Looking back at our Firm of the Future Year

Wow.  We can’t believe that it’s been a year already!

Our reign as Canada’s Firm of the Future ended last week with the announcement of the 2018 Country Finalists.  We are so pleased to see that Canada will be well represented by Tanya Hilts of Cloud Bookkeeping Services  who will compete globally in November in San Jose, at the QB Connect Conference.

We would love to be able to pass the torch of Global Firm of the Future to another Canadian and keep the title here in our great country. J Just sayin.

So, what has the last year been like for us?  We are asked that all the time.  Quite honestly, it’s been amazing.  Not just from the honour of the recognition, but a couple of unexpected surprises arose from the entire experience.

#1 – The Community

I had always known that we were part of an incredible industry.  Camaraderie and collaboration have always been something that we’ve been fortunate to experience, but this last year has been so far beyond anything we could imagine.  I’ve been so lucky for many years to have a strong tribe of colleagues who have also become friends. But this last year, I’ve learned how strong and supportive this community is, from people that I had never previously met.  The Canadian support that we saw was mind blowing leading up to the announcement, throughout the public voting process, but it was really afterwards that was astounding.   I honestly thought that once the hoopla of the conference was over, the only one that would really to continue to care that we were the Global Firm of the Future would be myself and Steve and probably my mom and dad 🙂  But that wasn’t the case at all.  People knew my name and introduced themselves online and at conferences and would share so much of their own personal journeys with me.  They would share their similarities with my story, but tell me that they were inspired that they, too, could overcome the challenges because they saw that I had.  Wow.  It has all been such a humbling experience.

#2 – Team Pride

Both Steve and I were the ones front and centre for this experience and up on the various stage platforms.  We’ve said throughout and at every opportunity, that we didn’t get here alone, and that our incredible Kninja team were and continue to be, the key to the success that we’ve been able to achieve.  What has surprised us, is the amount of team pride that has come from this recognition and title.  They have become more unified, more cohesive, more engaged in the success of other members on the team and the business overall.  I cannot tell you how many times we have heard over the last ten months “Of course we do, we’re the Firm of the Future”.  If you missed the video which our team recorded of themselves watching the Firm of Future announcement last year – you have to watch it here.  We had no idea they were going to do this, and we had told them we would broadcast it over Facebook Live because we weren’t able to have them all in San Jose with us.  This video says it better than we ever could.

And, in case you missed it the first time around make sure you see what happened to Steve after we won Firm of the Future. Sit back with your coffee on this one (or a glass of wine) and get ready to smile. Check it out here.

So, all of this preamble has been to say thank you.  Thank you to Intuit for sponsoring such an amazing contest that rewards us for our efforts.

Thank you to all the individuals in my tribe, and our community that helped us in the voting process, helped us in celebrating over the last year and shared so many of their own personal journeys.

Thank you to our team. As always. We would be nowhere without you.  Period.

If you are going to attend QBConnect in San Jose this November, and see the crowning of the next Global Winner, please do come over and find us and say hello.  I can’t promise anything more than a hug for being a part of our incredible community, but would love to meet you and thank you in person.