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The Shortlist Episode 35: The Making of Middle of Six

Middle of Six



Have you ever considered working as a freelance marketer? Or been curious what it takes to launch and run a small business? Since every entrepreneur has their own unique origin story, we thought it would be fun to share some insights into the making of Middle of Six. Listen in as Senior Creative Strategist Becky Ellison takes over as host to interview Middle of Six's founder, Wendy Simmons. Find out what nudged Wendy into starting her own firm, who she was inspired by, and what advice she'd give to marketers or creatives who have been curious about going out on their own. With transparency and candor, Wendy shares the real truth of her journey as a woman business owner in the AEC industry.


CPSM CEU Credits: 0.5 | Domain: 6


Podcast Transcript


Welcome to The Shortlist.


We're exploring all things AEC marketing to help your firm win The Shortlist.


I am not your host, Wendy Simmons.


I am Becky Ellison, Senior Creative Strategist at Middle of Six, and it's my one year anniversary of working with this incredible group of people.


So, I am taking over the podcast today to talk to Wendy Simmons, our fearless leader, about the history of Middle of Six, what keeps her going, and what is it like to be a successful woman small business owner in this very interesting time.


So, I am so thrilled to have as a guest finally on The Shortlist, Wendy Simmons.


Wendy, hello, how are you doing?


I am so good.


I'm so excited to be a guest.


I cannot wait to sit in this side of the chair and answer your questions.


And also, this is a subject that I could probably talk about for two hours.


So, here we go.


Perfect.


We'll need at least four, Wendy.


So, I have been in awe of you for some time now, exactly a year, let's say, because it is my one-year anniversary.


As someone who has struck out into the world and started a business that has grown exponentially since you founded it and is doing very well.


And I'm wondering, what is it that made you finally decide to start Middle of Six?


Okay, first of all, I'm totally blushing.


We are not, this is not supposed to be self-promotional, exactly.


But I like that you have just given me those nice compliments.


So yeah, Middle of Six.


They are all true, promote away.


Okay, Middle of Six has grown a lot, way more than I thought it was going to.


It's not what I imagined.


So I'm excited to share what my journey was like.


And actually, I think the reason why this is worthwhile to share is that this could be someone else's journey too.


So hopefully I can tell you what I did.


And then if it's interesting, someone else, they can try it out themselves.


So the real truth is, and I'm not ashamed to say this, but I started Middle of Six after I got laid off from my previous job.


Man, that was a painful experience.


And it happens.


I was working for a firm.


I hadn't been there very long, and they actually closed their local location.


It was a national firm.


And it was unexpected to me, and also maybe even more painful because we had been working really hard, marketing and business development, to keep things going and to try to make improvements.


And there were just things that were beyond my personal control.


And it was a decision, obviously, I was not consulted on.


And they closed the office, and I found myself in a situation where I could go out and probably get a director of marketing position somewhere or dot, dot, dot.


And so you start thinking.


You start thinking about what to do.


It wasn't like immediately that I thought, oh, I'll just start this company.


It'll be Middle of Six.


But I thought, you know, what is there?


There's a need out there, right?


I could go and be in house or maybe I could help more people, more companies.


I could have a more creative career by reaching out and like consulting, right?


That's kind of where it started.


Nice.


This is very Jerry Maguire.


Breakdown, breakthrough.


I love it.


A door has shut, a window has opened, or vice versa.


And here you are striking out in the world.


I began writing what they call a mission statement.


Not a memo, a mission statement.


You know, a suggestion for the future of our company.


A night like this doesn't come along very often.


I seized it.


I'm curious, for those who don't already know, this is common trivia question around the office.


What does the name Middle of Six mean?


Thank you for asking.


It's one of my favorite questions.


Middle of Six, I'm the middle of six kids.


So that's what it comes from.


And if you are an engineer, you get annoyed with me because you say there is not a middle of six.


And if you're an architect, they're like totally into it and they love it.


And I think it's very creative.


The truth is, I think I made that up when I was like in the first grade or something, when I'd say I was part of a big family.


I'm the middle of six.


I just said it.


I said it for 35 years until finally I needed to name a business something.


And that to me seemed like a very interesting name to call it.


Turns out actually it works out pretty well because people are intrigued.


