Yesterday | A Note from the Leader of the Flock

We signed a contract with Twitter yesterday. And I think for a moment I may have stopped breathing.

You see, I never planned for any of this to happen. But now I can see it was meant to. There’s something about me (and Lindsay, who’s been my sidekick since day one…and Brian, who joined us just a few months ago…and Amy, who screams Black Sheep from every corner of her being) that didn’t fit in with what was out there. Our old jobs didn’t quite suit us, other existing job opportunities didn’t feel right and (most importantly) we didn’t think the way others thought in our industry.

I still remember throwing out “Black Sheep” as a name idea. As a joke. Because clearly, at the time, I was feeling like an outcast. The minute it came off my lips, I knew it was a done deal. Nothing could describe more perfectly what we were, what we wanted to bring out in ourselves even more, and what we wanted our clients to be. Something that doesn’t fit in – goes against the grain, rebels against the traditional and stands out – in the most beautiful, different way possible.

And so it began. If you’ve been following along, you probably know most of the history, and if you’ve just met us, we may have already told you our life story. (You see, we’re kind of an open book around here.) But what you may not know is what it’s taken to get here – and how most of you have been a part of that in some way, shape or form.

There have been humorous moments, to be sure.
There have been struggles. Some that seemed like they’d never end.
There have been mistakes. (Big ones.)
And there have been days where I wondered where I would work next.
Sleepless nights. Tears. Laughter. Fear.

But what’s gotten us through all of that is far more important.

We’ve made incredible connections. And by connections, I mean creative, soulful, deep connections with people we’d go the distance for. People who make us better people. People that have ideas. But, more importantly, people that DO. People that commit to greatness and make their ideas happen. And most of these people are folks that others would define as our “competition.” We call them friends. Collaborators. Giants.

We’ve become true Houstonians. We’ve fallen so deeply in love with this city, that we find ourselves fighting for it every day. Whether planning a collaborative event, spreading the word about our amazing art scene or defending our city’s reputation from some no-good-dirty-rotten-scoundrel from New York City, we’ve been exposed to the magnificence and diversity of Houston through our work – and we couldn’t be prouder. We hope this will always shine through in our actions and inspire others to explore.

We’ve protested. We’ve danced. We’ve improvised (in public, with bullhorns). We’ve entered the public relations and marketing scene in Houston – and gotten attention. We’ve stood by our original mission – to do things our own way. We’ve started changing the game.

There have been successes.
There have been new life-long friendships.
There have been great events and good times.
There have been loyal clients. Generous referrals. And new clients.
There have been moments where we realized “THIS. This is what it’s all about.”
And there have been opportunities… Which is what inspired me to write this in the first place. Did I mention we signed a contract with Twitter yesterday?

From the bottom of my heart (which often nearly leaps right out of my chest when I think about all of this), I just plain want to say thanks.