Our firm recently went through a hiring process for a new member of the team and sifted through more than 100 applicants to find the person with the best combination of skills, experience, and cultural fit. While AI and finding high-performing talent seem to be on the tip of most founders’ tongues, one item that is rarely discussed is how to best integrate them into your organization. Once new team members come aboard, how do we successfully onboard them into the firm?
The end of every year is always a natural time for reflection, with an eye toward the future. This year, there is a lot to reflect on, and I’m doing so with a lot of gratitude for my family, friends, team, clients, mentors, and everyone else in my orbit who has been part of this journey.
Over the last year, I’ve spent a good amount of time thinking about my leadership style. Essentially what kind of boss I want to be to attract, build, and empower the right team to succeed.
When I get asked by people looking to start their own business about the hardest parts, I rarely say marketing the firm. But in launching Calkin Public Affairs, it became apparent that for the company to succeed we would have to treat ourselves as a client -- to promote our brand, work and service offerings. And while that should be simple given that we do this for clients every single day, the practice of doing so for yourself and your firm somehow feels much harder.
We often find ourselves in legislative campaigns around issues that cause emotions to run high and passionate arguments sometimes (often) overshadow facts. In these types of fights, effective messaging from credible messengers is absolutely critical to campaign success.
Headlines around AI continue to dominate news and social media. Is this technology the next great invention since the internet or the downfall of the white-collar workforce? Our economic boom or the ultimate job killer? We’ve officially reached the point where businesses and consumers alike want, and need, to understand how AI will affect our lives – and jobs – today, and what that means for the future.
There was a lot going on in 2025. Sweeping policy and economic pivots made waves at global, national, state, and local levels. AI investment and advancement took center stage throughout the business community and in our personal lives. And on a note closer to home, we launched and began to grow Calkin Public Affairs.
Just as certain as New Year’s Resolutions will be forgotten by the third week of January, the familiar and comforting march of the legislative and state budget statutory deadlines will guide us through fully ten months of our year. While a well-trodden path, 2026 will undoubtedly hold a few unknowns, detours, and surprises.
