2019 is going to be an exciting year! February 9th of 2009 was the day Blue Zenith Design + Strategy was born – filed at the Colorado Secretary of State. It was a moment of uncertainty as I entered into the unknown status of being an entrepreneur. I was confident that Blue Zenith would succeed, but now ten years later I’m amazed at the storms we’ve weathered, the hurdles we overcame, and the changes that we are able to adapt to.

Lot’s of Surprises

The experiences and education I’ve gathered surprises even me. I had to learn how to juggle tasks and operate a business while making sure it became successful. I had to learn the logistics of hiring employees, working with vendors, and meeting with the local business community. Along with all of this I had to manage my personal family life as a wife and mother. In retrospect, the satisfying ten year journey has enabled tremendous personal growth and given me an awesome sense of achievement.

technology marches on

During these past ten years, so much has changed within the world of technology. Happily, what remains the same is that people do business with people, but the tools we use to promote, market, and grow our businesses have changed dramatically. During 2019, I will be reflecting on differing technologies and the numerous trends that have transformed and morphed along the past decade. I’d like to highlight some changes that are working and overview others that do not.

The small business environment surged over the last ten years and web design shifted into new and exciting territories. Social media became a small business’s marketing dream. SEO (search engine optimization) had many sudden changes and the rise of mobile marketing blossomed seemingly overnight.

pre Blue Zenith

Before starting my company, Blue Zenith Design + Strategy, I had been an application developer where I was developing large business applications as tools for business workflow and customer products. From there, I was able to shift into designing websites. It’s truly been an exciting time to be in technology; with so many changes, improving how we do business, how we engage with information, and how we market our businesses and our unique qualities. Ten years ago, there wasn’t a surge of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and solopreneurs. That shift truly took hold with the recession of 2008, essentially changing our perception of what we wanted to do when we grew up. With entrepreneurism on the rise comes more tools, numerous resources, and more expertise in starting up a small business – all enabling a successful journey.

sneak a glimpse back in time

To commemorate these quick ten years, during 2019, I want to look back at what brought us here – the technology, the resources, the quickly appearing then disappearing trends and then look forward towards the direction we are heading. This means we’ll shed light on where we’ve been, what has brought us success, and where all of this is leading us in the next decade. Buckle Up! Here we go!

Meet Donna Galassi, CEO of Blue Zenith Design + Strategy