Six years ago, I started Noble Hill Consulting. It’s not a milestone year, but it matters to me all the same. Every year around this time, Lacey and I take a break, head to the beach, and give ourselves space to look back at what the year has been and what it has taken to get here. Over six years, that has become one of our most important traditions. And this year, I wanted to share a look back on these six years and offer a letter of gratitude to the people who have made this work possible.
To our clients, colleagues, family, and friends –
What six years has taught me, more than anything, is that no one builds something meaningful alone.
About a month after I launched Noble Hill, I faced a business challenge that was both significant and unexpected. The details don’t matter much now, but what does matter is what happened because of it. I had to ask for help, and quickly. It started with a call to one trusted friend, who made calls to others, and within a short time a team had formed around us. They stepped in immediately and handled the situation so I could stay focused on my clients. Six years later, they are still here, working behind the scenes in ways that are critical to how Noble Hill operates every single day. That early experience taught me something I have never forgotten: asking for help is not a weakness. And even in the hardest moments, there is usually a silver lining. In this case, it accelerated the need to build a team that I am still grateful for today.
Noble Hill launched just a few months into a pandemic, which was not exactly the conventional moment to go out on your own. The risk was real, but so was the belief of the people around me. My parents, initially surprised, responded with a generosity that helped us find our footing in those early months. Lacey’s family encouraged the leap and have been among our biggest champions. And my brother, on the day I shared the news, sent me a text I have never forgotten: “Don’t look back. You’re not going that way.” That kind of belief doesn’t remove risk, but it makes it possible to move through it.
And then there’s Lacey. You may not see her, but she works on this business every single day. She helps me organize my week and my priorities, she is involved with proposals and projects, she manages our marketing and finances, and is just as invested in every client as I am. She has a big job of her own, and somehow, she always finds a way to show up for Noble Hill.. Her first question for me at the end of every day is the same one it has always been: who did you help today? That question, asked consistently for six years, says more about this business than anything I could write.
I have also been extraordinarily fortunate with my clients. Noble Hill is built on referrals, which I think of as trust passed from one person to another. Since July 1, 2020, clients have worked with me every month, every quarter, and in many cases so regularly that I feel less like an outside consultant and more like an extension of their teams. This work has never been transactional. It is about relationships that grow over time, through your successes and hard moments alike, and through conversations about family, sports, travel, books, and podcasts, and all the common ground that fills the space between the work itself. I look forward to every interaction, and I am genuinely grateful to be in it for the long term with each of you.
One of the unexpected gifts of this work is the messages I receive from clients.
A leader sharing that the person we assessed together turned out to be exactly who they needed. A client circled back months after a coaching engagement to say that something shifted for them, at work, and sometimes at home, too. An update that connects back to a moment we worked through together that turned out not to be so small after all. I don’t share these, but I keep every one. They are a reminder that this work matters, and they are what sustains me.
Six years, built by more people than our name suggests. Thank you for being part of it.
With gratitude,
Mark
