When I started the agency in June of 2006, I had no idea what the next twenty years would bring. At the time I was simply focused on surviving the first one. I walked away from a successful career with two young boys, a mortgage to pay, and a willingness to trade certainty for possibility.

I started the agency with two partners in an old building on Pittsburgh’s South Side. In that first year I lived off my savings with no salary. A few small local clients helped keep our lights on, but not much else. The odds weren’t in our favor, but failure was never an option. I had the determination and mindset of Cortes burning his boats after reaching the island. There was no going back. I must make this work.

I wanted to build something different: a place where big ideas mattered, where the best talent actually wanted to come to work, and where clients felt like true partners rather than transactions.

I used to joke about “Sunday Night Anxiety.” You’d hear that ticking 60 Minutes clock on CBS and feel that pit in your stomach because the weekend was over. I always felt there was a way to build a better agency than what I had experienced. After successfully growing clients’ business at several other agencies, I knew I could create an environment where clients thrive and Monday morning felt exciting again. 

Twenty years later, I still believe that.

Shortly after our first year we landed our first major account, Shop ‘n Save, a regional grocery chain. And from that foundation the building began. Over time, we grew into larger space, made two acquisitions, moved into Four Gateway Center downtown Pittsburgh, and expanded into Chicago’s River North. Yet even with the growth, I still view ourselves the same way we did in 2006: Scrappy, passionate with a chip on our shoulder, and always evolving and wanting to win for our clients.

But trust me, there’s been plenty of evolution.

Not long after we opened our doors, the financial crisis hit. Good timing I thought. Thankfully, with strong clients in healthcare, insurance, and grocery, we weathered that storm better than most. Then social media exploded and completely changed the communications landscape. Then came digital transformation, content marketing, analytics, influencer culture, streaming, a global pandemic, and now AI rewriting the rules again. And each time we reinvented ourselves to capitalize on each shift for our clients.

And as each shift occurs, you’ll hear the same cries that the agency model is dead. Yet here we are.

The reason is because we never stand still. We’ve always leaned into change instead of fighting it. Curiosity became part of our culture. Reinvention became normal. Experimentation isn’t something we talk about in decks; it became how we operate. But the truth is, none of that is the real story.

The real story has always been the people who built this place.

If there’s one thing I’m most proud of throughout my career, it’s my ability to identify great talent. I’ve been known to hire people on the spot during interviews. But it’s the exceptional people along the way who have truly shaped this agency.

My philosophy has always been simple: Hire the best people and you win. Don’t and you lose. Put them in an environment where they can thrive, trust them, and then get out of their way.

Few people embody that philosophy more than Shannon Baker, Beth Thompson, and Susan English. They’ve help guide Gatesman from our earliest years through growth, reinvention, challenges, wins, and more than a few sleepless nights. They’ve stuck with me through it all. And honestly, I can’t imagine the journey without them.

The thing I admire most about Shannon is her competitive spirit. I felt it the day I met her. We could be down 40 at halftime, but you’d never know it from her demeanor, resilience, and ability to stay focused and keep moving forward. I trust her judgement implicitly. 

Shannon Baker, President, Gatesman: “I think there’s always been the mentality to meet the moment and recognize challenges don’t arrive just once. They return in different forms, testing your patience, resilience and resolve. Leadership is the decision to meet them each time with the same unwavering commitment to your purpose, your people and the future you’re building.”

The people here care deeply about the work, about our clients, and about each other. We push one another. We challenge ideas. We collaborate. And we love to compete. There’s an entrepreneurial spirit inside this agency that we hire toward which is hard to explain unless you’ve experienced it firsthand. They each bring that ‘put me in coach’ energy. That culture didn’t happen accidentally.

Beth Thompson has played an enormous role in helping maintain the voice and DNA of our agency. As PR, Social, and storytelling evolved at lightning speed, she helped ensure we continued evolving too and what makes this place so special. And she does it with the mindset of a competitor.

Beth Thompson, SVP, Dir. of PR, Social & Agency Brand Communications, Gatesman: “What has kept me here all these years? Simple: the impact. Not the titles. Not the awards. Not the headlines. The impact. 

