2023: We are wrapping it up

Is it just me, or does every year seem to go faster and faster? Here we are again at the end of a year, wondering where the last 12 months had gone.

It feels like every year is a massive year, but really, this year was huge for Elm.

This time last year, our biggest achievement was doubling our staffing from one to two. We like to say in 2022, I became We. By February, we had become three, as we welcomed Nikola to the team as an intern and quickly transitioned into a permanent team member. The next six months flew by, and before we knew it, Amy had completed our tribe.

So, twelve months on, our biggest achievement has been doubling our staff again!

This has been a massive change for me in a really short time. I went from working at home with just Charlie and Murphy (our emotional support officers) for company to having the house full of chatting, furious typing, and laughter.

It didn’t take us long to find our operating rhythm, and while we are all pretty different people, we are like a little family, or as Sue’s daughter calls us work friends.

More staff means more fun, right? It did, but it almost meant more work!

This year, we worked on 27 different projects for 15 clients. We facilitated 38 workshops, ran 3 communication strategy training sessions, wrote 15 strategies and reports, and attended around one million Teams meetings.

We built some amazing relationships with our clients this year. People who we really connected with and now also call our friends. We worked with State, Territory, and Commonwealth Government departments on topics like environmental water, cancer, invasive species, climate change, trees, and education.

Keeping up was sometimes tough as we all faced different personal challenges, but we managed to do it together, and it will only make us an even stronger team next year.

What does the future hold?

Who knows! After COVID, I stopped trying to guess. For our team, it is about working with great clients on interesting content where we can apply our experience and knowledge. We just want to keep doing what we love.

And have a little fun along the way.

Wrapping up 2023

We are ‘wrapping up’ this week to take some time out with family and friends, both here in Canberra, down the coast and on long drives across the Hay Plain.

We will be back on 8 January, ready for another big year.

From the whole Elm Team to yours – congrats, you made it. Now go and take a break.