1501: My First Chapter with Reunion

I'm not sure that many of our clients or prospects know the full story of how Reunion Marketing began. I'll leave that to our Founder and CEO Dave Spannhake. I would love, however, to tell you my chapter of a remarkable company.

I previously worked for Dave at a 33-store group in Raleigh, North Carolina, before moving on to an advertising agency for personal reasons. My resignation letter included a note to Dave that if he were to ever start his own company, he could count me in.

A bit over a year later, Dave calls me. "I'm doing my own thing," he said. "Are you still in?"

After work and on weekends for the next three to four months, I wrote copy for Reunion Marketing. With no investors and no bank loans, Dave couldn't afford to pay me for my time, nor did I expect payment. I knew the payoff would come when Reunion grew.

At this time, my now-fiance (such a haughty term, isn't it?), Michelle, and I were living at 1501 Westchester in Raleigh. Dave and Chad Graves, who started this crazy adventure with Dave, had acquired enough business to bring me on board. They had been working out of the community center at Chad's apartment complex, so the natural next step was to upgrade to a house. Right?

We bought a cheap school cafeteria table, a few hard chairs, and some laptops. My commute was easy.

Here we were. Only 4 of us. Dave. Chad. Andrew. Dane. And a contracted designer. We'd soon bring a few others on board, a designer (who hilariously hired herself ... literally) and a developer to start.

I feverishly wrote copy for dealerships, insurance companies, and other businesses. All varieties of copy. Chad and Dave were on the phones and in the car, driving countless miles and racking up countless minutes, to make Reunion happen. It was pure grit of the most serious kind. We couldn't let it fail before it truly began. We knew the strategies were too good, and our resolve too strong.

Each new client was monumental. To be honest, they still are. To the six of us who co-founded it, I doubt any new client will be anything but monumental. It's not only a testament to our work ethic, it's harkens back to the first days and weeks. Now, we have over 40 people whose work ethic, grit, talent, intelligence, and resolve help us keep Reunion alive. It's remarkable.

Michelle and I have since left 1501.

And no matter how many years separate me from that house, I'll always remember the chunk of wall Chad obliterated when he leaned back in one of those hard chairs. Hard enough to beat the wall. I'll always cherish the day we stopped working at 3:00 p.m. because we scored our first three-store group, could bring Matt Triana on board, and drank beer while listening to Dave's "Inspirational Song List" while Matt worked the rest of the day. And I'll deeply miss the hammock where Michelle and I gently swung on one night, my left leg grounded and pushing, while we discussed the prospect of me leaving a safe full-time job to reunite with Dave and the crew.

1501. My first chapter with Reunion Marketing.