Entering Year Five - Part One: The Clients Who Changed Everything
Chalk Consulting is entering its fifth year of business this month, and I am still a little bit speechless about it. Four years of showing up, learning, growing, and pouring everything I have into work that genuinely matters. And I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the clients who made this journey so incredible.
To be frank, I did not just consult for these organizations, they taught me things. They changed how I see the world. And I am so grateful for every single one of them.
Building a Culture of Giving
Working with Tech4Change, www.Tech4Change.org, reminded me that generosity can be built right into the DNA of any industry. They have raised more than a million dollars for charities through its technology service distributor channel business. That kind of culture of giving can be contagious and being even a small part of it was a gift.
Opening Doors for Students
Some of my most meaningful work has been centered on young people. From Microsoft Excel Collegiate Challenge (MECC) and the Foundation for Spreadsheet Education, https://mecc.college, and the Foundation for Spreadsheet Education to the Boot Camps at AZ Cyber Initiative, www.azcyber.org, and the international travel opportunities Wells International Foundation, https://wellsinternationalfoundation.org, is creating for kids who would never otherwise get that chance. These organizations are in the business of changing lives, and I am so honored to work alongside them.
AZ Cyber Initiative gets a special shoutout because what they are doing is just genius. Teaching students’ cybersecurity skills while putting college kids in the role of teacher so they build their own resumes at the same time? Two generations of growth happening at once. That is beautiful.
The Arts Are the Heart of a Community
I used to say the front porch to the University of Arizona was sports. But working with the Fox Tucson Theatre, www.foxtucson.com, has me fully convinced that the front porch to Tucson is the arts. The arts make people feel things and teach kids in a very meaningful way about culture. They help communities recruit talent and give people a reason to stay. Being part of the work to expand this historic theatre and enhance the fabric of downtown Tucson has been very rewarding given it was a place my parents experienced growing up.
And then there is SONG: the Mac Davis Center for Songwriting, www.song.org, in Lubbock, Texas. Doing that feasibility study, meeting artists, forming friendships with people, one who has since passed and others who still come through Tucson to watch Texas Tech taken on the Wildcats. That is the beauty of this work. The relationships do not end when the project does.
Faith Based Education: Where Values Come Alive
Working with St. Michael’s School, https://smstucson.org, and St. Augustine High School, https://www.staugustinehigh.com, lit me up inside. Families who choose faith-based education are making a deeply intentional decision. They want smaller classrooms where teachers know their students by name. They want the values being taught at home to be reinforced every single day at school. And they want their children to grow not just academically but in their faith and their character. That matters. That is worth supporting.
I pinch myself when thinking about helping these schools understand what a real development program looks like. Teaching K-12 leaders how development works, how to engage current families, how to build alumni relationships that last for decades and how to tell the story of their school in a way that makes people want to be part of it. Every faith-based school has a powerful story. When you learn how to tell it, everything changes.
Work That Became Personal
My time with 88 Crime https://88crime.org was significant in ways I am still processing. Learning how crimes are reported and meeting the people working so hard behind the scenes to bring justice hit close to home for me personally. I thought about my friend Richard Garcia, murdered in 1986. And more recently, the disappearance of my colleague and friend Nancy Guthrie. The work 88 Crime does matters more than most people will ever know.
Full Circle and Then Some
Getting to work with the Cooper Environmental Center was one of those full circle moments I will never forget. I visited the Cooper Center as a kid in elementary school! Coming back decades later as a consultant to help that board think boldly about the future? My heart was full.
Athletics: Where My Heart Lives
As you know, I spent 21 years working in athletics at the University of Arizona. Athletics is not just a category of work for me. It is in my blood. So, when I got to work with the University of Nevada Athletics Department, https://nevadawolfpack.com, it felt like coming home. Coaching, mentoring, strategizing alongside their team was genuinely one of the highlights of my consulting journey. And the fact that two years later they are still calling to share exciting news? That is everything. That is why I do this.
The Newman Center: A Little Bit of Everything
My partnership with the Newman Center, www.uacatholic.org at the University of Arizona has put every single tool in my toolbox to use. Event planning, fundraising strategy, campaign assessment, database management, volunteer coordination, social media, and communication efforts. I couldn’t ask for a better experience.
Looking back across four years, the breadth and depth of this work is genuinely humbling. These organizations trusted me with their visions and their communities, and I do not take that lightly for even one second.
Stay tuned for Part Two where I am going to get real about what it actually takes to build a business from scratch, the lessons I learned the hard way, and why I love sharing all of it with others who are just starting their own journey.
Part Two: What Four Years of Building a Business Has Taught Me is coming soon!
