It’s a bittersweet day because after 6 years, my business (Digital 520) has been acquired. As I sign the acquisition papers, I think back to the early days of the business.

In the beginning, I worked crazy hours finding projects, running the business, and building my portfolio. And, naturally, I reaped the financial benefits, right? Wrong. I think I made $2200 – for the entire year!

Our revenue began increasing, but for the next two years, I worked for less money than I would have made in fast food – literally!

I made hundreds of cold calls to business owners who yelled and swore at me too many times to count. I spent many nights awake at 2 or 3 AM fixing crashed websites. I dealt with far too many unpaid and late invoices.

But I had a vision that I couldn’t get out of my head – a vision of a much larger agency that delivered incredible results for clients and an incredible workplace for employees. So I kept going.

Today, I am incredibly humbled by the success of that once struggling agency including an incredible team of 10 employees, millions of views of our work, and helping clients raise over $2 billion – all while maintaining a 100% client satisfaction rate .

I can’t wait to see the business continue to reach new levels, though I will admit it’s weird to imagine life without Digital 520.

To my incredible team – thank you for all the hard work, for relentlessly prioritizing client success, and for trusting me to lead you. I would be honored to work with any of you in the future.

To our clients – thank you for taking a chance on me in the early days, for allowing the Digital 520 team to be a part of your business success, and for your support during this transition.

To my family and friends, thank you for your constant encouragement and support through every high and every low of these past six years.

And to the struggling or discouraged business owner – KEEP GOING! If you had told me 6 years ago I’d be writing this post, I wouldn’t have believed you. Success is nothing more than a series of small steps forward.

This may mark the end of one adventure, but soon I will be embarking on another. Stay turned – more coming soon.