What's the secret of my success? I had fun! No one can beat you if you love playing the game. The best strategy for growth is fun.
And, of course, I worked my tail off.
I love Madison so much. Our little city is big enough to have kickass food, arts, and music, yet small enough to run into people you know at festivals all summer long. Staying here after college turned out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
Imagine the joy it has been to serve the city I love, to help other entrepreneurs succeed, and to learn so much from the most brilliant people in town. For 16 years, I've been surrounded by clients, friends of the firm, and employees who made me wiser and kinder. In the end, that's the only success that matters.
I'm delighted to announce that I sold Fine Point Consulting to four long-time employees. It is a distinct joy to know that the culture I worked so diligently to create will live on. Creating an engaging and fun workplace in such a fast-paced climate was my favorite part of the job. Passing this on to long-time employees, steeped in the culture they helped create, is a dream come true.
Chelsea Stanton: Chelsea is about to celebrate her 10th anniversary (!) and has been Fine Point's President for the last two years.
Zach Miller: Zach is an 8-year veteran and has been Fine Point's COO for the last two years.
Jason Stansell: Jason is approaching five years at Fine Point. He is the Practice Lead at the Milwaukee Office.
Danny Burns: Danny was an intern for us back in 2014, and he came back in 2020. He is the Practice Lead at the Madison Office.
To all the customers I worked with, thank you. We've enjoyed happy hours, open houses, holiday parties, Mallards games, and meetings full of good work and bountiful laughter. Did I mention the happy hours? You made me better. Thank you for trusting me. It has been an honor to be a part of your lives.
To my husband, Roger, thank you for encouraging me whenever I needed it. This only happened because of you. Some serious magic happens when you have someone in your life telling you, "You Can Do It", over and over again. You are the finest person I know and the most unexpected and treasured gift I've received in this life.
To Gail, my very first hire, and with me until the end. Gail, can you believe all we have been through together?! From you and me and a handful of clients to 35 employees all over the country! We've come a long way from you asking me for a coffee machine. Thank you. You are a valued friend I will cherish forever, you hilarious, kind, and badass woman.
To every employee, past and present, you were always my "why". Can you believe the friendships we've made? Look who fell in love. Look who had beautiful babies. Look how we supported each other.
And the stories! I call it Fine Point Lore. Brewers games and Darb and Chelseaisms and Party Pontoons and adding machine tape garland on the tree and weddings and Allie's potato salad and the chili cook-off and the spy cam and "book club" and Steph's perfect annual videos of our shenanigans and Diana's exclamation point and happy hours at Rare and the SWAT team and the climbing wall and the Party Planning Committee and exploding casserole and the ambulance and "Nick, come pick up Zach" and every darn holiday party since the dawn of time. Thank you for these precious memories. I love ya'll.
Most valuable policy: The "No Dicks" rule. We don’t do business with people who are dishonest or abusive. To this day, I am surprised and disappointed by how many customers behaved this way. You cannot be an organization that claims to care about its employees or its workplace culture if you force your employees to deal with toxic behavior. Full stop.
It turns out this advice is not just helpful in the workplace. As humans, we are unable to be our best selves - unable to be fully compassionate toward other beings - unless we set boundaries for what we allow into our lives and hold people accountable. Without boundaries and holding people accountable, we spend our days angry and full of blame because we feel mistreated all the time. That's not a life I'd wish on anyone. Never allow lies and cruelty into your life. No matter what. You are all worthy of honor and respect.
Most valuable life advice: don't wait for extraordinary joys to come along. Celebrate the ordinary, everyday moments that bring you joy. Be open to noticing them. Small joys are what make up a life. Giggling kids, snuggly pets, shining sun, gorgeous snow-covered trees, the fact that you didn't lose your shit today, even though it would have TOTALLY been justified, hahaha. Celebrating the small joys adds richness and depth to your life. Start practicing this.
Here's video from our holiday party earlier this month, where I announced the news of the sale and "introduced" the new owners to the team.
It has been a privilege to build this community with all of you. Thank you. I'll leave you with this old song that I've been belting out around the house the last couple of weeks. I'm not much of a sailor, but the metaphor works for anything, in my case, pursuing my lifelong dream of being a writer. The coolest of cool changes. Sing it with me, friends!
Peace out!