Celebrating 15 Years: 3 Big Lessons from Building ALC
Today marks a milestone that I’m both proud of and amazed by—15 years of ALC. It’s wild to think about how far we’ve come. The years have been filled with growth, challenges, breakthroughs, and yes… lots of mistakes. But those mistakes? They were necessary. They became the soil in which the biggest lessons grew.
To honor this moment, I’m sharing three of the most important lessons I’ve learned so far in building a business that lasts. These are the kind of lessons that didn’t come from a book or a course—but from trial, error, and a whole lot of late nights.
1. Culture. Period.
If you want your business to grow, you need to be intentional about the culture you’re creating. In the early years, I was laser-focused on sales and service delivery. I brought in clients. I hired people. But I did it all without a compass—no real clarity on who we were, what we stood for, or who we wanted to serve.
The result? Between 2016 and 2020, I hired and fired over 100 people. Yes, you read that right. It was chaotic. And it all came back to one thing: we didn’t have a strong culture guiding our decisions.
When I finally paused and did the work to define our values—my values—and began to intentionally build a culture around them, things started to shift. We began attracting the right people, and clients who aligned with our mission. Culture isn’t a “nice-to-have.” It’s the operating system of your business.
2. Know Your Strengths (and Leave Your Ego at the Door)
I was trained in accounting. But the truth is, I’m not the most detail-oriented person. I’m not wired for precision or organization—two things that great accountants thrive on.
It took me a while (and some ego-bruising) to admit that. I held on for too long, trying to be someone I wasn’t. But the moment I got honest with myself and leaned into my actual strengths—big-picture thinking, vision, people—I unlocked a new level of leadership. I stopped trying to “do it all” and started doing what I do best.
Self-awareness is a superpower. And ego? Well, that’s just noise.
3. Hire for Your Weaknesses
Once I knew my strengths, I could finally start building a team that complemented them. That’s when things really took off.
One of the scariest—and best—decisions I made was hiring Sean, who’s now our President. He was overqualified. I was intimidated. I wasn’t sure how I’d afford him or keep him challenged. But deep down, I knew that if I wanted to grow, I had to get out of my own way.
Hiring someone who was better than me at the things I struggled with wasn’t just smart—it was necessary. It freed me up to lead. It freed the business up to scale. And it taught me that the right hire can change everything.
These are just the first 3 of 15 lessons I’ve gathered over the past decade and a half. Each one is rooted in experience, shaped by failure, and proven by time.
The rest of the list? It includes hard-won insights on boundaries, burnout, reinvention, and the surprising power of slowing down to speed up. If you’ve ever struggled with letting go, pricing your worth, or finding your leadership voice—those lessons are in there too.
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Thanks for celebrating this milestone with me. Here’s to the next chapter.
—Shirley
