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35 years young: A look back at Zumwald & Company

Thirty-five years ago today – Oct. 30, 1989 – I received my first signed contract to deliver professional communications services, officially establishing Zumwald & Company in Ohio.

As I tell people today, it was an experiment that has never ended.

Looking back, there have been many milestones and lessons learned that seem appropriate to reflect on – and express gratitude for – today. 

Here are a few:

Setting up shop in 1989 in the front room of our first home at a time when no one – literally no one! – worked from home

The technology was rudimentary at best and unreliable at worst: floppy disks that were indeed floppy (bendable and eventually corruptible).

Fax machines with slick, curly, electrochemical paper and “ink” that faded to gray (and eventually disappeared).

An IBM Big Blue machine sans GUI (no graphical user interface) that instead required DOS commands to function. 

Independence, I soon learned, had its challenges.

💡 Lesson learned: Persistence is a virtue.

Showing up at professional association meetings – and then raising my hand to volunteer in leadership roles

As my husband says, I quickly became “a joiner” after launching the business, over the years becoming a member of Women in Communications Inc., the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), Toastmasters International, the Professional Speechwriters Association, Women in Business Networking, the American Society of Journalists and Authors, the Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce, Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) and its Ohio River Valley regional partner organization.

Thanks to these groups, I met fellow communicators and top leaders from many verticals, learned from national speakers and executive education programs, got insider information, planned and emceed events, led committees, served on panels and boards, delivered workshops, won awards and even gained valued clients. 

A trusted colleague once told me, “Nothing happens if you stay in your office” – and she was right.

💡 Lesson learned: Get out to get ahead.

Boosting business acumen

Right away I took advantage of local resources (thank you, Miami Valley Career Technology Center) to learn the basics of business and entrepreneurship: bookkeeping, accounting, marketing, sales, contracts, collections and more.

Later, I relied on training from associations and other organizations (thank you, IABC, Aileron and WBENC) and hired experts to do the heavy lifting (thanks to Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP for help establishing our LLC in 2012; our longtime webmaster, Jon Bius of Minuteman Press Web Design/Biz Tools One; and David Trifiro of Layer 2 Computers for over a decade of patient tech support). 

💡 Lesson learned: You don’t have to know it all; you just need to know who does.

Humbly learning from mentors who took extra time to teach

I’m forever grateful for the patience and grace of the people behind all the red pens in my life over the years: Rex Cowden of Woolpert; Sol Smith and Ron Rollins of the Dayton Daily News; Carol Siyahi Hicks of The Dayton Foundation; Bruce Anderson of Winsupply; Dena LaMar, formerly of Advance Auto Parts; and Joan Detz, among others. 

💡 Lesson learned: When a mentor invests in you, they hand you the keys to your future.

Writing three corporate history books

Over the span of just a few years in the 1990s, I had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to write three books in rapid-fire succession:

  • First on the history of Dayton, Ohio
  • Second on the history of the Dayton Daily News
  • Third on the history of the University of Dayton Research Institute

Collectively, this work required in-person, deep-dive interviews with hundreds of fascinating people – from rocket scientists to linotype operators – and was a bootcamp for building storytelling skills.

💡 Lesson learned: Deliberate practice, persistence and resilience are the foundations of mastery.

Securing, serving and expanding alongside anchor clients

These anchor clients have included Woolpert, my former employer; the University of Dayton and the University of Dayton Research Institute; the Dayton Daily News; and Winsupply, among others.

Anchor clients, as I tell many young entrepreneurs today, give you the chance to learn, grow and provide increasing value, year after year, for mutual benefit, satisfaction and return on investment.

(For us, the icing on this cake are the clients we’ve gained around our valued anchors – more than 100 to date and counting – each delivering fresh challenges that keep us sharp.)

💡 Lesson learned: A trusted partner is a lasting partner.

Taking a risk to reinvent the business after 19 years

A one-hour workshop – “Nine Steps to a Killer Speech” – at the 2008 IABC World Conference in New York City was all it took to start moving away from corporate and marketing communications as a focus and begin a relaunch of the business.

What I learned that day in New York inspired me to get advanced training in speechwriting and speech coaching from an international speechwriter and speech coach (thank you, Joan Detz) and allowed us to take a sharp turn into a new niche.

Today – 16 years and 20 Cicero Speechwriting Awards later – the business remains laser-focused on four services: speechwriting, speech coaching, executive communications, and speaking and training. 

💡 Lesson learned: The courage to pivot keeps you relevant. 

Building a team

Many years ago, an executive coach convinced me that further growth required further delegation.

Today, Zumwald & Company relies on the conscientious work delivered by Keri Jaehnig, executive social content strategist; Di Madewell, graphic designer and illustrator; and executive assistants Johnny McRae and Stacy Johnson.

These professionals have allowed me to see things I could not see, and I’m grateful for their creative talent and can-do, we’ll-get-it-done attitude.

Our company is better today because of Keri, Di, Johnny and Stacy. 

💡 Lesson learned: Delegation is the art of multiplying your impact.

Obtaining national certification as a Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE)

During the coronavirus pandemic, instead of baking bread, I finally took the time to pull together the mounds of paperwork required to get Zumwald & Company, LLC certified as a WBE through WBENC.

This has been another door-opener (after three decades in business) that has further expanded our network, learning opportunities, clients and contracts. 

💡 Lesson learned: The best time to start was yesterday; the next best time is now.

Giving back with purpose

This year – in celebration of our 35th year in business – I served as chair of the IABC World Conference in Chicago, a grand event that drew professional communicators from around the world.

The hundreds of volunteer hours it took to plan this event (alongside a stellar committee of a dozen IABC members worldwide plus IABC staff) and secure top-shelf speakers and educational sessions was a giveback to the association that has done so much to help propel my career – and the business – since I became a member in 1995. (Thank you, IABC.)

💡 Lesson learned: Time is the currency of impact.

If you are a client, vendor, partner or colleague who has played some part in our 35-year journey – this experiment that has never ended – please accept my appreciation and gratitude for our connections, projects and experiences working together. 

What milestones and lessons learned will the next 35 years at Zumwald & Company bring?

Only time will tell.

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