A Scribewise Holiday Letter: 22 Things I’m Proud We Did in ‘22

2022 has been a year! In this season of reflection, I’m looking back at what went right and what went wrong this year. Things certainly went wrong—I believe that if you’re not making mistakes, you’re not trying.

This piece is focused on business—yes, I’m also proud of some things I did away from the job, but this is about navigating these 12 months from a business perspective. Here are 22 things I’m proud to have done (or tried to do) in 2022:?

1. Returned to the office in a hybrid fashion. And not just any office—a brand spanking new office! We’re in the heart of one of Philadelphia’s coolest neighborhoods. More importantly, our office renewed our ability to work together; collaboration is key for the work we do, and doing this in-person adds a certain unmeasurable humanity to that work.?
2. Launched the “Courageous Marketing” movement.?
3. Speaking of courage, we embraced “radical candor.” We only did this recently, but it immediately helped us to boldly give a client the best advice … and they agreed with it. Three months ago, we wouldn’t have been so courageous. “It’s not mean, it’s clear.” If you haven’t yet, read the book Radical Candor.
4. Made hard personnel decisions. Sometimes, good people … people we like and who have talent … simply aren’t the right fit at the right time. Making those calls sucks, but sometimes it needs to be done. I’m thankful for the support of friends and colleagues when contemplating tough decisions.
5. Rewarded long-time standout Scribewiser Kaitlin Loyal with a newly-created position as VP of Operations, a role she’s perfect for and which will help fuel future growth. We’re already seeing the dividends.
6. Continued my symbiotic relationship with great friend Daniel Black, leader of Hencove. We serve each other as friends, consultants and therapists. No way I do even the mediocre job I do without him.
7. Hired the great folks at The O’Connor Group to help us with HR. Just being a part of their network is great for our business.
8. Returned to networking in person. To me, work is meaningless without the human component and everyone (rightfully) hiding behind their screens the last couple years was just no fun. Yes, sometimes it’s a pain in the neck to drive 30 minutes to an event or a meeting, but it’s completely worth the effort way more often than it’s not.?
9. Maintained and grew strong, trust-based relationships with our clients. This is not about growing our fee, but rather about growing the bond between us. That’s because we …
10. Continue to do great work, day in and day out. Of course, we screw up sometimes (oh wait… that’s mostly me…), but I’m proud of the team and the way they work together to help our clients succeed.?
11. Gracefully (I think) ended a couple client relationships when they’d run their course and we were no longer bringing value.
12. Hired a former Philadelphia elementary school teacher to her first job as a B2B marketer. I always tell her she makes me feel smart for finding great talent in nontraditional places.?
13. Aligned with the folks at Evertreen to plant 2,500 trees in eastern Kenya on behalf of our clients, creating work for Kenyans and cleaner air for the planet. It’s a small piece of the greater puzzle, but I’m glad we did it. You can read more about it here.
14. Did not participate in an RFP, even though it seemed like a good fit for us and would’ve been lucrative. The RFP process is flawed, and we’re getting away from buying those lottery tickets.
15. Embraced the idea of one-page proposals to prospective clients. As Mark Twain once said (supposedly), “If I’d had more time, I’d have written a shorter letter.” In this fast-moving world, people appreciate smart brevity. No one wants to laboriously page through a 30-slide deck. By simplifying what we present, we are making the prospective client’s life easier—and isn’t that what we’re supposed to do??
16. Introduced unlimited PTO. This requires significant two-way trust, and I believe we have it.
17. Gave everyone on the team above-market raises.
18. Introduced Bonus.ly, a simple, fun platform that allows Scribewisers to recognize their colleagues for great work. Because it’s integrated with Slack, it also provides visibility to the rest of the team about the good things others are doing.
19. Dove head first into the Metaverse. It’s just in its infancy, but we believe it’s going to be a great, immersive storytelling environment, and we’re working to figure it out so that we can help our clients create deeper connections with their customers.
20. Explored the fast-moving, terrifying world of content-producing artificial intelligence. For a group of writers, nothing is quite so scary as the prospect of robots able to do your job. But it is the future, and it’s our duty to understand it.
21. Survived. When you start a small business, you quickly realize that there are no guarantees. Even a great business idea with great execution can fail; this life requires some luck. Knock on wood.
22. Celebrated our 10th anniversary. The history of Scribewise will not be defined by a straight line that goes up and to the right, but I’m proud of how we’ve grown and the work we do for our clients.