They're curious.


They want to know.


And then when I talk to them, they tell me, oh, I'm the middle of one or whatever they might be.


So I get to learn about our clients and other people in the community that way.


So it's kind of fun and near and dear to me.


And it turns out that it sort of works.


Do you think that you fit the typical middle child profile, as we imagine it?


Well, the middle child in my life is the feeling of wanting to keep the peace, wanting to help people.


I see both sides.


I see the older kids and the younger kids, and I want to try to keep people happy, and I come up with solutions and that sort of thing.


So I don't know if that's the typical middle child behavior, but those are the qualities that I bring.


And I actually think they work really well at being an AEC marketer, is listening and helping and piecing things together and making us all work together as a team.


That is absolutely true.


Can confirm, you are definitely that person at Middle of Six, as well as being our leader.


You are also that person who creates that harmony, and I think that is a fantastic quality to have in someone who's in charge.


I wish more people would.


You could also argue that the Middle of Six is the letter I, if you want to be very pedantic about it, but I don't.


No, that's true.


I'm wondering, I know, because I work there, but for everyone who doesn't, Wendy, what does Middle of Six do, and what makes Middle of Six different from the other firms that are doing it?


Well, we're marketing consultants for the AEC industry, and it's hard to say what exactly makes us different from other firms because I haven't had the chance to be on the inside of their inner workings.


But something I think that makes us special is that we definitely come at our work with this kind of energy and heart that we want to be like an integrated team member for our clients.


So we really just jump in, and we are in their proposals, in working with them, they are our team, it's our project and that sort of thing, and there's that kind of heart that comes with it.


So that's the way we approach our work, and it comes very naturally, I think, to everyone because everyone in the company has had some experience working in AEC, so we know what it's like to be on the inside.


So we just carry that through, and we bring that level of competition and getting our hands dirty and getting in it.


We're just not hands off at all.


It's, you know, we're really in it.


So I don't know.


I think that makes us special, and it's something that I'm really proud about, having grown a team that just loves the industry and is all in about it.


And each other.


It's such a good team.


Everyone is so kind to one another, respectful of one another.


We're there for each other.


It's a wonderful thing that you have built.


So here you are, you've been laid off from your job.


You're deciding to start a business.


You're striking out on your own.


Did you have any inspiration to, did anyone in your family own or run a business?


Did your parents or anyone else that you could look up to?


Yeah, that's a good question.


People don't ask that very often, but my older brother who I really look up to and respect, he has run a business for a long time.


He's 12 years older than me.


So really he's kind of at that age where I always looked up to him.


You know, like always, right?


So him running a business in his 30s and eventually owning the business, you know, someone that I thought, wow, he's doing so well.


This is something that I would like to do.


And then my older sister eventually opened up her own business too.


And it's totally different.


You know, none of these businesses are like what we're doing, but I could see sort of their struggles and their inspiration, the challenges and it all seemed doable, I guess, in a way.


I guess maybe when you see people who you're related to, you know them so well.


They're like, yes, I can do this too.


And I am very thankful to them for paving that way because I think it made me be able to step into it without really any hesitation.


What do you think has been maybe the toughest challenge in running this business and running a business in general?


Hmm, that is so interesting.


The toughest challenge, I'm going to answer to two ways.


One part is that people say, they say you're going to make mistakes, there's going to be problems, it's going to be really scary and everything.


And honestly, not to say we haven't made any mistakes or whatever, but things have been good.


And it makes me so nervous that there's this thing out there because the advice you get from these mentors in life, they say, they say, you know?


And so I feel like that's like a humble brag that I've just done there.


But maybe it goes back to like some of my personality.


I'm a planner.


I like to think through things.


So there wasn't, maybe I've been able to avoid some of those downfalls because I was being very intentional and thoughtful, methodical researching, that sort of thing.


So there's that part of it.


But I still in the back of my mind think, isn't there like a shoe going to drop?


That's going to happen.


And then the other challenging part, and I hate to use the word challenge because it sounds negative, is, and so many business owners will say this, but it's the people part of it.


And what I mean by that is it's the team.


It's not a challenge in a negative way, but it's so important to get it right.


And I am like, you know, I just adore this team and I respect them and I want to treat them well.


