We wanted to do a blog, but we didn’t want to blog for the sake of blogging. We felt it should serve a purpose and have a VOICE that mattered. So, here at Provoke, we wanted to discuss our experiences and put a fresh spin on everything.

As a new small business, we wanted to parlay what we have learned, so others can learn from our mistakes and find better ways of doing things. There are various trappings and pitfalls when people start their own company. To begin, let’s start at our inception.

ORIGINALITY?

Is it original? I doubt it is but, we put our heart and soul into anything we do. I am sure a lot of you have been in our position and not known what to do next. Hopefully, our experiences and choices will somehow help you find your way to your next great adventure. Have we made mistakes? Of course, we are human, but we learn from our mistakes and have grown as a company and individuals. With these blogs, we hope to impart some of what we have learned through our journey. 

With all things, sometimes life interferes and gives us a swift kick in the butt. We are forced to adapt and change, or be left behind. Lisa was working doing what she always does, designing beautiful logos and websites in agencies for over 15 years. In January of 2017, Lisa decided to go on her own and give a small business model a shot. As with everything, ideas take time to form and she needed time to piece together what this business should look like.

I, on the other hand, was working as software tester on Health based solutions out of Mohawk College. I went back to school in 2012 to help grow my skills in a profession I love. I had been working on websites since the 90’s, but, I needed to sharpen my abilities. When my contract ended at Mohawk, I was looking for life’s next big adventure. Did I have a clue what that was? Heck no! I was lost and confused on what to do next. 

That was when an idea dawned on the both of us. Why not band together and use our skills to create and design online & media solutions for other companies. Between the two of us, we had the skills that checked all the boxes of what we wished to accomplish. We were partners in life, we figured why not extend that into business.

We weren’t fools, we knew it would be difficult and would require a lot of cooperation. We would have disagreements, like we did at home, but we vowed to keep the two items separate. Are we perfect, nope, not in the slightest, but, we work hard to keep work as work. That even feels like it could be another blog, does it not? WORKING WITH YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER, AND HOW WE HANDLE IT.

PROVOKE IS BORN

At that moment, PROVOKE MEDIA & DESIGN was born. We both bring our individual strength’s and weakness, but we work together to use those strengths and help with the weaknesses. We are a team, first and foremost, with lots of ideas, talent, high expectations and ambition.

As a pair, we handle the curveballs that business throws at us, and the JOYS OF SUCCESS. We discovered we both want to work helping other small to medium businesses grow their brands and be successful. Lisa and I want to work with the clients and give them the customer service they deserve and need.

Does not matter if its SEO, SOCIAL MEDIA, SOFTWARE OR DESIGN. The key to any good relationship or business is communication, and working in a collaboration with the client. By working in harmony, we help each other grow. 

So, that brings us to where we are today, near the beginning of 2018 on January 9th. Do we have everything figured out? NOT ENTIRELY YET, but we work well together. 

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With the New Year just begun, we have new dreams and goals. There are new things to learn and create. We have our many projects with small business set to launch. I will not share those yet but, keep following along and you will see what is on our agenda. Blogs will be a part of it for sure, with lots of new features planned.

And, that is a bit of the story of how we Provoked ourselves. Stay tuned for more of OUR ADVENTURE, more to come in 2018...

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