In the winter of 2017, Jessica and I first discussed starting a business.

Shortly after, one of our good friends decided to open a food truck. We jumped on the chance to work on South of the Line Chicken, despite not having the opportunity to try what we would later describe as a “dang good meal.” We quickly realized this was, as we thought, our passion.

A few months later, we created White Hound. We had a simple goal - provide small businesses with an opportunity to connect to their most passionate audiences. Whatever that took, we wanted to be the ones who could make it happen.

The official date of registration? August 15th, 2018. Today’s date is, of course, August 15th, 2019. (If you’re reading this the day we published it anyways. If not, shame on you. Not really, we still like you. You just won’t be getting a White Hound hat.)

We made it a full year! And what a year it has been. Every day, we wake up feeling blessed by the Lord and thrilled that we have an opportunity to do what we love. We never in our wildest dreams expected our first year to be so successful.

A few of our highlights:

• the creation of a digital campaign that raised over $30,000 and 110 supply packages for Fort Worth families in need during the holidays (advertising can definitely be used for good - The Center for Transforming Lives is an outstanding group breaking the cycle of generational poverty here in Fort Worth.)
• growing a client’s Instagram from scratch to over 3,700 followers organically (if you have kids, you have to check out Kinesio Kids. Emily knows. so. much.)
• creating a Super Bowl commercial (still thinking about how we’re going to get a Hall of Famer for next year, McCormick Law Firm.)

One of our biggest successes - a mere three clients have not signed on for a second project. While we kick ourselves every night over those three, recognizing the trust our clients continue to place in us is an incredible honor and one we do not take lightly. We are proud of our work and thrilled at how many of our clients view us truly as long term partners.

More importantly than this being a recap is the chance for us to thank you. Our moms get their own callout as crazy ladies who hand out more business cards than we do. My dad, one of the first people to encourage us despite my leaving his business, is not only a client but one of our biggest advocates. The rest of our family, while they don’t hold honorary “New Business” positions, are just as supportive with their encouragement and prayers. We owe them so much.

We have had the opportunity to work with some out of this world people, such as Lauren Carter of LJ Carter Creative and Trey Sprinkle of Sprinkle Creative Consulting. Building our partnerships with them has been so much fun and incredibly insightful as we kick ideas back and forth.

Our friends are amazing. The Alan Littenbergs of the world wear White Hound gear around Fort Worth, pray for us and check in on us while the Brian Schafers help us with accounting questions and Xero. You all are fantastic.

Finally, we wouldn’t be where we are today without our incredible clients. You all allow us to make our passion a business. More importantly, it rarely feels that way. You connect with us and bring us in to not only your companies, but often your lives. We are so thankful for the incredible personal relationship we have with many of you and the opportunities you all have provided us.

As we look to the next year (year two people!!), we couldn’t be more excited. We can’t wait to see what God brings to our company and the direction we move in. We are looking forward to continuing work with our fantastic clients, building out new parts of our business like Financial Advisor coaching, and finally releasing the company podcast we’ve been working on. Seriously. We’re going to do it. Sweet, sweet ear gifts for your morning commute.

Basically, you all are the best. We hope we get to do this again next year.

Thank you!

Eric