Looking back over the years, it's been an interesting process learning how to be a better business person while also remaining true to personal ideals. It's an ever-evolving process too. I've been fortunate enough to have developed many long-term professional relationships with clients throughout the history of Studio Haus that have transformed into friendships.
When my business was still new and I was green behind the ears professionally, I hesitated at the thought of becoming friends with clients. But over the years, I've come to realize it's impossible to stop those kinds of deepening connections. When you work side-by-side—sometimes all year long and sometimes for a few select days of the year—the personal side of life has a tendency to somehow seep into the picture whether we want it to or not.
My clients and I have seen each other through good times and bad while maintaining a work ethic that gets the job done. I no longer shy away from the closer connections as I once did. In fact, many of my clients are friends; and several of my friends have become clients; and in one particularly special case, a client has become a friend and then I have become her client.
Staci (right) was a client of mine for several years when we worked on marketing conferences together, which could be a rather intense process leading up to the event. We quickly became friends. When Staci left that line of work, we regularly remained in touch. She has since started her own thriving business as a virtual assistant. Now I am her client. It's definitely not been the traditional professional relationship. In fact, if we ever need to meet face-to-face, her daughter (who is incredibly smart) attends. We are both glad to not only still be working together but also to be showing a new generation that women can carve their own path professionally in a caring way, hopefully building a more inclusive community.
There's no doubt that working relationships can be a dance with our personal lives at times but I find that makes the depth of the work we do together—whether personal, professional, or both— richer and more successful. There's an honest and courageous undertone to the process that develops allowing for greater integrity.
While it may be a cliché, the saying really is true: it really is all about relationships. I'm grateful for all of them and I really do love what I do.
