When I stop to think about it, 27 years in one place sounds almost unreal. In a world where careers often move in leaps and pivots, spending nearly three decades at CLM feels both rare and deeply grounding. Yet, it hasn’t been static. Far from it. If anything, my time here has been a living testament to the fact that change is not just inevitable, but essential.
The Journey
When I joined, the agency was a different place – not just in name, but in people, ownership, and direction. Five years into my career, the ownership shifted, bringing with it new ideas, new challenges, and fresh energy. The name changed too, marking another chapter in our identity. Over time, the faces around me shifted. Colleagues came, grew, and moved on. And while many left their mark in a season, a core few have walked a longer stretch of this journey with me.
That’s what happens over decades. The scenery changes. The people change. And if you’re lucky, you change too.
Endurance and Resilience
Through it all, CLM has not just survived but endured. We weathered the turbulence of the pandemic, a storm that tested every business and individual. It forced us to adapt, rethink how we work, and find strength in uncertainty. That endurance is no accident; it comes from the culture we’ve built here – one that values people, ideas, and the ability to meet the moment.
As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said:
“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them, that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.”
Looking Ahead
If history has taught me anything, it’s that change doesn’t stop. The future will bring new challenges, new colleagues, and new ways of working we can’t even imagine today. Already, AI has transformed the way we approach our craft, from speeding up research and analysis to unlocking new creative possibilities in writing, design, and video. It hasn’t replaced the need for people, but it has challenged us to think differently, adapt faster, and focus on the parts of our work that only humans can do best: strategy, empathy, and big-picture vision.
The changes ahead will be even bigger. Some will be exciting, some will be uncomfortable. But that’s the pattern of progress: disruption, adjustment, growth. And as we’ve always done, we’ll learn, adapt, and find ways to thrive.
Bruce Lee once said, “Be like water.” Water adapts. It takes the shape of what surrounds it, but it also carves valleys and moves mountains over time. That’s the posture we need in the face of change: flexible, resilient, and unafraid of transformation.
The Lesson
Change is scary. Change is good. Sometimes it happens to you, sometimes you choose it yourself. The important thing is to stay malleable, to keep learning, and to keep flowing forward.
If 27 years at CLM have shown me anything, it’s that enduring organizations and enduring people don’t avoid change. They embrace it.
And the future? It will change again. And so will we.
