As Roundpeg neared the 10-year mark, I thought about the people, customers, employees, friends and family, who had left their mark on Roundpeg and on me. To honor the contributions of these amazing people which are woven into the fabric of Roundpeg, I wrote a series of blog posts entitled The Faces of Roundpeg.

Time flies, and as we get ready to celebrate our 15th anniversary I thought it would be fun to revisit some of those posts, introduce you to some of the faces of Roundpeg and let you discover the lessons they taught me along the way.

The family members.

My husband Andy who is the practical one in our relationship. When I see the big picture, he focuses on the details. Those details have kept us out of trouble more than once over the years.

My brother Jason won’t ever let me take myself too seriously, reminding me there is more to life than work. But he was serious when he told me if I did this I had to believe there was no way back to my comfortable corner office in the big corporation. He was right.

My children Michelle and Harrison who I love dearly as children (now adults) I don’t love as employees. We can laugh now about how many times each quit or was fired from their gig at Roundpeg.

My Husband Andy

My Brother Jason

Michelle & Harrison

Friends

One of the first lessons I learned as I started Roundpeg was that it can be lonely when you own your own business. My friends from the corporate world didn’t always understand the challenges I was facing. I am eternally grateful to the other business owners who laughed and cried with me, encouraged and understood me.

Tony Scelzo – Our first conversation was lively and fast paced, with the appropriate amount of trying to impress each other. I would never have imagined how that conversation would lead to speaking opportunities, a leadership role in Rainmakers and hundreds of introductions to other business owners who became clients, friends and even business partners.

Hazel Walker – We share a love for sushi, martinis, walking on the Monon Trail and the Gretchen Sandwich at Three Sisters Cafe. Over the years, we learned we can solve the problems of the world in just five miles. We brainstorm business ideas and laugh about life in general all along the way. As a business owner I respect her counsel and as a woman, I value her friendship.

Eric Schneller – Timing is everything, Eric and I were both ready to move our businesses out of our spare bedroom at the same time. Together we purchased the little white house which is still home to Roundpeg. I’m not sure I’d have found the courage to buy a building on my own, together it seemed manageable. Eric closed his business a few years ago so I no longer have a house mate or a partner, but I still have a friend.

Tony Scelzo

Hazel Walker

Eric Schneller

The ‘Pegs

When I started Roundpeg, it was going to be a consulting firm with just one employee, me. That was the plan but I got tired of doing everything on my own. My first part time employee (after my children) was Rebecca. After almost 12 years as our office mom, she still runs the office, but more importantly, she helps make the little white house feels like home.

Peter and Jenna will both celebrate six years with Roundpeg this year. They hadn’t been with the team very long when I wrote about them as “the new cast members.” Now they are senior staff members and have grown and matured in their roles. Jenna still organizes our files and server and Peter is still the calm in the center of the circus that is Roundpeg.

Whitney actually joined us the week we celebrated our 10th anniversary, but he hasn’t been here five years. He came and went and came back again. We are glad he did. So are the many clients who rely on him to handle web issues large and small.

Cherilyn knocked on our door and dropped off coffee. The coffee was impressive, but it was her design skills which landed her a place on our web team and as our resident coffee snob.

Sam and Luke are the new kids now. With six months and six weeks respectively, they are settling into their roles as our content team. In addition to his writing tasks, Sam is responsible for the question of the day. This is a job he takes quite seriously. Luke is finding his voice on social media and will soon be the voice behind the Roundpeg twitter account.

Every person who spent time at Roundpeg left their mark. Although they are no longer working with us they will always be part of the family. After 15 years, the list is pretty long so I hope I don’t leave anyone out, but thanks to Shelly, Amy, Kyle, Taylor, Analise, Erica, Kirstin, Naveen, Allison, Jay, Sharayah, Jenn, Joe, Tamra, Heather, Jared, Jennifer, Sara, Emily, Leisha, Taylor (2), Natalia, Brad, Meredith and a host of summer interns.