Brilliant Ink’s five-year anniversary passed quietly a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t even realize it was upon us until I was driving home from the office and heard a story on the radio about the five-year anniversary of the failure of Lehman Brothers. In my mind, the financial crisis of 2008 has always been connected to the beginnings of Brilliant Ink, which in some ways makes our progress even more remarkable.

I remember the collapse of Lehman Brothers very well. After months of working to articulate the Brilliant Ink value proposition, testing it with former colleagues and clients, and developing marketing materials to effectively sell the business, my first action was to book a trip to Chicago, where I used to work, to begin introducing Brilliant Ink to my professional network. I was incredibly proud of the company concept and nervous about its reception, and that’s what I was thinking about as I drove to the airport on September 12. The news on the radio about the financial crisis introduced another element – fear. I’d been warned that gaining traction with a new business always takes longer than you think; trying to do it in the midst of a national economic meltdown felt downright daunting.

The meetings in Chicago went well. I found a lot of interest, if not a lot of new clients, but by the time I headed home I had a new concern. Washington Mutual, my husband’s employer at the time, was now faltering. By the end of September, WaMu was no more and my husband was out of a job. It was a dark time for us, and I seriously questioned the decision to start the company at all.

Fast forward five years, and sometimes it’s hard for me to fathom how far we’ve come as a company. We started with a team of one, and now we have a team of 13, located in the Bay Area, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. We began with no clients, and now our client roster includes some of the largest and most respected companies in the world, including Wells Fargo, Novo Nordisk, Roche, PayPal, and Visa, to name a few. We launched with only my experience backing us, and now our philosophy and client work is guided by our own proprietary, award-winning research.

There have been many, many people who’ve had a hand in our company success along the way – clients, partners and vendors, friends, supportive family members. To all of you, I offer my sincerest thanks and gratitude. Brilliant Ink wouldn’t exist without your support. And I’d be seriously remiss if I didn’t give a huge shout-out to the best team of employee engagement professionals I’ve ever met. Brilliant Inkies, y’all rock! Thank you for joining me on this adventure.  

So, what will the next five years hold for us? I honestly have no idea, but I can’t wait to find out.