As we close the books on Bonehook’s 12th year in business, I want to express my deep gratitude for our client’s trust in us, for our team member’s incredible contributions, and our contractor’s value-added insights and hard work.
2021 was a year of changes and we made several significant changes this year.
- We hired a new employee and several new contractors
- We landed two new clients and stepped up in a big way for our oldest client
- We remade the agency website
- We narrowed our focus to brand creation and revitalization
- We joined Creative Morning’s CreativeGuild
Agency gross revenue for 2021 was the second-highest in our history. Better than that, we paid out more than $100K to our team members and contractors this year—a new high-water mark that I am particularly proud of.
Providing work and creative challenges for people we admire and respect is SO MUCH FUN.
Brand Diplomats
When Yuhang Wang graduated from Franklin & Marshall College in 2020, she moved to Austin, TX to be near friends and to find work in the design field. Because I am a fellow F&M graduate who works in advertising and design, she reached out to me when she arrived and I am so glad that she did.
I’ve hired dozens of creative people during my career, and I knew right away that Yuhang has a deep reservoir of talent. I did not yet know how her ability to listen intently, take direction, and show up with a positive attitude every day would help her advance at a rapid pace as a designer and help me grow my company in the process.
What began as a paid internship in August 2020, blossomed into full-time employment as a graphic designer starting in January 2021. So far, we’ve made a half dozen new logo marks and identity designs for clients. Her work often surprises me, and I’m delighted by that.
Shift Happens
2021 also presented some bumps in the road. In March, we parted ways with our largest client at the time, and in the process, my design partner of many years and I decided to take some time off from our creative partnership.
These were big losses and another opportunity to learn and grow. For me, 2021 was an excellent time to remember how change is the only constant and one’s ability to roll with the changes is a determining factor in business success and personal happiness too.
Now Entering Our Teens
We are now entering Year 13 as a brand marketing agency with a newfound optimism and newly defined goals, one of which is to win business locally and work with the best brand builders in the greater Austin region.
When we launched in 2010, I leveraged my content marketing expertise to win new business. Today, we focus on brand strategy, brand story, and brand identity. In other words, we help to define why our clients’ products and services matter.
These ‘definitions’ act as hooks for our client’s customers. Busy and distracted people need something—in this case, a singular and compelling idea about a company—to hold onto and we’re honored to provide it.