To every thing there is a season.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"
Ecclesiastes 3:1
There are so many thoughts going through my head on the eve of Excel’s official launch and adoption of our new name, AetherForge. I’m equal parts excited, terrified, matter of fact (it doesn’t stop here), and in true INTJ form, making my lists and checking them twice.
I’m also incredibly grateful.
It’s summer. AetherForge has purpose-built flexibility – meaning that our ability to work in an office or anywhere else (literally – from a prairie in South Dakota in the middle of nowhere) without interruption and often with an increase in productivity because the idea is to be in the right PLACE at the right time. The evidence of the power of that approach is in the fact that during the last few weeks of our rebranding effort our headquarters team has been working remote. I’d rather have the extra time being put in on this effort be focused completely ON the effort and not the commute, laundry, lunch packing, etc.
I’m sitting on my deck as I write this and I’m thinking about how blessed I am to be leading this amazing team. This post will be one of the finishing touches to the new website as we push it out in an hour or so. But that is just the front end of what has been two months of strategizing, paperwork filing, notifying, alerting our platform providers, designing, collaborating with our employees directly and transparently, and…ironically…weathering many of the storms created by the loss of thousands of experienced federal employees.
We didn’t rebrand sooner because although we *could* have, it didn’t feel quite right. For everyone who ever skipped rope with their recess friends, you know there is a sound, a feeling, a sense, if you will, about the rhythm of the rope that tells you when to jump in or jump out. For nine years I’ve felt the tempo of the world and the rocking you do as you wait for the “right” time. And then just over two months ago, something deep inside of me said “now.”
I lit the match and tossed it into the circle late one Friday evening. Following some deep sense that the time was right and hoping the rest of the team felt it as well.
And they did. Across the entire company the voices came back, “We’re ready.”
From every corner of the country (because we are all over the US) the messages came back and they came back strong and sure. “We’re in.” And this amazing crew did ALL OF THE THINGS.
Our delivery teams kept delivering while helping to architect. Our back office teams architected and built – making all of the necessary changes. The name “AetherForge?” The result of a company-wide discussion. Same with the logo. We leveraged all of the technologies a modern company might leverage, and we were serious and resolute and determined to show the entire world that we are not like everyone else.
We’ve taken a chance on whimsy and sarcasm and the absolute belief that we can solve any problem we’re handed. Sometimes a little voice would whisper up inside of us, “Is this too much? Should we be more traditional?” and in our minds would come the counter-whisper, “Do it anyway.”
So here we are, and while I feel all the pre-launch jitters one would expect to feel, I am mostly excited to show you who we are authentically.
We are here to forge a better future. We are AetherForge.
And we want to work with you as you build a better future too.
Deb
