The Joy of Pardners

My Pardners: (l-r) Tina Anderson, Kristen Johnson, Me, & Casi Hall.

A few years ago I was unexpectedly fired from a job I loved and where I had achieved growth and success. I was told it wasn’t personal, but there it was, I was no longer needed. 

I was 59, a single income earner with a mortgage, and it was the middle of the pandemic. I was deflated, depressed and confused about my future. I jumped onto work sites and started sending out my CV but I wasn’t seeing new job opportunities that particularly called to me and it seemed pretty clear I’d be making even less money, which trust me, was modest. 

I pondered and sulked. I took a lot of walks and spent hours weeding my garden. I continued applying for jobs but wasn’t feeling very hopeful about finding new employment.

So I decided to open my own writing and editing business. I enrolled in the Marketing and Contract Readiness certification program at SUNY Buffalo State, offered through the Small Business Development Center. I spent 10 weeks getting to know other hard-working innovators and received tremendous support and guidance from superior staff who guided us into the world of small business.

Thanks to a federal grant, SBDC offered program graduates additional services. I had the opportunity to work with a professional marketing/web designer, Kristen, who taught me how to build an effective website that Google would like. Kristen lifted my spirits and pushed me to create the business I wanted, based on my skills, values and work ethic. We kept in touch, became friends and she generously began referring clients who needed writing services my way. Business was growing.

It turns out I wasn’t her only project. About six months ago, WebDesigner extraordinaire Kristen Johnson organized a “lil” (her word) get together to introduce the idea of an informal marketing agency. In addition to Kristen’s expertise, our group included: Tina Anderson, social media management and events;  Casi Hall, brand strategist, photographer, logo designer; and me, a writer and editor.

We call ourselves “Pardners.” We meet weekly, working in an interdisciplinary model, discussing projects and prospects. We help keep each other current and we revel in watching the sum of the individual parts grow greater when we work on a client project together. 

We’ve created a professional and personal support system that helps each of us bring our best to our work. We’ve committed to giving back to others by supporting a woman-focussed organization quarterly. 

Being part of this exceptional group has been a valuable reminder of how we often achieve more when we work together. If you need a partner for a business project, please reach out to one or more of us here. We’ll take good care of you. It’s what pardners do.