While I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself an adrenaline junkie, these last eight months have me wondering otherwise. No, this isn’t your typical bungee jumping, skydiving kind of adventure story – it’s the entrepreneur version – the one where you jump out of a plane and then build the parachute during free fall.To simply say things have changed at Forward Level since last August would be a severe understatement. From a one-man home office to a roster of five marketing consultants spanning three offices (one of which is our brand new Calgary office in Mission), life here has been nothing short of exciting. And although it’s an anomaly for me to write a blog about our internal escapades, it’s just too exciting not to share with our closest friends.So, here’s a quick snapshot from 10,000 feet…August saw a significant milestone, when Forward Level doubled in size and welcomed our Marketing Assistant, Caitlin Leach (that’s right, we were up to two people)! Two months later another key piece found her way into the FLM puzzle – Danielle Gill, our Communications Manager. Let me tell you, adding talent, like adrenaline, is addictive. But then it hit me (and hit me hard) – these talented folks need to get paid – regularly. “Overhead” is a scary word for entrepreneurs, and on top of that, my new responsibilities included payroll, benefits, invoices for rent, vacation requests, IT questions and other head-spinning items that do not exist when you are a one-man show. While it was daunting at first, my vision for what Forward Level could be was now a living, breathing entity, and I couldn’t wait for what was next.Before I fast-forward to today, I must acknowledge (and congratulate) all of our – and I truly mean it when I say – AMAZING clients, as our growth is a direct reflection of yours. At FLM, success is based on our ability to help clients grow their businesses, and well, monkey see, monkey do. In fact, this monkey did – this month! We are thrilled to announce that our already strong roster got a little stronger this month when Jeff Holden, who has equipped FLM with his graphic design ninja skills since the beginning, officially joined us as Senior Designer. And in May, our team will grow to five with our new Communications Advisor, Chelsea Kotris, who will manage the communications and PR function at Forward Level while Danielle is on maternity leave with baby #2 (yet another addition to the Forward Level “family”).So where are we housing these new, fresh faces? We are excited to have recently moved into our new Calgary office in Mission with one of our closest clients (we’ve been dating for two years and decided it was now time we live together). Our brand new, gorgeous office in this trendy area suits our young, professional vibe. We now also have people on the ground and ready to serve clients in Kelowna and Toronto. Danielle is working out of Kelowna, B.C. and Jeff is our Toronto foot soldier (yes he is a Leafs fan, but if we can see past that, hopefully you can too). Having three time zones covered is not only great for our clients, but the whole “it’s 5 o’clock somewhere” rule is nice to legitimately have in our back pocket!So there it is, what the last eight months have looked like internally at Forward Level Marketing. I guess you can say things have changed, but like they say, “change always comes bearing gifts.” And as for the parachute, it’s still being handcrafted, stitch by stitch, as I continue on this ride. However, now I am grateful to have a team whom I can trust to help sew the fabric and ensure I land safely.Come visit us at our new Calgary office anytime!210, 2020 – 4th Street SW Calgary, Alberta T2S 1W3
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