And I'm trying to run a business so that they can be here and be happy and feel secure.


And that's an amount of pressure that drives me and makes me very happy.


But it would be a lot easier if you didn't have people, right?


Because then you would just...


You heard it here first, folks.


Well, yeah.


I mean, what you would do is if it was just me freelancing, I could just take care of myself, right?


And the things wouldn't be so public and they wouldn't impact people.


But I can't hide behind that, you know?


I have to do the right thing and work hard and plan.


And it's a joy to do it, but it's not for the lighthearted.


That's amazing.


That's an incredible level of trust, I think, both ways.


You know, you and your team and your team and you.


I mean, I can't even imagine having this many people that I'm sort of responsible for and we're just sort of responsible to one another.


And I think somehow you've managed to put together just a fantastic team who are just there for each other at every turn.


You wonder at every company, there's always somebody who's a problem, right?


Like you think that's the fear.


But at Middle of Six, like there's not.


We just don't have that.


And so I have to say, I think we have to give you credit for assembling this team that has these values so that we don't have that sort of negativity in our midst.


So I think this whole podcast is just gonna be me telling you how great you are.


I'm strapping.


I am curious though.


So you founded Middle of Six in, was it 2019?


I think it was 2017, October 2017.


Oh, 2017.


I don't know.


We have to do the math.


But I think that's right.


So in 2017, it was you, and then you brought on Melissa and Kyle.


What's the history?


Walk me through.


It was me for a year, and this is, I think, goes back to me being super strategic and risk averse and all this stuff.


I had a whole year of just freelancing and consulting in stealth mode, as if I were some fancy startup or whatever.


We built a website, but we didn't publish it quite yet.


We did a press release, didn't put that out there yet.


There was a lot of time that I was just kind of testing the waters and seeing, is there a need?


What can we charge?


How does this work?


Blah, blah, blah.


And so there was one year of that.


And then we got this really lovely big project, and it was so exciting for me.


It was a pretty large contract, and it allowed me to hire my first full-time team member, which was Kyle, our fearless podcast producer.


Do you want to say hi, Kyle?


Oh, hello.


He's waving.


Oh, Kyle.


He's just waving at us.


And that was so exciting and so fun and so scary.


All the things, and if I can just indulge for one second, I want to say and share the experience of deciding or feeling confident that you could pay someone's salary, right?


And not only that, but say, I'm going to offer your job.


Will you quit your other job?


You know, like, you just, you have a family.


You've got things going on.


Come and be with me and see, you know, like we will do it.


We can do this.


And, you know, I really appreciate Kyle taking that first leap and, you know, the others that followed those first hires were hard because I had to convince people that we had something good going, you know?


And I think that they could see it, but the proof is in the eating of the pudding, right?


You see it later on when you're actually enjoying it.


But when you're on the outside looking in, Becky, you could probably speak to that.


You're like, I don't know, should I go over and be with this teeny tiny company?


It's scary.


I mean, when you've known the same thing for such a long time, I mean, before I came here, I was at the same place for 11 years, you know?


So it was very frightening making the change because it was so different.


I had never heard of a marketing firm that only did AEC marketing.


That was doing essentially what I was doing, but for many different clients, I thought, this is too good to be true.


This is such a small company.


I don't know.


But yeah, I'm so glad I took the leap.


I mean, you guys have been wonderful.


This has been fantastic here for me.


I'm very glad that you were able to convince us to come over.


Well, it's kind of fun now because now when we go out for a position, we advertise that we're hiring, we have plenty of applicants.


And sometimes we even have people reaching out before we have a position.


That was something unheard of in the beginning.


I was really like trying to do my best show, you know, a PowerPoint presentation of why this company is great to join.


And now people are coming to me and saying, if you ever have an opportunity, I would love to join.


And so makes me happy about the company and not just what I started, but what the whole team has built, you know, the brand, the voice, the personality that you put out there, which is so genuine.


And that's what's attracting people to come and want to be part of it.


So that's pretty cool.


So you founded the company as yourself in 2017, and we are now in 2023 sitting with, what, 10 people?


Nine, nine plus, you know, maybe one coming in at some point.


That's incredible growth in a short amount of time, not to mention here you are with this almost three-year-old company and then the pandemic hits.


