Brightspot is Three!
Photo: Raya On Assignment
We’re big fans of celebrating milestones and happy moments around here. Our September “business birthday” feels like both! Pride and gratitude emerged as themes in our recent reflections on reaching year three. Take a look!
- - -
Briana:
“Proud and grateful are the two words that stand out when I think about the past three years. In many ways, Brightspot was a leap of faith and I couldn’t be happier that I chose to take that chance. When we started out, Kelly and Caitlin were my business partners but now I get to call them friends too and I am beyond grateful. We have been through a lot together personally and professionally and I am really proud of our individual and collective perseverance. I’m obviously biased but Brightspot and the hearts and souls behind it are something very special.”
Kelly:
“Honestly, I have to pinch myself regularly to realize that we actually did this thing and are successful business owners! But what I feel most when I reflect on the past three years is gratitude. For Briana and Caitlin and the skills, friendship, and support they provide daily. For the mentors, advisers, and friends whose brains we picked to take Brightspot from a nameless nugget of an idea to what it is today. For the many organizations that looked to us as a trusted partner for helping bring their missions to bear. And for the people behind the nonprofits that muscled through the past 18 months to ensure their organizations were there for the community how and when they needed them most.”
Caitlin:
“Three years in and I feel proud. Tired, but proud. Watching a not-insignificant chunk of business evaporate in 2020 was startling, rattling, and hard. But now, in the space since, I see some of our early instincts proven true - like the benefit of a collective partnership, shared oversight and brainpower on client work, and that there is a huge need to build up the capacity of the development field. It's a thin bench and every few weeks it seems another superstar long-term ED or DOD is retiring. As we continue to educate clients and the public about development best practices and what those look like in today's world, I hope we can draw new talent into the field.
As a business, I see parallels with some of our strategy clients with regard to the questions and challenges facing us - we're asking, what's next, how do we sustain our business in uncertain times, how do we think about our work and structures differently because of the last year? To me these are fun, energizing questions that keep me hungry to build a business that pushes my thinking and skills and comfort. “