Sometimes, you just know it’s the right time; the time to take a risk and start a new job, or ask your coworker out on a date, or the right time to say “yes” to buying and running the company that brought you together, the one you’ve helped to grow and prosper for the past seven years.
Maggie and Joel York took ownership of Linden Marketing & Communications in August 2019 as Susie Cannon, Linden’s founder and leader for 23 years, stepped into retirement.
Susie founded Linden in 1996. What began as a print shop grew into a full service marketing agency with offices in Old Town Fort Collins, Colorado and downtown Cheyenne, Wyoming. Over the years, Susie cultivated relationships with clients, vendors and employees; it’s the strength of these relationships that made Linden so successful.
Susie would never hand Linden over to anyone she didn’t trust to maintain the values and integrity she had worked so hard to instill in the business, and she really saw something in Maggie and Joel as a team. Susie was excited about the energy they were already bringing to Linden, recognizing that their potential together is limitless, so she approached them, as a unit, about taking over the company. Susie knew that having two owners with different perspectives but similar visions would be a really good thing for Linden.
Introducing: Maggie & Joel
Joel has held many roles at Linden; he knows the business “literally from the bottom up,” he says, as he started in the basement doing odd jobs and working in the print shop, moved to the main floor to help with accounting and bookkeeping – drawing on his degree in Finance – then headed upstairs to create Linden’s videography department. Joel left Linden in 2017 to start his own videography business, Flickfinity, but he maintained his working relationship with Linden as well as his personal relationships with the Linden staff as a trusted partner for video projects.
Maggie found Linden after earning her degree in Journalism, Public Relations at Humboldt State University in California. Initially, her role at Linden was specific to working with WREN Magazine, but like Joel, she experienced many changes within the company and, as the work shifted, so did her interests. Maggie’s propensity for organization, project and people management, and her affinity for establishing long-term partnerships led her to the role of Account Executive. Now, Maggie is involved in every client relationship, she knows the details of every project Linden touches and knows each of Linden’s employees like a good friend.
Cheers to the Future
Since the beginning of their relationship, Joel and Maggie have wanted to own a business together; a few years ago they even joked about what it would be like to run Linden. They liked the idea of building something and making it their own, but doing it together. When Susie approached them, Joel and Maggie seriously started considering their future – were they ready for this?
Yes.
When Joel decided to start Flickfinity a couple years ago, he and Maggie learned a lot about what it took to build and run a business. More importantly, they learned a lot about partnership. The difference with Linden would be that they already have a strong foundation. Joel and Maggie know Linden – the people and projects, the ins and the outs and ups and downs – it’s a part of their history, separately and together. Linden has been their home away from home for years, and they truly want it to be a part of their future.
As Co-owner, Maggie will still be Linden’s Senior Account Executive. The only change Linden’s clients, vendors and employees will feel is that they’ll be receiving even more of her time and attention.
As Co-owner, Joel will continue to bring his vision and expertise to Linden’s video projects. He’ll also apply his creativity to behind the scenes work: smoothing out Linden’s processes and helping the business grow through new client relationships.
Together, Maggie and Joel are focused on making Linden an exceptional place to work. They want their coworkers to learn, feel challenged and inspired, and they want their clients to feel excited about the unique and engaging work Linden is creating. Maggie and Joel have efficiency goals, goals to remove pain points while maintaining the strong roots and values Susie established, to grow the Linden culture and continue to cultivate a positive work environment.
Above all else, Maggie and Joel consider it their job to make sure everyone else – employees and clients – has what they need to thrive. They’re at Linden to support, help, lift up and lead.
Alison Quinn
Creativity, strategy and sparkles: our Creative Director's Big 3. Alison is a self-professed word nerd and lover of marketing that makes you go "whoa!"