10 Years Down

10 Things We’ve Learned Since Starting GBHD (Now Field First)

Ten years ago, “Get Back Here Dog” was supposed to be a temporary name. The fact that it lasted a decade is actually hilarious. What started as a scrappy little creative business somehow became a real company; one with clients across the country, work reaching global markets, and a team spread across different corners of the U.S. (and occasionally the world) helping good organizations communicate more clearly and move faster.

We’ve been reflecting on what the last ten years actually taught us. Not the LinkedIn version. The real version.

1. The Best Work Happens Close to the Action

Not from a distance. Not buried in theory. Not from a deck nobody reads. The best work happens shoulder-to-shoulder with clients, inside industries, learning how things actually work. That idea became our new name for a reason.

2. Relationships Beat Everything

The older we get as a company, the more obvious this becomes. Most of the opportunities that changed our business came from trust, referrals, good relationships, and people remembering how they felt working with us.

That matters more than any pitch deck ever will.

3. Everything is Figureoutable

This is something I tell my kids all the time, but somewhere along the way it also became one of the core philosophies of this company.

Because over ten years, things will go sideways. Timelines explode. Websites break. Plans change halfway through. Entire projects get rerouted overnight. And almost every time, the solution was the same: Good people. Staying calm. Keep moving.

4. Good Clients Make Better Work

We’ve been unbelievably lucky here. Over the last decade, we’ve worked with:

• People willing to challenge assumptions and rethink what's possible for their organizations

• Leaders navigating growth, change, and big decisions without losing sight of their people

• People who aren't afraid to take risks when the opportunity calls for it

• Partners who believe good work is built through trust, collaboration, and occasional healthy debate

  
  

The common denominator has never been industry. It’s always been people who give a damn.

5. Being Woman-Owned Still Means Something

Less than 1% of creative agencies are women-owned according to industry estimates.

That statistic is honestly hard to wrap your head around after 10 years in this business.

Field First exists because clients trusted this team with meaningful work, big decisions, large organizations, complicated industries, and major communication challenges.

6. You Can Build a Serious Company Without Acting Like a Corporation

This one took us a while to fully believe. You can care deeply about people, laugh a lot, work remotely, trust instincts, build real friendships with clients, and still produce high-level strategic work. Maybe even better work because of it.

7. The Team Matters More Than the Office

At different points, our work has been created, from shared workspaces, home offices, airport terminals, hotel lobbies, public libraries, conference halls, ranches, coffee shops, wineries, and probably a few questionable WiFi connections. And somehow, the work kept getting better.

8. Nobody Really Knows What They’re Doing at First

One of the more comforting realizations of the last 10 years: Most people are building the plane while flying it.

The organizations we admire most aren’t perfect. They’re just willing to make decisions, adapt quickly, and keep showing up. Turns out momentum matters more than pretending to have everything figured out..

9. “Niche” Industries Usually Aren’t Niche at All

One of our favorite things about this work is falling headfirst into industries most people overlook. Libraries. Waste systems. Economic development. Agriculture. Manufacturing. The deeper we get into these worlds, the more we realize they shape everyday life in ways most people never notice.

And really? Those are usually the most interesting stories.

10. We’re Still Glad We Started

Running a business for ten years is emotional. Exhausting. Rewarding. Humbling. Occasionally ridiculous. Days off? Never heard of her. There were years we felt unstoppable and years we wondered what the hell we were doing. Probably every business owner knows that feeling.

But through all of it, the thing we keep coming back to is gratitude. For the clients. For the trust. For the team. For the weird 10-year-long-"temporary"-name that somehow got us here. And for the fact that we still genuinely love this work after all this time. GBHD got us here and Field First feels like where we’re supposed to be next.

10 years in and we’re just getting started.