively listening, learning and being present with the beautiful world and people around you, you’ll be amazed by what you discover when you take a daily moment to stop and find your next big idea when and where you least expect.
Values Matter
Since our inception, Chirp has always been a values-driven company that puts people before profits. Our values are simple yet powerful: We care. We embrace. We deliver. We grow.
As a purpose-driven company, we care about our people, clients, communities, and the environment. We embrace differences and celebrate diversity in our people, clients and communities. We deliver business outcomes and success for our clients and concurrently deliver growth opportunities for our people by operating with a modern, creative lens.
We grow our clients’ businesses by delivering results that matter to their companies, their customers, their people and their communities. We grow as a company when our clients grow.
Over the past five years, Chirp has grown consistently year over year by offering senior-level counsel on the entire marketing and communications spectrum of services with niche B2B technology clients. We've sustained long-term relationships, welcomed referrals from our clients over the years, and had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects and launches along the way. It’s these opportunities that are a result of the lessons put into practice each day at Chirp. I'd love to hear what others you'd add to the mix.
Cheers to five years of delivering results that matter and to what we’ll accomplish over the next five years and beyond!