So, this time 3 years ago I was browsing Pinterest recipes for my birthday cake. My big 3-0 birthday cake. You know the one. The one containing that secret magical ingredient that makes you sit back, take stock and get ready to make some massive changes.
Welp. It took about three seconds to decide I was done spending my life building someone else’s dream and having my own sit sidecar. You see I had built Oh Snap! Social on the side for over 5 years before going ALL THE WAY IN THE WILD JOURNEY OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP (yes, shouty caps was a must in this instance, don’t @ me!)
Well, fans and friends, it’s been a ride. (a rollercoaster of one…but here I am still buckled in and embracing every peak, valley and loop-de-loop.)
Starting Oh Snap! was all about keeping the faith. So was steering the ship through 2020. *crying while laughing*
But we got there. We survived. In fact…we grew. If I sound surprised, it’s because I’ve always been kinda scared of growth. Because growth means bringing on new people and new processes to wrangle everything, and then BAM, instead of doing your Dream Thang, you’re back in middle management.
Turns out, the whole “I don’t want a big agency” thing was just a lie I was telling myself. Because when I dug deep, I realized that I was staying small out of fear.
Growth is scary. It’s uncomfortable. It makes you vulnerable. Demands compromise. It forces you to share your vision.
And it makes you reliant on other people. Gulp.
Plot twist: All of that stuff is actually good…on an individual level, and in terms of your business. Because excellence doesn’t happen in a vacuum, and our clients deserve the goshdarn best.
Let me tell you: Bringing the right people on board is what it’s all about. Y’all, I’m living the dream right now – and so are our clients. And that’s because Oh Snap! is in amazing hands. We’re still small (hey, we’re selective!), but we’re mighty, and we’re going from strength to strength. World record-breaking strength.
Now that Oh Snap! is no longer just me surviving on double espressos trying to Get It All Done, incredible things are happening.
- We’ve got an amazing community manager (shoutout to Darlene!)
- We’re growing our structure and our foundation by cementing and expanding our service offerings.
- NERD ALERT! We are totally nerding out on the stats, numbers and analytics critical to making your social strategy sing.
- We have elevated our client communication with fancy-pants tools like Slack.
- And last but certainly not least, we’ve always been totally transparent, but now we’re totally synchronous, too! Woo!
Sure, I’m still the all-singing, all-dancing face of this thing (can’t keep a tiny dancer down), but now there’s a whole team making this happen. So without further ado (okay, maybe a bit of ado), let me intro you to the fab team members, we affectionately call the “Snap Squad”, who have transformed us from the Little Engine That Could into a well-oiled machine.
*drum roll* INTRODUCING…
Crystal Pekarek – content producer!
Where she’s based: Michigan!
What she does: Creates everything from graphics to written copy, and gets our blogs and newsletters looking A+.
What she loves about us: Our laid-back but detail-oriented culture. Our clients are very diversified, which makes the job so much fun.
Fave Oh Snap! moment: Getting to help Karlyn with the website, doing last year’s Birthday contest, and training up on audits and strategies!
Darlene Howell McNerney – community manager and local content producer!
Where she’s based: Northern Virginia (NoVA)
What she does: Spends her days engaging with clients’ communities on the ‘gram and pulling social media stats and analytics.
What she loves about us: The energy and enthusiasm everyone here has for the work – I’ve learned so much!
Fave Oh Snap! moment: Seeing the numbers at the end of each month, seeing what’s working, and seeing how my role has made an impact.
Alexis Carter-Richardson – integrator and AMAZING biz dev pro!
Where she’s based: Texas!
What she does: Works on the backend streamlining processes, updating systems, and improving the client experience, making sure there’s operational clarity, communication and consistency. Keeping Karlyn in her zone of genius (⬅️ Yes, Karlyn added this nugget).
What she loves about us: We care about people! It isn’t just about the “bottom line.” We genuinely care about the success of our people – team, clients, everyone!
Fave Oh Snap! moment: Adding new team members and upleveling the client experience!
Kieron Atkinson - web dev and code problem solver
Where he’s based: NZ!
What he does: Website development for amazing clients like ODLC, Shelby Anderson and Stribling Counseling, plus all of our tech support.
What he loves about us: I love Oh Snap! because I know how much hard work, blood, sweat and tears has gone into building it into what it is today – Karlyn is an unstoppable force!
Fave Oh Snap! moment: I love it when stuff works! We’ve had a few occasions where I’ve had to figure out where something has broken so that I can fix it – that feeling of achievement is hard to beat!
Stephanie Campisi - copywriter and writer of all the things
Where she’s based: Tennessee, via Australia!
What she does: Writes copy, blog posts, and all of that fun word-related stuff.
What she loves about us: I love that we deliver such high-quality work, but with a light-hearted touch. It’s so refreshing!
Fave Oh Snap! moment: Every time Karlyn comes to me with an idea she’s absolutely hyped about!
Thanks to these fab peeps, we’re Making It Happen – but still having a grand ol’ time along the way. Because productivity and deliverables are important metrics, sure, but being happy and fulfilled? When you’ve got a team that knocks it out of the park on that metric, you know you’ve stepped into your big girl CEO pants.
So big thanks to the team, and big thanks to all the amazing clients who have come along on this journey with us – here’s to an even bigger, better, more shareable year 4! *blows out candles*