So Middle of Six has always been a sort of remote kind of virtually connected environment from the beginning.


Was that, was that intentional?


Was that a choice?


And how do you feel like that has been through these, you know, tough pandemic times?


Well, in the beginning, I was working from home by myself, but then all the time going to clients' offices to work with them in person, because culturally, that's what we were all doing, right?


You work in person.


So I would go into a client's office, I'd log in to their marketing computer, I would work on proposals sitting there in their office.


And that was fine.


I didn't know anything different, right?


That's just what we were doing and kind of what the expectation was, facilitating meetings in person.


I mean, all of that is really good.


And I do miss that some of it has gone away.


But then when the pandemic happened, we were all working on laptops.


Kyle was our first remote team member from the start.


So he was working, you know, not in the Tacoma office.


And it didn't take very long.


It took a couple of days to feel like, oh, never mind.


This is great.


We've got teams.


We can do this.


What we really just need to do is check in on each other and feel good during all the chaos.


You know, that was the part.


But we actually became more connected as a team because of the pandemic.


I'm looking at Kyle here and I want him to be able to chime in, so I'm just going to remind him of these times.


But in the beginning days of Middle of Six, Kyle was remote.


Melissa and I would come into the office or whatever, and maybe we'd have a contractor come in and work in the office.


But we were not as connected with Kyle as we should have been because he was distant and we'd check in on a project or something.


But now with the way that we can all work and everyone's so comfortable hopping on a video call or with chats, I feel like we're just so connected.


And you can get to someone anytime, and even though it's nice to be in person, it is not a requirement to do really good work, be available.


So I don't know.


Does that answer your question?


I agree.


Then I think that's one of the best selling points about working at Middle of Six.


That work-life balance that comes from working from home is really nice.


And we do it.


We connect every day.


We've got the huddle every day at 1.30.


We have a little team meeting and we just share what we're working on.


We talk about things and we talk about TV shows.


And it's just a great time.


Wendy, I'm wondering, what would you say has been the best or happiest moment since you have started Middle of Six for you?


Oh, my gosh, there have been so many.


This is a question I should have prepped for.


Oh, man.


Okay, one that I cannot ignore was that last year in 2022, I received the Marketer of the Year Award from the S&PS Seattle Chapter.


And that was a real highlight in my career because what I attributed that to, and, you know, hearing the comments and reading the applications that were sent in, it was for me, I was awarded that for excellence in really building my brand and marketing my business.


And so I felt like I was putting into action everything I had learned and that it was well received by my peers.


And so that kind of compliment was amazing.


It feels like the only award I'll ever need to get in my life, honestly.


That was it.


I'm done.


But I really took it as a huge compliment for the people that I respect, you know, looking at what we have built and really appreciating Middle of Six.


And then, you know, recognizing me with that.


That was amazing.


But I mean, there's so many more I could go on.


That's wonderful and well-deserved.


I think we can all agree.


What would you say is the, maybe the weirdest or most surprising thing that has happened because of Middle of Six's success?


The weirdest or most surprising thing?


Oh my goodness.


We started a podcast.


That's a great point.


Kyle, leave that in, please.


Yes, Kyle, Kyle, our producer, chiming in and he is so right.


We we're doing it right now.


We have a podcast.


That is super weird and awesome.


I think.


Are we are we the only AEC marketing podcast?


No, Becky.


We're not.


We should be.


I don't know.


I was excited to do that.


But I love it.


I love it that in your world we are.


I'm a marketer.


I'm always trying to sell.


No, there are lots of others that I like and listen to or inspired by.


But that's a good point.


I mean, under the category of weird, I remember when the podcast came out and I looked at my phone, Apple iTunes and I was like, oh my God, there's my face.


That freaked me out.


And then I also told one of my very good friends, I was like, I've got a podcast.


And she said, she said, yeah, everyone's got a podcast.


I was like, oh, okay, well, it's cool for me.


So anyway, that's a little bit of honesty there.


Yeah, I know, we're not that special.


But yeah, that's a good point.


That was kind of surreal.


I'm impressed.


It's a great podcast.


Very exciting stuff.


I think we're pretty much ready to go here with this podcast.


What the hell is a podcast?


I mean, why don't you just tape it?


