Twelve Years Later, I'm Still Fascinated by People

TL;DR: Twelve years after launching DeSoto & State Communications, the people stand out more than the projects, and their commitment continues to shape how I think about work, service and progress.

Today marks 12 years since I launched DeSoto & State Communications.

Anniversaries naturally invite reflection. People often ask about memorable projects, major campaigns or career milestones. After more than a decade, many of those details begin to blur together. What remains clear are the people.

Over the past 12 years, I've worked alongside nonprofit leaders, artists, business owners, educators, elected officials, journalists and community advocates. Their work has taken me into boardrooms, community centers, classrooms, theaters, government offices and more than a few coffee shops.

The causes and personalities have varied.

As the years passed, I found myself paying less attention to the differences and becoming more interested in the similarities.

Many of the people who left the biggest impression on me shared a strong sense of responsibility. They cared deeply about something larger than themselves and felt a genuine obligation to help move it forward.

Some were trying to strengthen a neighborhood organization. Others were expanding educational opportunities, preserving cultural institutions, or creating economic opportunity. A few were working on challenges that would take years to solve. Many knew they might never see the final result of their efforts.

They kept showing up anyway.

Spending time around people like that changed my understanding of how progress happens.

The public often encounters organizations during moments of celebration, controversy or crisis. Most of the work takes place far from public view. It happens in day-to-day, often mundane, activities that rarely attract attention. It is built through consistency, repetition and thousands of small decisions that accumulate over time.

I came to appreciate how much meaningful work depends on people who simply keep going.

More than once, I found myself thinking, "You'll never outwork so-and-so, but you damn well better try."

A surprising number of people fit that description.

For most of DeSoto & State's history, I was also working full-time at WXRT. The two careers existed side by side for more than a decade.

The settings were different, but both experiences reinforced the same lesson: the work succeeds when you understand who you're serving.

At WXRT, listeners invited me into their cars, homes and daily routines. They chose to spend part of their day with me, and I never took the opportunity to be of service for granted.

At DeSoto & State, clients and colleagues trusted me to help advance missions they cared deeply about. They included me in conversations that mattered to them and introduced me to communities they had often spent years building.

Those experiences strengthened my appreciation for trust. They also reinforced the importance of listening. The most successful organizations I encountered understood the people they served and never lost sight of them.

Looking back, that may be why the people stand out more than the projects.

I can still remember conversations from years ago. I remember the excitement people felt when a long-planned initiative finally came together. I remember the setbacks that tested their patience. I remember the determination that kept them moving forward when progress arrived more slowly than they hoped.

Many of those individuals taught me lessons they probably never realized they were teaching.

Twelve years later, I remain grateful for that.

I'm also still fascinated by people.

After all these years, that curiosity may be the thing that has changed the least.

AI-generated image. Not representative of real individuals or events.