10 Years In and We Just Won Our First Reed Award

Last October, my agency quietly turned 10.

I say quietly because there’s no exact founding date to point to. The way I typically tell it, my first speaking gig was Day 1 — a decade ago, when I was just looking for something to do between political cycles. I had no roadmap, no client list, no real plan. I just knew I understood social media and politics in a way that felt useful to people, and I figured I’d see where that went.

I never could have imagined where that would lead.

Over the last 10 years, I’ve worked with well over 200 clients — solopreneurs, nonprofits, Fortune 500 companies, and over 100 political campaigns.

We’ve helped break or prevent three supermajorities, smashed a bunch of glass ceilings, and worked with some of the most exciting and inspiring candidates and organizations in the country. We’ve helped organizations grow, brought people together for hundreds of real-world events, and helped great people, campaigns, organizations and brands find and connect with their audiences online.

None of it was linear. I figured most of it out as I went along, learning from smart and generous people who were willing to share their time and expertise with someone who didn’t always have a resume to justify their trust. I’ve worked hard to pay that forward.

So when I found out earlier this year that my agency won its first ever Reed Award — Best Creative Agency for the Midwest, Southwest, and West — I’ll be honest: it floored me.

The Reed Awards are one of the most prestigious recognitions in political consulting, given annually by Campaigns & Elections magazine. Most Reed Awards recognize a specific piece of work — a single ad, an email, a video. This wasn’t that. Best Creative Agency is a recognition of a broader philosophy to the work: the strategy, the creative, the execution, across every client and every campaign. That’s the kind of thing that’s hard to wrap your head around.

I didn’t come into this industry in a traditional way. I’ve never taken for granted that the work would be recognized like this. To have peers in this field look at what we’ve built and call it the best is something I genuinely don’t have the right words for. “Humbled and honored” doesn’t cut it. Floored is closer.

What I keep coming back to is this: none of it happens without the people who believed in me before I had anything to show them. The colleagues who supported me, challenged me, and were patient with me when I was still figuring out what I actually did for a living. The clients who trusted me with their stories, their campaigns, their organizations. The community that welcomed me in and never made me feel like an outsider.

Ten years in, one Reed Award on the shelf, and I’m more motivated than ever. Here’s to what comes next.