Celebrating One Year of Putting People First

We did a brave thing.

One year ago, just two months after our wedding, seated on the couch in our cramped one bedroom apartment, my wife and I started People First Communications. For years we had played with the idea of starting a business together. We had no idea it would happen so soon.

As newlyweds, we have experienced a lot of change together. Perhaps the biggest change is that I am writing this from Europe instead of Boise, Idaho where we tied the knot, had promising careers, and were a day’s road trip away from nearly all our friends and family.

I chalk all of that up to the thirst for adventure in our bloodstreams. When Amethyst was awarded a Fulbright to teach English and advise students in Hungary interested in pursuing higher education in the US, we leapt with joy. Literally (see proof below). 

It was an opportunity we could not refuse, even if it meant leaving our jobs and the people we loved to move halfway across the world. When else would be able to explore and live our lives like this?

Naturally, we started asking ourselves more questions about the future we were hoping to cultivate. 

Should we start a business? Can we start a business?

Before thinking about those two questions too seriously, I explored virtual work opportunities but nearly all conversations with potential employers ended with the sentiment of “you have great experience and would be a great fit, but the time change gives us pause.”

Those calls brought me back to the small business idea. At the time, my main concern was that we didn’t have enough years of experience. I always thought you had to be well into your career before venturing off on your own.

It was a conversation with Kathy Wojcik, a friend and adviser that I met through my work with the Idaho Nonprofit Center, that shifted my thinking and helped get the ball rolling.

Kathy challenged my thinking about having to be an “expert” and have “decades of experience” before starting on our own. She stressed that we’d learn as we go, have the agency to say no to projects, and instilled confidence.

Amethyst and I considered our options for the next few weeks, sharing our excitement and nerves with each other and our inner circle, and ultimately decided to take the leap. People First Communications became Limited Liability Company (LLC) on July 18, 2022.

What we’ve done.

Our first client was City of Good. After seeing their job posting for a fundraiser while we were still preparing to move out of Boise, I met up with their Executive Director Britt Udesen to share my interest and explain my unique situation over a cup of coffee. As an emerging nonprofit, City of Good was growing faster than it could keep up with. They needed someone to build fundraising infrastructure, lead campaigns, and take administrative tasks off Britt’s plate. With my experience working for CATCH and INC, I was confident that I could help them establish the infrastructure they needed to successfully continue growing. I’ve enjoyed working with them ever since!

Since we started our partnership with City of Good nearly a year ago, we have developed fundraising infrastructure and systems, written grants, led fundraising efforts including their Giving Tuesday and Year End Campaigns, and launched their Monthly Giving Program. 

The latter has been my favorite project. Together, we’ve formed the City of Good Council and managed a successful launch week campaign that garnered five earned media stories (including an interview with Idaho Matters and OpEd in the Idaho Statesman) and nearly 100 monthly donors!

Screenshot of the first City of Good Council meeting

At the start of 2023, we secured our second client, the Kessler Keener Foundation. We provide communication support to this Idaho nonprofit who seeks to “create a community of learning designed to uplift voices of underrepresented people through fostering inclusion and respect for and among all community members.” People First has updated and manages their brand, website, social media, and newsletters. Our favorite project has been elevating the personal stories of Native students through their Native Voices program. We helped prepare their Red Carpet event at Boise State University to showcase these student stories, and cultivated this earned media story with Idaho Ed News.

Eager to work with more public benefit organizations, in April 2023 we decided to make our small business and work more public. We created social media accounts, built our website, and updated our logo (thanks again, Gina Bourd!). The “public launch” led to more partnerships. The Nonprofit Learning Center contracted us to help refresh their website and Bellwether International partnered with us to launch their monthly giving program.

Finally, we’ve recently partnered with my former employer CATCH Idaho. People First will be managing their social media and helping with external communications. I care deeply about CATCH — its mission and team — and am so grateful for this full circle moment and opportunity to contribute once again to ending homelessness in the Treasure Valley.

What I’ve learned, relearned, and unlearned.

I am learning that monthly giving is the future of fundraising. I took this amazing course from charity : water’s co-founder Vik Harrison and put my knowledge to action by launching two new monthly giving campaigns. 

Monthly giving is the most efficient way to fundraise more and worry less! According to Classy.org, “recurring monthly donors provide five times greater value than one-time donors, giving 42% more overall.” And in terms of retention, according to Bloomerang, 23% of first-time donors give again the following year whereas 90% of monthly donors do.

Image provided from Bloomerang

Although the numbers present a compelling argument themselves, monthly giving programs also provide organizations the opportunity to build and engage mission ambassadors AKA your superfans!

I am relearning that people want to help, and that I should let them. Like many, I struggle asking for help. At times, it makes me feel “needy” and “incapable.” This was a hurdle I had to overcome when we decided to “publicly launch” People First. I had to ask former supervisors and collaborators for testimonials. I had to lean into my network for client referrals and was eager to learn from my connections who have done similar work, but did not want to “bother them.” Now, when it comes to asking for help, I am working on acknowledging my feelings, and shifting my thinking to “asking for help is strength,” “there is so much to learn from others” and “I want to help people. And people want to help me!”

Amethyst and I jumping off a bridge into Lake Como

I am unlearning that I am my career and what I achieve. 

Moving across the world and charting this path with varying levels of uncertainty has revealed to me how fixated I was, and sometimes still am, on my career. I think this obsession comes from my overplayed tape of “achievement equals self worth.” I am continuously cutting that tape — unfortunately, it’s not a one and done thing — and working on taking myself and the world less seriously. I have started building a more balanced and healthy life for myself by focusing more on rest and play. 

What a year it has been. While it was terrifying to branch off on our own in this way so early in our careers, and continues to be a daily roller-coaster of emotion, I am so grateful that we took the plunge and decided to be brave. Starting People First Communications has taught us both many lessons, but one of the foremost is how grateful we are to work and live side-by-side. 

Thank you to everyone who has and continues to support us along the way. Here’s to another year of meaningful work, learning, fun, being brave, and putting people first!

- G

Our friends and family that joined today us for our virtual anniversary celebration. Because of their support, and that of our inner circle, we have the capacity to be brave and take risks.