It’s not every day I receive a calendar invite that makes the hair on my arms stand up, but let me tell you, a few weeks ago I received just that. An invitation to a mandatory all-team stand up popped into my inbox and I instantly knew, we did it! Later that day in the stand up, the leadership team announced that we had just been named an Elite HubSpot Solutions Partner, placing us amongst the top 1% of HubSpot agencies in the world. And damn, did we celebrate!
What made me really cheer (like actually cheer, loudly) that day and still smile today is looking back at how far we’d come and the changes we made to make this happen.
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It wasn't easy, but it was worth it.
Let’s go back to when I was first interviewing with Media Junction in early spring of 2019. I remember our CEO, Trish, saying that they had been having some business challenges, including a poor internal culture. She assured me these challenges were something they were dedicating time and resources to fix, and most importantly asked if these problems were something that I would like to be a part of turning around. Her asking me this question let me know that things might not be perfect, but change was coming and it was going to be up to everyone on the team to make it happen. Job offer accepted, challenge accepted, let's do this!
And change we did! Over the next 18 months, we restructured our service offerings, rearranged our office, hired a bunch of new passionate teammates, and re-built our internal teams into new process-oriented teams. We added Work-from-Home Wednesdays, started a team reading series, and had so many fun group activities. Our benefits also got a lot sweeter—we added a 401k plan, vision insurance, and life insurance. We also expanded the amount of health insurance plans offered to make sure everyone has a plan that works best for them. We won a HubSpot Impact Award for integrations, became a Storybrand Certified Agency, and started new partnerships with Drift and Siteimprove.
What made these changes so impactful was the whole team was included in making them. They didn’t come from the top down—we all had a say in them. In the last 18 months, I’ve watched our team grow into a group of people who truly support each other and understand that when one of us succeeds, we all succeed. We’ve learned that we all have a responsibility to maintain a positive work culture and in turn this allows us to deliver even better service to our clients.
Let’s just say that 2020 has not passed the vibe test.
After the new Elite partner tier was announced last August at HubSpot’s annual INBOUND conference, we knew we’d do whatever it took to make sure Media Junction reached this level. When the new tier was rolled out in February, we hit the ground running, but we never could have anticipated the trials that 2020 would bring.
In March, as the COVID-19 pandemic wreaked havoc on lives around the world—skyrocketing unemployment and creating an uncertain economy—our team made the transition to being 100% remote. With the severity of the pandemic, more and more people were being encouraged to stay at home, so having a working website that gets results has become more important than ever for businesses. Our team dug deep for creative solutions to continue delivering top-notch, on-time services.
Then in late May, the Twin Cities—the place we call home—was changed forever. Social uprisings broke out across the cities (and the world) in response to the unjust death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who died during an arrest in South Minneapolis. I’m truly grateful for the space our leadership team created for us to listen and learn from each other. Though these conversations can be hard, they are a crucial step in dismantling the racism that plagues our country. I'm proud to be a part of a team that doesn't shy away from hard conversations and is dedicated to making the world a better place.
We've come a long way ❤
If ever there was time that defined the character of our team, these last couple months are it. From having honest, difficult conversations about race, to being extra empathetic as we all navigate the struggles of adjusting to a world flipped on its head from a global pandemic, we’ve overcome a lot and have so much to be proud of.
Reaching Elite status gets us one step closer in our never-ending goal of improvement and being the agency our customers love. We are proud of the work we do. We are invested in our customers and supporting as many companies as we can help. This economy is shit, but we are contributing to helping other companies get through this. In spite of the challenges this year has brought, we have pulled together and achieved something that didn’t really seem possible. It gives me hope for the future. Nothing can stop our team when we are determined and support each other.
Check out the official press release.
Interested in joining our kick-ass team? We’re hiring! See our current openings.