What are you doing?


You don't have to tape it these days, Frank.


You just record it right onto the computer.


And once we start recording, Frank, we need you to stop eating those crackers.


It's incredibly annoying, and it's all anyone's going to be able to hear.


What would you tell other people who are just starting a small business of their own that you wish that you knew when you started out?


Well, first of all, I don't only have time for this anymore, but when I was first starting out, I used to invite other people who wanted to start a business to come and have coffee with me and just talk, because I was like, let me tell you what I know.


You know, it was so fresh in my mind, and I just wanted to share it.


So I'll try to like dig deep into those those archives.


I mean, like I mentioned, I started and I didn't go public with it right away.


I thought it was important to kind of build the brand reputation and the voice before it went out really publicly.


I didn't have as much to say in the very beginning.


I think that was a smart move to start slow so that we could really, once we went out there, like kind of make a big impression.


I don't know if that would be important for every small business, and certainly if you're going to like open a restaurant or a store, that's not going to be possible.


But for consulting or professional services, that was pretty good.


We also, I mean, we're so lucky to get to do practice what we are experts in.


So I think if you are a marketing person, you might have a magical key to go and be successful in lots of different kinds of businesses.


So if you have a passion for, I don't know, dog grooming or flower arranging or who knows, whatever it could be, if you're a marketer, you're probably going to be pretty successful because you've got this toolkit.


You can probably put together a website.


You can write some copy.


You can think about having a headshot or something to promote your brand.


You might have resources to do a logo or do one yourself.


Like all of these tools for starting a business are at your fingertips as a marketer.


So if you're thinking about leaving AEC to go do something else or even to start your own consulting firm, you've got a lot already within yourself to go and do that.


We got this like secret power.


Secret powers right here on The Shortlist.


Wendy, I wonder if you could walk us through, what is a typical day in the life of Wendy Simmons as the owner and founder of Middle of Six?


Typical day starts early.


I get up at five.


What?


No, surely not.


Oh, yes.


This is surprising to you.


I can't even imagine.


Yeah, I get up at five.


And I usually, I know it's such a bad thing, but I usually do look at my phone immediately.


I try not to look at email, but I actually like to see like, what's on LinkedIn?


What's in the news?


Like, I don't know.


I just kind of want to get some information.


So start off that way, have some coffee.


I'm a breakfast person, so I need to eat and then I like get ready for my day.


I'm also the kind of person I do like to like get ready, even though, you know, we live in a world where sweatpants are acceptable, work clothes.


Fully dressed, shoes and everything, jewelry, the whole...


Not shoes.


I'm not going to go that far.


But yes, I mean, I like, I guess I don't know why, but I just feel more prepared for the day when I have like gone through the whole procedure, you know?


I'm like, I'm ready to go.


It does take a minute, you know?


It's not as easy as just putting your hair in a ponytail and going, but I don't know.


That's what I do.


I also feel like I'm in meetings so much of the time.


And by being in meetings, I'm like on the stage.


So I'm just trying to be prepared for those conversations and makes me feel set up for the day.


And then it's amazing.


Listen, you can't see this, but I'm in my pajamas right now.


So we're living in different worlds.


Please continue, Wendy.


I mean, I'm not wearing anything super fancy here.


It's just a sweater, but it isn't my pajamas.


So there's the difference, I guess.


And then my calendar is usually about 50% booked with meetings.


That is about max for me.


I mean, it can be more and it has been more sometimes, but 50%, that's a lot because there's a little bit of prep time.


I'm often facilitating these meetings unless one of my lovely team members is doing it for me, which I do appreciate.


But when you're in the consultant seat, you are running the show, right?


So it's, I don't know, there's no where to hide.


You're there and you're gonna be responsible for facilitating and note taking and delivering and having ideas and all that stuff.


So that's a whole day of that, which I really enjoy.


Eat lunch at my desk.


Sorry, do not, these are not tips for how to be a good person.


These are my reality.


You know, eat lunch in five minutes and then my adorable dog will at some point come and paw me and say, you haven't moved.


So we get up and walk around a little bit, continue working.


And I do try to kind of shut things down about five o'clock.


Good.


If I'm lucky, maybe it could be four o'clock.


