Looking at the minutes from the yearly planning meeting we held in early January this year, there’s a theme that is consistent throughout. It all just felt a little “uncertain”… And why wouldn’t it? We had just wrapped up nearly 2 years of pandemic operations. Some of us were still living under movement restrictions. Everyone was exhausted with the possibility that this “new normal” would continue indefinitely. Would there be enough left in the mental tank for 2022?
How It Started…
As far as Oracle Tree is concerned, 2020 / 2021 were years where we focused on being as impactful for our clients as possible. Our team worked diligently with those who stayed during Covid. We said “see you again soon” with love to those who were forced to pause. We counseled. We facilitated. We encouraged pivoting. And then we hustled hard to create digital ecosystems that could keep up with the changing world.
Vs How It’s Going
But 2022? She hit differently. Recently our CEO Marama said that it feels like we’re “sliding into home base, covered in dirt, just in time” and that sentiment seems pretty spot on! Because 2022 has been a year full of unprecedented growth for our agency, exciting new client opportunities, mountains of organisational learning, and so much pride in what we’ve achieved that it’s hard to believe it’s only been 12 months!
Here are a few of our biggest highlights to wrap up the year.
Our Agency Doubled in Size
We started the year with a small core group of talented OT’ers. But we will finish the year with almost 100% more team members crammed onto our weekly Zoom huddle screen. And they come from all over Australia and the world! We’ve added another Social Media Coordinator, a super talented Content Specialist, two (awesome) Administrative Assistants, an in-house Web Design and Development Lead, plus another Copywriter to share the work around with. Check out all of our smiling faces by clicking here!
We Made Mental Wellbeing a Focus
As a virtual agency, with our people working from all around the world (at all times of the day / night!) it can sometimes be difficult to remember to connect with each other as humans. Especially when you’re being swamped with the day-to-day, or approaching clients’ deadlines. Agency life is also not for everyone. You need to love moving quickly, jumping from project to project, managing changing deadlines and dealing with expectations. So supporting everyone at OT in a way that means they can achieve this – whilst also maintaining a love for what they do – is key.
One of the ways we’ve done that this year is by making the move to a 4 day work week. We have made Fridays at Oracle Tree a permanent personal day. Which means our team can use it how they see fit. For life admin jobs, to get the washing done, clean the house, or to just chill out. This way, when the weekend officially starts on Saturday, they’re able to fully connect with their friends and loved ones, and switch off from work. When we asked our team recently what they’ve loved the most about this change, it’s the feeling that they’ve been given the gift of time. And that come Monday, they’re actually excited to get back to doing what they love.
We Invested in Professional Development
We’re full of digital marketing professionals – all with different strengths, expertise and knowledge. Our team made a commitment early in the year to hold one team training session every month of this year on a subject of trending importance to our industry. (Which doesn’t sound like much – but finding one hour a month where all of our team is free is actually an achievement in itself!). Our team members stood up (virtually!) and presented on topics they are experts in, in an effort to upskill everyone else. We had sessions on mindset, neurodiversity in the workplace, the changing paid ads landscape, how to curate your LinkedIn profile… the list goes on! The best part? Hearing our people talk so passionately about what they love AND that they felt comfortable enough to do it.
We Won an Award!
The truth is there’s not one Aussie business out there that isn’t overdue for a little pat on the back this year. But that’s not going to stop us from celebrating ours – and gosh did we! We were beyond excited to recently be presented with the award for the most Outstanding Professional Services Company on the Central Coast at the 2022 Central Coast Local Business Awards gala. And before you say… “Hey, I thought you were virtual?” and we say “Yes, we are”… Our home base (where we first launched Oracle Tree and where our CEO Marama resides and steers this ship from) is the beautiful Central Coast, NSW.
Marama Became a Best-Selling Author
May 9th was the date. The culmination of over 2 years of writing, re-writing, editing, proofing, second guessing and finally… it was here. ‘Fixing Frankenstein – How To Take The Monster Out Of Running Your Small Business’ was born and Marama was officially a published author! No mean feat, for someone who says she doesn’t actually enjoy writing that much! But, if you’ve been slogging your guts out in small business for over 20 years, you learn a few things. She knows what works and what doesn’t when trying to achieve growth – and this book is all about sharing that knowledge with anyone who wants it!
So Many New and Exciting Clients Joined Us
The Oracle Tree client list grew extensively in 2022, with a whole range of amazing businesses coming aboard, ready to take the next step towards growth. And our whole team is excited to continue helping them reach their goals in 2023!
Here are some who joined us!
- Worksite safety is a pressing issue for the Australian mining industry. Impress Solutions provide on-site safety consultations and extensive safety training and mentoring services with the one fundamental goal – To Help Save Lives At Work.
- The Mumpara Group is a national group of companies engaged in socio-economic advancement across the Indigenous landscape. By 2030 they aim to have empowered 1,000 Indigenous families to break the cycle of generational welfare dependency.
- Accession Finance is an award-winning mortgage brokerage based in Melbourne’s West. Their goal is to remove the stigma around mortgage services, and give as many people as possible the right information so they can achieve their financial goals.
What’s to Come in 2023?
Well first up, our team will be taking a much deserved break. Oracle Tree will be wrapping up for the year at 3pm on Wednesday 21st December when we all sit down for our virtual Christmas party! We will all then take a few weeks off to reconnect and rewire ahead of (what we’re sure will be!) another cracking 2023 in the digital marketing Australia space! We return on January 9th.
To all our clients, partners, friends and followers – we wish you all a wonderful and safe holiday season and a Happy New Year. May 2023 bring you all you hope for.
Want More Like This?
Fixing Frankenstein: A Chat with the Author
