Learn

A thank you from one of our Partners, Shayla Kenworthy, to our team.

Usually when I sit down to pen a blog it’s to offer encouragement, helpful tips or strategies for our church communications friends. But this time, I want to offer some encouragement and a thank you to my Fishhook team. So thanks for letting me share this space with the “fishes” today. 

The Fishhook team is currently working through an audit of our own brand experience. We do, in fact, take our own medicine from time to time. We're celebrating 17 years as a company this year (!) and we have gained a ton of experience along the way. We are also always asking ourselves, “what’s next?” because a lot has changed over those 17 years. We want to make sure that what we hope we’re communicating through our brand experience is actually what we are communicating. 

Through this process we asked clients and friends of Fishhook  to take a quick survey to help us know how they see our company. And when I read the responses, I just felt this immense wave of gratitude. 

And so now, this is for my Fishhook team:

I’m humbled and overwhelming grateful to be a part of our team. A team that is so full of skilz that it encourages me to want to continue growing in my craft daily. But more important than the skilz is each person’s love for Jesus. And because of your love for Jesus, we get to partner alongside some amazing churches to help them communicate more effectively. It’s because you love Jesus that I read some of these words in our survey responses when asking our friends to describe Fishhook's personality traits:

Caring, Deep, Friendly, Genuine, Helpful, Inspiring, Passionate, Trustworthy, Creative, Generous, Insightful, Optimistic, Empathetic, Passionate, Adventurous, Witty, Strategic, Playful, Curious, Nurturing and Inspiring

It is a dream to be a part of a team that (in our friends’ words) is genuine, generous, empathetic and trustworthy. And this isn’t just with our clients. I’m amazed everyday at the vulnerability we have with each other - on the best days and on the hard days. We love and respect each other and know that we have each other's backs. So those hard conversations are shared in love and with growth in mind. I don’t ever, for one second, want to take this for granted. 

I was so proud of our team to hear these direct quotes from both clients and friends when asking them what is unexpected, valuable or unique about Fishhook:

• “Workers have a heart to help.”
• “The desire to give content away.”
• “I’ve worked with many vendors/consultants and the thing that continues to amaze me, after almost four years, is how much your staff seems to genuinely care about ME. I know there are prayers said for ME and they care about how I am actually doing, not just how the work of the church is getting done!”
• “How freely you give.”
• “Fishhook is always willing to try new things and look into new technologies. They are cutting edge in that they are interested in new platforms and processes and know what the next thing is almost before I've even heard of it. In the 10 years we've been clients, I've never beat Fishhook to a new idea or "thing." Fishhook takes the time to learn where the people they work with are on the scale of knowledge, and then they meet them there.”
• “Takes the time to build relationships with their clients and figure out the target audience of the client.”
• “You take the time to understand our problems and our goals. You don't just jump to a solution without listening.”
• “Your genuine care of the client.”
• “You understand more than just communication and related strategies. You also understand principles like culture and leadership at a deeper level.”
• “Their willingness to provide (free) help to churches.”
• “Feels like you “get” us.”
• “I love your outside-the-box thinking.”
• “Broad experience and level of expertise to offer clients.”
• “You’re refreshingly patient.”
• “The down-to-earth personalities of its employees.”
• “It doesn't matter how many other clients Fishhook has, I always feel like we matter and we're important. I never feel like I'm not the most important client Fishhook has.”
• “Cares about developing people to improve in their communication skills, even when they don't necessarily benefit financially.”
• “You root for everyone to succeed even if they aren’t a client.”
• “We were looking for a new website partner, but instead we found an invaluable partnership that has made our church a better church.”
• “Optimism and positivity in what is often a very challenging field.”

Are you kidding me?!? I couldn’t even hope for anything better! I know we want these things for every church no matter if they are a client or not. Thank you for living this out. 

Team - thank you for caring so much about our churches and taking the time to get to know them. We always tell our clients that who they are and the work they do matters … the same goes for you! I love you all so much. You and the work you do matters!

