It’s been a long while since I last did a piece in this series. So much happens so quickly in these start-up years. Since then we have created our first Request for Proposal for full website redesign to a group of small towns south of Calgary called Cool Little Towns; looked after our nieces for few days; gained a whole host of new clients; built an additional area for more office space; are hiring again; and slept a lot less than usual.

I was talking to a friend last week who has two small kids and it became obvious that the title of these posts was pretty true. Raising a business is a lot like raising little kids. So demanding, needy and fussy in the beginning — losing sleep, balance and feeling like your head is spinning. But the opposite is also true — so many simply amazing moments where we look at each other and can’t believe we accomplished that together, and that so many amazing businesses trust us with their business, their baby. We have felt that we can’t squander a single minute of that opportunity. It really does feel like an opportunity to create something that is worth putting all of your energy into and watching it grow.

It’s so great to watch each other push the boundaries of comfort, of what we thought we were capable of and what we actually can do, and all because an opportunity comes up that’s unexpected.

There is so much more coming down the line but in the past four months Trevor did his first SEO presentation to an awesome group of women through Gypsiella. I side kicked it with him, adding bits about social media and how it all fits together. It’s so great to watch each other push the boundaries of comfort, of what we thought we were capable of and what we actually can do, and all because an opportunity comes up that’s unexpected. That seems to be one of the keys to all of this. Don’t ever turn down opportunities that just seem to fall into our lap. On that same note, we have accepted many other opportunities that we will be working on in the summer and fall; presenting at SMARTstart on marketing and branding; two more workshops to small groups on blogging; and attending and guest speaking at a new business academy that one of our clients, HelloLife, created at the stunning Emerald Lake Lodge in Yoho National Park.

Through speaking, workshops, tutorials, and sharing our thoughts and ideas we are given the opportunity to connect with people bigger than our team or clients alone. It helps to keep us grounded and in tune with what other people’s challenges and goals are.

With the insane amount of hours we have been working lately, we are always looking for ways to blow off steam. There’s of course the traditional ways like working out, meditating, watching TV, but our favourite is an impromptu game of basement soccer or mini-hockey sticks. There’s nothing like shooting a foam ball, as hard as you can, while your partner is in net. We love working together everyday, but we aren’t crazy. We all want to take shots on our co-workers and business partners sometimes. That’s normal right? Ha!

Competition is an amazing driver for us. We are both very competitive and this characteristic fuels us every time someone or something is in the way to reaching our goals. We are highly motivated to make our vision happen, regardless of what is realistic, or just because someone says we can’t do it. We have a rebellious teenager streak in us, a great characteristic for business owner, I think.