Our Values Define Us: Everything Starts and Ends with Relationships

In late 2004, I started a business for the first time with a business partner after working for others my entire life. In 2014, I ventured out again, but this time I was flying solo. I was passionate and wanted to build a different kind of company. One that reflected my values and what I had learned about what works–and what doesn’t. And, as a woman-owned business, it was particularly important to me that we created true work-life balance for everyone on the team so that they didn’t have to sacrifice their personal and family life in order to have a successful career.

The seeds of what I wanted to create were planted by my father, John Ahern, who was a serial entrepreneur (much to my mother’s chagrin). He inspired me with his hard work and commitment to growing his business. The one thing that really stuck with me was the attention he paid to relationships. It was clear that this was a priority, whether it was with his assistant, the manufacturers, or any one of his employees. My father also emphasized the importance of building trusted relationships with clients and potential clients, so the strength of my father’s business was the sales force. He also was a great motivator–when I was growing up, he would reinforce the mantra “Be positive! You need to believe that YOU CAN DO IT!". Those words really stuck with me and guided me as I progressed in my career.

Now, working on my 2nd company and almost 7 years into that journey (with 100 employees and growing), I am proud of what we have built. We know what defines us and sets us apart as an employer, partner, and consulting services provider—we call them our 4 brand pillars.

As we were planning to build a new website that reflected our growth and differentiation in the government consulting sector, we realized we needed to really look under the hood and find out what truly made us different and valuable to all the stakeholders we engage with. We invested in a journey of “self-awareness”, which included engaging an objective, outside resource to conduct confidential one-on-one conversations with our employees and clients. We found that what differentiates Significance in our space are four characteristics we call our brand pillars: Relationship-focused, Experts, Solutions-Driven, and Trusted.

We found that it all starts and ends with a strong commitment to building enduring relationships through transparency, collaboration, and integrity. And a lot of fun thrown in (anyone who knows me knows that fun is not optional!). I have learned from my years in government contracting/consulting and, by witnessing my father’s focus on employees—supporting, respecting, and communicating openly with them—that those who work as a team will not only better serve the clients, but will be more collaborative and innovative in their day-to-day interactions. Those happy employees then will recommend the company to others as an employer. Friends want their friends to have great jobs! And these fulfilled employees will build relationships with clients and partners that create exceptional value. Those partners will want to continue working with us. This creates a virtuous cycle that really works.

Consequently, with all I’ve learned, relationships are foundational to everything we do. From sending gifts for special occasions to hosting great parties, we are always thinking about how we can make people feel great about working with, and for, Significance. Our growth is a testament to our approach as is our designation as a Washington Business Journal Best Place to Work four years running. I think we have our priorities in place and it’s working.   

We’ll share details about the other three pillars over the coming weeks. Stay tuned!