From The Desk of Melissa Banko: 2025

Dec 30

Year 11.

I laid down prayers for clarity, vision, and strength this year - prayers on where to take these brands moving forward. Through it all the Lord gave me power and clarity over fear to really be able to see what He has planned for us. As another year ends, in reflection, three very strong lessons jump out at me that I was ultimately blessed to learn.

1. About the People - Professional Development Is Not a Luxury, It’s Essential.

2. About the Firm - Smaller Can Be Just as Mighty.

3. About Myself- Identity Outside of The Brand as a Visionary is Necessary.

About the People - Professional Development Is Not a Luxury, It’s Essential

We built this brand up so aggressively and at such speed in the first decade. This was in reaction to the sheer volume of work and projects that came through the door. We build experiences so no one lives alone, and no one goes without community. It’s continuously challenging to say no to any “ask” from potential clients.

This is such a heavy lift, but one of life’s biggest blessings is to be able to serve others. In parallel, we operate on the pillar that we must take care of our team, so they in return take care of the clients and the projects. There has to continue to be a foundation of accountability and investment, no matter how big or how old we get. This applies to life in general, right?

Professional development has to occur at all levels of a company, so we all continue to grow together and in tandem with each other. Because we fully realized that this year, we now have the very best crew we’ve had in 11 years. You can’t just focus professional development on “the new” or “the young” - leaders need that focus, too. Learning should never stop.

We are all in leadership because we work on a team, and we owe it to our partners to constantly be working on how to be better - better communicators, better listeners, better servants.

About the Firm - Smaller Can Be Just as Mighty

One of our core markets continued to feel strain in getting projects funded and built; senior living new build struggled. Multifamily and Private Club development stayed consistent and in a healthy spot. We reacted with right sizing as many firms did, and while this was a strategic business play, we also learned we could crank up efficiency with key talent and be just as successful.

We moved to a smaller space and sold and traded assets strategically. We looked at where we really wanted to be in how we operated as a studio. We streamlined processes and got lean. We took bandwidth gaps to study and master internal tools. In many ways, we were reminded where our roots were and WHY we are out here making an impact (even when it’s not easy). Everyone loves you when all things are thriving and the money is flowing. You sure are reminded of who your real people are when the real work needs to be put in.

About Myself - Identity Outside of the Brand as a Visionary is Necessary

Since 2014, much of my ALL has been wrapped up in this portfolio. Much of my identity IS this brand. It took over, though. I have been laser focused on not losing focus. I kept balance here and there, but I will admit there were many times when I needed to be checked by those who love me most. And they did. I needed to learn different perspectives, and that sacrifices will catch up to me. I lost sight of what my real PURPOSE was and became overwhelmed by the weight of all the families I feel responsible for feeding. I was missing too many little things with my kids, my head was clouded, my marriage was suffering with a lack of deserved attention, my quiet time with the Lord fell victim, I had no “me” time, and most importantly my health was suffering. My body was screaming at me.

I am resilient and built for the hardest of times, but I had to take a step back and really ask myself, “Who are you, as a child of God, outside of this company?” I was being called to do more and felt very guilty about that. We are PEOPLE outside of work, so there must be a balance. That goes for Founders, Owners, CEOs, and Visionaries alike. We need hobbies, time off, respite, resets, and time to take care of ourselves before we go and take care of our companies. Rest is not being lazy; it’s preparation and training. We have to condition, even in leadership.

The next step was to get ALIGNED with every person in the infrastructure. (Go back and read bullet point 1… it’s a good loop back!) You have to delegate and delete. You can’t do it all (no matter how hard you try), so you better have the right team to achieve your goals.