VIATEC’s Post

Well, it’s officially the end of an incredible journey for me at Shift—and a chapter of my life that has been absolutely life-changing. Shift was acquired by Redbrick—the company we spun out of about six years ago. No need to refresh your feed; that acquisition officially happened two years ago! We just didn’t say much because I stayed on as CEO through my full earn-out to help transition the company into the portfolio, and later merge it with another Redbrick business, Rebase, one year later. …And then I had a baby! 🎉 🎉 🎉 Two years ago, when we signed the final acquisition documents and bought out our investors, it didn’t feel real. But trust me, when you spend most of the night nursing and rocking a baby for months on end (I have an almost-1-year-old now), you have plenty of time to process and reflect. Building Shift alongside our amazing team is right up there as one of the proudest accomplishments of my life. Turning Shift from an idea into a scalable, profitable company, supported by a fantastic (and extremely fun) team, was an 8+ year adrenaline rush. With a very small team and even less funding, we built Shift with blood, sweat, an epic marketing engine, and, most importantly—unwavering conviction. And it succeeded… quickly! From questioning, “should we axe this Shift project?” to embracing the mantra, “What Would Shift Do?” was just the blink of an eye. By 2021, we were profitable, and my business partner, Tobyn, and his Redbrick team liked what we had built so much, they were making offers to buy it all back. I am forever grateful to everyone who was part of this journey with me. THANK YOU to my team, our investors, my brilliant coach, and of course, my amazing family. Startups are hard and often very lonely. I truly can’t imagine doing it without each and every one of you behind me. For now, I’ll be here chilling with my baby, reflecting on how grateful I am for all of it. That feels really good. …And for those of you who know me—I don’t actually chill very often, or for long, so... ✨ I look forward to reconnecting with all of you, and finding new ways to give back. ✨ Please don't hesitate to drop me a line or a DM if you'd like to grab a coffee (virtual or IRL, of course!). P.S. Moving from a startup rollercoaster into acquisition negotiations, then a merger, followed by a newborn is—A TRIP. Not sure if there are more words or none at all to describe it, but I am SO THANKFUL for all of you and the support we've felt for Shift since day one. I've learned so much about community, from our very own. P.P.S. Please send advice on how to chill and keep up with a one-year-old. He’s racing around the house chasing after his beloved beach ball as I write this, and getting faster by the day. P.P.P.S. First photo is in my dining room in December 2018, the night we hit 1M in ARR and happened to be heading to our company holiday party. Second photo is my last photo with the team before heading off on maternity leave!

We had an incredible experience at Camp Lejeune with the U.S. Marine Corps, both demonstrating the BRNKL Black and completing an installation on one of their vessels. We’re excited to support these men and women with our predictive maintenance and safety solutions.