Reflecting on Five Years

Today’s my five year anniversary at SEER. Given the occasion, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I never intended to work here.

I loved working for Comcast. After over five years there, I fully expected to continue my career at Comcast, moving through the ranks. Then I got laid off and it was time to figure out another option.

I went through a flurry of interviews, considering all different career paths. One of my former professors sent me an email about this company in Philly he thought I should check out. I looked at the site, did some research on the company, and applied. Hey, why not? I applied at lots of places.

I had a screening call with Tameka, Wil’s sister. It was a fun chat. We got to geek out over fun tools and share experiences. I’d never enjoyed an interview so much. I quickly got an email to schedule a time to come into the office.

I got so lost driving to the office. I wondered why I was wasting my time. I hated the drive and didn’t want to work in Philly, especially a part of Philly that was so far from  easy public transportation. Plus I already had a great job offer on the table, as well as another opportunity I was fairly certain was going to make an offer. (They did.) After driving around, lost and frustrated, I was ready to call to cancel the whole thing when I finally found the office.

I went inside 919 North 5th Street. The office was so dark and empty that day. Again, I wondered what I was doing, but decided to make the most of it.

Then I met Wil. I’ve never met anyone so dynamic. From the second we started talking, he was so present. But it was also so comfortable. I felt like I was speaking with an old friend. Just talking to him was inspiring. The more we talked, the more I started considering the idea of working at SEER.

I talked with Crystal and Joe about their experience at SEER. I liked what they both had to say.

After I left, I kept replaying parts of the conversations. I loved the passion people at SEER had. They were a very small team, but had so much drive. I decided not to rule them out.

A couple days went by and I got an email from Wil saying he was pleased to offer me a position. By that point, I was pretty excited about the company, so I was actually thrilled… until I saw the salary. It was barely half of what the other position was offering.

I went back and forth on the decision for a while, trying to figure out what the best move was. I’d already done the corporate thing, and the other position I was considering would have put me right back in that world. No one there had been passionate; they weren’t excited to come to work every day. Then there was SEER. This was a whole new challenge. I could learn new things and help build something amazing. If it didn’t work out, there would be other opportunities later. And if it did work out, I had faith that the financial issues would be temporary.

I decided to take a chance on the unknown, see where that path would lead.

By the way, I’m not sharing anything here that Wil and I haven’t discussed countless times over the past five years. The beginning of that first year was not easy. I actually picked up a part time job, working weekends for some extra money… and a discount on Brighton :)

And we were in serious start-up mode. Tons of hours, all hands on deck, true  teamwork. We joke about taking out the trash now or about answering the phones, but back then, everyone literally did everything or it wouldn’t get done. We had that hard core, in the trenches kind of feeling… and loved it.

Would I make the same decision again? Absolutely, in a heartbeat. The past five years have been such an amazing trip. It’s been unbelievable being part of SEER’s growth from a very small team to close to 50 employees today. The many awards we’ve received in the past few years are secondary to all of the personal rewards of really winning for clients.

We’ve moved from 919 to Second Street, where we got to work at the Piazza. Then we outgrew that space and moved to The Search Church. We have an incredible space to host events. We grew too quickly for the Church and had to open a second location, The Search Perch.

We’ve brought on amazing new talent from all over the world. And we’ve had unbelievably talented people from our core group who left, for one reason or another, because that’s what happens as companies grow. For those who left, I’m so sad to not have you there every day. You helped to shape SEER into what it is today. It’s not the same without you. But I know it was the right thing all around. The company, and the individuals, are all growing up.

Speaking with people at SMX last week, everyone who heard I’d been with SEER for five years was just amazed. Apparently that sort of thing just doesn’t happen, especially in our industry. But it didn’t just happen by coincidence. I love being at SEER. Even after all this time, I think SEER still has unrealized potential. I cannot wait to see what the next five years will bring.