I don't have any problem with that because I have an early start to my day and I'm happy to kind of keep tinkering on work at any hour.


So I don't feel bad and try not to do anything past six o'clock because it's time for like family and dinner and going outside and, you know, life.


Right.


So that's my that's my limit.


Love it.


And then it starts the next day.


And I try really hard not to work on the weekends.


So that's my life.


I love that too.


What has been your favorite piece of client feedback, would you say, since you have started Middle of Six?


Gosh, I still have a voicemail saved on my phone from one of our clients from some work that, pal, you're around for this, and I should have played it in anticipation of this because it makes me so happy, but it was just pure joy.


It's like, Wendy, I have to call you, this is amazing, you guys are blowing my mind, I can't believe it, you get us so much, you know?


I mean, it was just so complimentary, and there was a lot of emotion in his voice.


We had done some mission, vision, values work, and it just resonated, and he was so impressed, and it was early in the middle of six life, so we didn't have a ton of those stories, but just to get that, I thought, yep, I'm saving that voicemail until, I don't know, until like a new phone or something happens to it because I want to be able to listen to it.


And since then, we've had so many compliments and notes of appreciation and I feel super lucky that I get to receive so many of those notes.


We started a kudos channel at middle of six so that I can easily share them.


We need to push them out to the team so everyone can see because it would be so unfair if they only came into my email and then like died in a folder, they have to be shared.


And so for the people on the middle of six team, I hope every once in a while you scroll through that and see a list of, I don't even know how many, a hundred different compliments, thank yous, couldn't have done it without you, that stuff.


That's amazing.


That's nice.


It keeps you going.


What is your dream for the future of Middle of Six?


Where do you see the company going?


What would you like to have happen in 10, 20, 30 years?


I don't know.


Oh my gosh, 30 years?


Maybe that's a weird amount of time.


Yeah.


Well, like we said, we're like at nine or 10, we're at a really sweet spot for size because we have multiple people in each role, and so we're well covered.


We can take on projects and have backups, and people can go on vacation.


So I really love the size of the company.


We might get a little bit bigger, we might get a little bit smaller, but it's awesome.


What do you like to do outside of work for fun?


What TV shows are we watching?


What books are we reading?


What are we doing?


Becky, you always ask this TV show question, and you know I do not watch TV.


I mean, I do.


I do watch a little TV, and I'm not ashamed to say I only want to watch light-hearted, short TV shows because I fall asleep so fast that TV is like a lullaby to me.


I love it.


It's so wonderful.


I would want to watch something, but I'm not going to watch it.


That's what I'm going to do.


It's got to be light-hearted and happy.


That makes me happy.


But besides working and then falling asleep to television, I really love to go outside.


And I'm not like the super active, athletic, Northwest person or whatever.


I just really love to see the sky and the trees and the birds and all of that stuff.


So that might be sitting in a hammock or going for a little walk with the dog.


I just need to have a connection to the outdoors.


If I'm really lucky, I get to go and hike or be in nature in the Pacific Northwest.


Leavenworth is one of my favorite towns.


I just need to see the mountains, see the snow, anything like that.


Just makes me very, very happy.


But I'm probably doing it in a non-athletic way.


I'm having some wine and looking at the mountains in the snow or whatever it might be.


Wine hiking.


Ooh, I'm in.


That sounds fun.


I don't know.


It's like I'm a faux Pacific Northwest person, but I love it.


I love it.


We all are.


Is this even Northwest?


Yes, I know, right?


Wait, wait, wait, wait.


Where are you going?


No, I'm with you on the nature.


Yeah, it'd be just something about being out in the trees and smelling all that moss and leaves and everything.


You never think it's going to hit you as hard as it does, but it does.


And I always think, God, I'm so glad I came out here.


I feel all warm inside just thinking about it.


So I've got a question for you that I don't know how you're going to feel about this, but when you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?


I think I wanted to be an artist.


And I'm not ashamed to say this.


I'm not sure why I thought that, because I'm not a very good artist.


I do crafts and I try.


This is untrue.


When I was young, I was like trying to be a painter.


I mean, I don't know, these kinds of things.


But I never, or maybe we're always too critical of our own work.


But when I look at that stuff, I'm like, I don't think that was very good.


