Basement Bootcamp: How We Built an Agency from the Ground Up (Literally)

Picture this: It’s the year 2000. Y2K has come and gone without global catastrophe, flip phones are all the rage and two sisters are shoving rolls of carpet through a basement window, determined to build a business. No clients. No fancy office. Just a huge whiteboard, a couple of desks (which may or may not have been assembled correctly) and entrepreneurial spirit.

Welcome to the early days of On The Mark Communications.

The Setup: A DIY Dream

When we say we started from the ground up, we mean it—literally. Our first “headquarters” was Christine’s basement, where we transformed an unfinished concrete space into what we proudly called an office. Necessity and elbow grease were at the core of our design choices. We carted home and installed wall-to-wall carpet, put together our desks, added some personal touches and hung a whiteboard where we’d track our clients’ projects—eventually. It wasn’t glamorous, but it was ours, and we were ready to get to work.

Cold Calls, Hot Coffee and One Giant Leap

With an iron-clad non-compete in place with our former employer, we couldn’t call on the clients we had worked with before. That meant one thing: we had to start from scratch.

Every morning, armed with coffee, an old-school Rolodex and the direct mail postcards we each received at home, we pounded the phones to pitch our services. Our angle? Give us an opportunity to elevate your direct mail. We can increase your ROI with quality graphic design, competitive pricing and a strong commitment to customer service. Admittedly, Nicol was a lot better with the sales pitch. Some days, we came up empty. Other days, we’d land a meeting. Nicol’s first success? The Lawn Doctor franchise that serviced her home. He gave us a shot—and we had no idea how valuable that relationship would become. We are still great partners with that franchise today and over the years, we’ve expanded to work with dozens more.

We weren’t just selling a service—we were building relationships, earning trust and proving that we could deliver big-agency results in a boutique format.

Lessons from Dad: The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Our father was the ultimate entrepreneur, but here’s the thing—he made success look effortless. He never showed us the obstacles, the sleepless nights or the stress. To us, entrepreneurship only looked like freedom, passion and big ideas coming to life.

Turns out, he just made it look easy—something we quickly realized as we faced our own unexpected challenges. And there were plenty throughout the years—and still today. We learned that behind every successful business is a series of hurdles that no one prepares you for. Some of them are small, others huge. And while we didn’t know what we didn’t know (which, in hindsight, was probably a good thing), we did know how to work hard and managed to overcome those hurdles.

The Basement That Built Us

That basement was more than just our first office. It was our training ground. It taught us resilience, creativity and the power of believing in ourselves even when the odds weren’t stacked in our favor. It was where we learned that a strong work ethic beats experience, that confidence is built one successful pitch at a time and that sometimes, the best way to start a business is simply to start.

Fast forward 25 years and On The Mark Communications is thriving. We’ve grown from two sisters with a whiteboard to a dynamic, talented team delivering award-winning work. And while our office space has certainly improved (hello, natural light!), the foundation remains the same—bold ideas, hard work and a whole lot of heart.

Here’s to the basement that built us—and to 25 years of making our mark.

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