Now back to our friends - Thank you for being you. Thank you for tirelessly serving at your churches and ministries. You are making a Kingdom impact. And you don't go unnoticed. We see you, hear you, empathize with you and want good things for you.

The Fishhook team is currently working through an audit of our own brand experience. We do, in fact, take our own medicine from time to time. We're celebrating 17 years as a company this year (!) and we have gained a ton of experience along the way. We are also always asking ourselves, “what’s next?” because a lot has changed over those 17 years. We want to make sure that what we hope we’re communicating through our brand experience is actually what we are communicating. 

Through this process we asked clients and friends of Fishhook  to take a quick survey to help us know how they see our company. And when I read the responses, I just felt this immense wave of gratitude. 

And so now, this is for my Fishhook team:

I’m humbled and overwhelming grateful to be a part of our team. A team that is so full of skilz that it encourages me to want to continue growing in my craft daily. But more important than the skilz is each person’s love for Jesus. And because of your love for Jesus, we get to partner alongside some amazing churches to help them communicate more effectively. It’s because you love Jesus that I read some of these words in our survey responses when asking our friends to describe Fishhook's personality traits:

Caring, Deep, Friendly, Genuine, Helpful, Inspiring, Passionate, Trustworthy, Creative, Generous, Insightful, Optimistic, Empathetic, Passionate, Adventurous, Witty, Strategic, Playful, Curious, Nurturing and Inspiring

It is a dream to be a part of a team that (in our friends’ words) is genuine, generous, empathetic and trustworthy. And this isn’t just with our clients. I’m amazed everyday at the vulnerability we have with each other - on the best days and on the hard days. We love and respect each other and know that we have each other's backs. So those hard conversations are shared in love and with growth in mind. I don’t ever, for one second, want to take this for granted. 

I was so proud of our team to hear these direct quotes from both clients and friends when asking them what is unexpected, valuable or unique about Fishhook:

• “Workers have a heart to help.”
• “The desire to give content away.”
• “I’ve worked with many vendors/consultants and the thing that continues to amaze me, after almost four years, is how much your staff seems to genuinely care about ME. I know there are prayers said for ME and they care about how I am actually doing, not just how the work of the church is getting done!”
• “How freely you give.”
• “Fishhook is always willing to try new things and look into new technologies. They are cutting edge in that they are interested in new platforms and processes and know what the next thing is almost before I've even heard of it. In the 10 years we've been clients, I've never beat Fishhook to a new idea or "thing." Fishhook takes the time to learn where the people they work with are on the scale of knowledge, and then they meet them there.”
• “Takes the time to build relationships with their clients and figure out the target audience of the client.”
• “You take the time to understand our problems and our goals. You don't just jump to a solution without listening.”
• “Your genuine care of the client.”
• “You understand more than just communication and related strategies. You also understand principles like culture and leadership at a deeper level.”
• “Their willingness to provide (free) help to churches.”
• “Feels like you “get” us.”
• “I love your outside-the-box thinking.”
• “Broad experience and level of expertise to offer clients.”
• “You’re refreshingly patient.”
• “The down-to-earth personalities of its employees.”
• “It doesn't matter how many other clients Fishhook has, I always feel like we matter and we're important. I never feel like I'm not the most important client Fishhook has.”
• “Cares about developing people to improve in their communication skills, even when they don't necessarily benefit financially.”
• “You root for everyone to succeed even if they aren’t a client.”
• “We were looking for a new website partner, but instead we found an invaluable partnership that has made our church a better church.”
• “Optimism and positivity in what is often a very challenging field.”

Are you kidding me?!? I couldn’t even hope for anything better! I know we want these things for every church no matter if they are a client or not. Thank you for living this out. 

Team - thank you for caring so much about our churches and taking the time to get to know them. We always tell our clients that who they are and the work they do matters … the same goes for you! I love you all so much. You and the work you do matters!

Now back to our friends - Thank you for being you. Thank you for tirelessly serving at your churches and ministries. You are making a Kingdom impact. And you don't go unnoticed. We see you, hear you, empathize with you and want good things for you.