Luckily, I grew up in the 90s and computers were a thing.


And I learned in high school that you could be a graphic designer.


And I was like, oh, my gosh, I swear a light bulb went over my head.


And I was like, you mean I can do art, but I don't have to like paint it.


I can like do it differently.


And I was hooked.


And then I went to college.


And so it all went from there.


So I think I was always going to do something creative.


But just had to figure out how to not have to be like super, super talented and artiste.


You are talented.


Stop it.


And that's a great happy ending.


I was so worried you were going to say, I wanted to be a ballerina or like an astronaut or something.


And then it would have to be like, but here you are, running a successful business and being a creative professional.


Well, I want to say that when I was in high school, I took one of those tests, right?


You know, where are you going to be when you grow up?


What should you do?


And it said, I took the test and it said, you should be a creative director.


And I was like, what is a creative director?


I don't know what that thing is, but I just kind of was like, okay, whatever, put it out of my mind.


And I probably also thought, I don't know, are you like creative enough?


You know, like I got the director part for sure.


But I was like, am I really creative?


And then I love it that like fast forward.


I'm like, oh, yeah, that's totally what I ended up doing, right?


It's different, right?


But it's, yep, that's that's it.


So high school new.


Sometimes the test gets it right.


Yeah, they knew for me.


I don't even remember what it told me to do.


I probably wanted me to join the military, but I think that's what they wanted everybody to do.


Never mind.


We lived close to a base.


Get some more recruits.


So what is next for Wendy?


What are you working on this year?


What are some of your upcoming projects and goals?


What's new?


Yeah, well, surprisingly enough, the goal for this year is to, you know, maintain and like strengthen everything that we've got at Middle of Six, like learn from what we've built, but not necessarily have to push for a lot of growth.


There are things that we want to achieve, but we've done so much, and now I just want to like learn from that and be very thoughtful and, you know, not push so hard and just really kind of, I don't know, like maximize what we've got instead of trying to kind of spread things out and like go for more.


It's been go, go, go for so long, for six years that I am excited to like just enjoy where we're at and with the team.


And I mean, all that stuff is pretty exciting to me.


That is very healthy and balanced and positive.


And I think you're going to make it, Wendy.


All right.


Yes.


Well, those are my questions, Wendy.


Thank you so much for being a guest on the podcast that you usually host.


I've had a blast and it's been a wonderful year for me working here at Middle of Six.


I am so grateful.


Continue to be grateful for this opportunity and for the wonderful people I work with, including you.


So thank you so much for letting me take over the podcast and for being here today and everything.


Happy anniversary, Becky.


It's so wonderful working with you.


I know our clients love your creativity and personality you bring.


And I will turn over the hosting seat to you anytime, anytime you want to do this, because you are a natural.


You're real good.


I thought of a whole bunch of fun questions and I really enjoyed it.


So thank you.


We live in a cynical world.


A cynical world.


And we work in a business of tough competitors.


You complete me.


I'm gonna just...


Just shut up.


Just shut up.


You had me at hello.


You had me at hello.


The Shortlist is presented by Middle of Six and hosted by me, Wendy Simmons, principal marketing strategist.


Our producer is Kyle Davis, with digital marketing and graphic design by the team at Middle of Six.


We want to hear from you.


If you have a question or a topic you'd like us to discuss, send an e-mail or voice memo to theshortlistatmiddleofsix.com.


If you're looking for past episodes or more info, check out our podcast page at middleofsix.com/theshortlist.


You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram at Middle of Six.


Thanks so much for listening.


We hope you'll tell your friends and colleagues about the show, and be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of our upcoming episodes.


Until next time, keep on hustlin.


Bye!


Stay hydrated, everybody, and make sure to get plenty of sleep, and make sure you're registered to vote, and, you know, get out in nature once in a while and smell those trees, from me and Wendy to you.


Don't be scared.


Start your own business.


You can do it.


Yeah, start a business.


You can do it!


The Shortlist is a podcast that explores all things AEC marketing. Hosted by Middle of Six Principal, Wendy Simmons, each episode features members of the MOS team, where we take a deep dive on a wide range of topics related to AEC marketing including: proposal development, strategy, team building, business development, branding, digital marketing, and more. You can listen to our full archive of episodes here.

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