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One morning, a decade ago, I got the call that I had been laid off. While the event wasn’t much of a surprise, the timing was. December 3, 2012. Right before Christmas. The company I worked for had been bought out and things weren’t going well. I suppose they wanted a clean slate for the new year.

I sat in my living room staring at my computer, letting the reality sink in. I was no longer employed. That was scary, but it was also a bit exciting. I’d been playing around on WordPress, building websites for friends and colleagues, just to see if I could do it. If I liked it. And, really, just in case.

My partner sat by me, silent, letting me process. Finally, I turned to him and said, “Well, I guess I’m a full-time web designer, now.”

That was the birth of GreenCup Digital.

The company went through many iterations over its lifetime. At first, it was just me. Then, after a dark night of the soul and severe burnout, I learned to scale and adopted a team, some of whom are still with the company today. Five years into its life, I realized I was ready to move on. I found an incredible fellow woman in tech to take over, and it is to her credit that GreenCup is thriving today. Yes, I laid the foundation, but it took an artist to take what I’d developed and 10x it. And that’s just what Joanna has done.

Congratulations to the amazing team at GreenCup. I’m wildly impressed and proud of all of you.