I walked back to my desk today after a couple of difficult meetings to an orange envelope. 

When I opened it, I found a super-silly card (including hand-drawn artwork!) signed by a few of my awesome team members who remembered that I’d been walking back to a desk (or table, or counter) somewhere at Biggs|Gilmore for eleven years. I know, I know … if I’m only twenty-seven, how is it possible I’ve been employed for eleven years? Don’t you worry about that. The bigger question is … ‘how is it possible to work at an ad agency for eleven years?!’

I can’t answer that one, either.

I’m kidding. I can answer it. You won’t like my response, though. The secret is … keeping a large supply of candy at your desk. It goes back to the ‘help me, help you’ philosophy, doesn’t it?

No, no, I’m kidding again. It’s about the people. Really, truly.

In my eleven years at Biggs, I’ve grown to love a lot of people there. Many of those people are no longer there. I even cried hysterically in the parking lot begging for some of them to come back as they drove away. (To say I’m grateful to still have relationships with those people is an understatement). Okay, not really again, but I did cry … in the parking lot. And, I cried when people I love were hurting because life happens, but I also cried when we were celebrating an engagement or wedding or new baby (because Heaven knows we all love to see the babies come in to the office). Yes, I’m aware I cry a lot. I’ve celebrated with friends and colleagues when we’ve won new business, awards, launched projects that we all thought were going to kill us, and well, just because.

The thing is, as much as I try to be of value to everyone there (whether they see it that way or not is another matter), they’ve helped me too and to be quite honest, I’m a big proponent of The Golden Rule. To get from year ten to year eleven was likely the toughest yet and I couldn’t have done it without the continued support of not only the people that have found their way into the agency over the past few years, but also those that were there on September 5, 2001 … my first day at Biggs|Gilmore (when I was just 16).

So, to my BIggs family, past and present … thank you. You’ve let me be me (failures and all) without too much harassment in return.