How We Got Here
Once upon a time, there was a girl who grew up in the little town of Allendale, MI. She was loud, full of a lot of the wrong opinions about the world, and was determined to follow in her father’s footsteps and serve in the Marines.
Instead, she started a business focused on integrated communications, named in honor of her first home, 834, located on the Northeast side of Grand Rapids, MI. The end.
Ok…there is a lot more to it than that. In fact, the house for which the business was named came to represent the lifecycle of a business—failure, more failure, perseverance and a rebirth.
Bankruptcy, divorce and a foreclosure are all part of 8THIRTYFOUR’s story, my story.
I persevered in spite of it, and we’re here 14 years later, because we find comfort in the uncomfortable. We don’t shy away from the hard or scary. We seek it out, and we’re a better company because of it.
Failure will always be part of our story. It pushes us to be different and take risks; it makes us damn good at what we do.
If you want to read more about my small business journey, go to smallbizmusings.com. It’s brutally honest, like us.
