In early 2017, after spending two decades in marketing leadership roles, including heading up marketing operations at Elsevier and demand generation at Everest Group, I noticed that modern marketing was at a crossroads with many teams facing burnout and inadequacy due to the rapid pace of change and our increasingly VUCA world. Frustrated yet determined, I began exploring Agile methodologies, inspired by IT operations (ITOps) and DevOps, who had successfully embraced Agile ways of working (WoW) since the early 2000s.While I was educating myself, Andrea Fryrear, a content marketer by trade, had both discovered and applied Agile within her discipline, using it to create practical, engaging content that resonated with her organization’s target audience of fellow marketers and market researchers. Intrigued by her success and preachings, I reached out with a vision of helping marketing teams and organizations realize – and benefit from – the full potential of Agile. During the summer of 2017, Andrea and I collaborated, partnered, and developed our brand, launching AgileSherpas over Labor Day weekend that same year.Over the next six years – including the initial three, while AgileSherpas was my "side hustle" and I supported the business during early mornings, late nights, and weekends while managing full-time roles as a corporate marketer – I owned brand development, marketing operations, sales enablement, and broader business operations. During that stretch, I grew more, both professionally and personally, than I had in the previous 20 combined.I'm incredibly proud of what we've created. Through our amazing people and extended family – especially via our consultants, coaches, trainers, and partners – AgileSherpas has helped thousands of marketers across dozens of global enterprises achieve true, lasting agility. Our combined success was highlighted by making the Inc. 5000 List of America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies in both 2022 (No. 827) and 2023 (No. 921).In early 2024, I stepped away from the day-to-day at AgileSherpas, spending the first part of the year properly reconnecting with family and friends while pursuing personal interests I had long wished to better experience and support. I've since been consulting on all things Marketing, Marketing Operations (MOps), and Revenue Operations (RevOps) through my consultancy, Brand Hygienics, while also keeping an eye open for select dedicated marketing leadership roles. Always look forward to connecting, engaging, and supporting here on LinkedIn.