by Molly George
This month, Kickstand is celebrating our tenth anniversary! From our humble beginnings at a kitchen table to supporting some of the world’s most innovative brands, Kickstand has always set ourselves apart from the rest. Our commitment to unparalleled proactivity, supporting working parents, and empathetic leadership has been at the core of what we do since day one.
Even this year, in the midst of an unfriendly economy, we’re seeing our clients thrive in their respective categories. Our clients have been named to Fast Company’s World’s Most Innovative Companies, the Forbes Cloud 100, and the Inc. 5000. We’ve secured top tier interviews and byline placements with outlets like BBC News, TechCrunch, and VentureBeat. And through it all, we’ve fostered an environment that holistically supports our dispersed employee base through our unique suite of benefits and collaborative culture.
Don’t believe us? Hear what some of our longstanding employees and founders have to say about Kickstand over the years:
Kickstand has gone through some major changes that are hard to ignore. We’ve grown so much, more than doubling our size from when I started. Our reach has stretched to new places, both in terms of our clients and where our team members call home. Time and time again I’ve seen our team turn talk into action. Once ‘back of the napkin’ ideas are now concrete realities. We’ve rolled out new services and nailed down smarter processes, showing that we’re not afraid to get things done. But amid all this change, one thing has stayed solid: our dedication to excellence. As we’ve gotten bigger, our culture has actually gotten stronger. We’re still all about pushing for the best, and that’s what continues to drive Kickstand forward.
– Miranda McCanna, Research Supervisor
When I look back on my time at Kickstand, I look back in awe at the company we have become, the talent we’ve hired and the people that helped us get here along the way – colleagues, clients and partners, and endless support from our families and friends. Kickstand began as a small agency focused on high growth startups, and through the years we have evolved into a fast-growing company committed to world-class client service, integrated marketing programs, and work-life balance. I’ve witnessed this agency weather a pandemic and tough economic times, all the while turning lemons into lemonade. Kickstand has also been there for me personally – when we began scaling the company nationwide and I had the opportunity to move back to my home state of New York; when I postponed my big Italian wedding during COVID and finally got the wedding of my dreams one year later; when I had personal matters and needed to take some time off – Kickstand has always served as my constant through life’s ups and downs. We have also grown leaps and bounds in our abilities to work as a distributed workforce – the key word here being force. I love being a part of this company, because it aligns with my own core values of being a lifelong learner and focusing on impact over action. We are an agency and a support system, and while we say we play to win, I often show up to work already feeling like a champion. That’s because of the solid foundation this company is built upon and the incredible, super-smart people I work with every day. We have a lot more growing to do, data to uncover, and stories to tell. I can’t wait to see what the next decade holds.
– Joanna Weinstein, Account Director
At every stage of growth, it feels like you’re doing your best work – and if you’re making the right investments, it’s true. Growth affords investment in better tools and talent, and your experience grows over time. But right now, it’s more than a feeling. At this stage, we know we are doing our best work and that we have the best team, capabilities, and experience that we’ve ever had.
– Kristina Kennedy, COO and Co-Founder
When you’re growing a business, you spend so much time with your head down, just focused on getting the job done. It can be really easy to always be working towards the next milestones and never take the time to look back and see how far you’ve really come. When we started Kickstand, we knew that a few things would ultimately determine our long-term success: our ability to recruit the best possible team; create a culture that empowers people to do the best work of their careers without sacrificing their personal lives; and not feel beholden to traditional agency models and processes that aren’t 100% focused on delivering real business impact. Every person who has chosen to work for or with Kickstand has put incredible trust in us – and that’s not something we take lightly. I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished over the last decade in partnership with some of the biggest innovators in tech and beyond, and I can’t wait to continue leading the industry for the next ten years to come.
– Molly George, CEO and Co-Founder