The impact we have made as a team. The impact our work has had on clients and industries. And the impact this agency has had on me. I’ve learned that meaningful success doesn’t come from talent alone. It comes from showing up, doing the hard work, staying resilient when things don’t go your way and refusing to give up when the path gets difficult. This place reinforces that the best opportunities come from being challenged and empowered, not protected.

Would I do it again? Hell yes. Every single time. I’m forever grateful to Shannon and John for believing in me and helping shape the professional I am.” 

Susan English began her career with us in PR after leaving the big agency world and has since evolved into a strategic communications leader. Along the way, she has brought a smart, multidimensional perspective to every situation with the unique ability to thoughtfully challenge thinking. And through it all, her unwavering commitment to our agency and clients has never changed.

Susan English, SVP, Director of Strategic Communications, Gatesman: “I’ve always been impressed by the thinking that comes out of Gatesman. The ideas are incredibly creative, yet they have an intuitive feel because the strategy behind them is so clear. What makes that possible is the culture, starting with the enthusiasm, belief, and trust that radiate from our leadership. There’s a shared confidence that every challenge is solvable and that we have the right people to figure it out. Our clients feel that passion, see the results, and I believe that’s one reason so many of them stay with us for the long term.”

Over time, I also realized something else: Life itself is a people business, and Relationships are the real growth engine. Not fancy presentations. Not credentials decks. Not awards.

Relationships.

Some of our clients have been with us for more than a decade. Some CMOs have hired us multiple times across different companies. That’s trust. And that kind of trust doesn’t happen overnight. It comes from listening. Showing up. Being honest when things get hard. Caring about someone else’s business like it’s your own. And most importantly, consistently delivering results.

That’s always mattered to me more than anything.

I grew up in a blue collar household where hard work wasn’t optional. Neither was telling the truth and keeping your word. That mindset never left me. Even now, after all these years, I still believe hard work, and relationships built on trust and mutual respect outperform almost everything else. Business or otherwise.

We’ve had some exhilarating wins and some crushing losses. Some moments clicked perfectly. Others forced us to regroup and reinvent. But those tough moments probably taught us the most. 

I’ve said to our team many times that we operate in “Lion Mode.” It’s waking up every morning with the mindset of constant hustle. Always fighting to win for our clients and for each other. Not in an arrogant way. Just refusing to stand still. And that same spirit lives for our team and our clients in our new agency proposition ‘Prove You Were Here.”

That mentality of having a chip on our shoulder has carried us through twenty years of constant disruption and I believe it’ll carry us into the next twenty as well. I keep a signed copy of Ogilvy on Advertising in my office- the one I purchased as a clueless eighth grader and later having been hired by Ogilvy, had David Ogilvy himself sign one late night at the agency. That book started everything for me. It reminded me that advertising is about people, ideas, and most importantly results. Twenty years in, I’m still feeling that same fire inside me to compete and win.

Because right now we’re in the middle of another major shift.  AI and technology are shaping the way we work. Personally, I don’t see AI as a threat. Instead, I see it as an incredibly powerful tool in our arsenal. One that can make our strategy smarter, our creativity sharper, and our insights faster. Not to mention the operational efficiencies it will bring.

But human instinct still matters and trumps all. Empathy and kindness still matters. Creativity still matters. Relationships still matter. That part will never change.

So as I look back on these twenty years, what I feel most is gratitude.

Gratitude for every employee who helped build this place.
Gratitude for clients who took a chance on us when we were small and unproven.
Gratitude for vendor partners, business mentors, and friends who supported us along the way.

Especially those early clients who believed in us when we didn’t exactly have a long resume or a fancy office. In good times and bad. (Thank you, Shop ’n Save for still being a client after 20 years.)

What started in an old small South Side building became something much bigger and better. But at its core, it’s still the same idea: great people, bold ideas, strong relationships, and the willingness to work hard, keep evolving and delivering results.

Twenty years in, this doesn’t feel like a finish line to me. It feels like a launchpad. The best ideas are still ahead of us.  

And honestly? We’re just getting warmed up.

‍