Mar 07, 2019 Beth Monaghan
I aspire to embrace change as a constant, but it gets hard when the people I love must go. Today is one of those days when I put my beliefs into real practice. Tina Cassidy, our beloved chief content officer and executive vice president, is off to do big things for the world as WGBH’s new chief marketing officer. Congratulations!
Since Tina came to InkHouse in 2011 (back when we were just 20 people), we’ve been side-by-side (well, text-by-text since we are often PR execs passing in the chaos), so we thought it would be appropriate to do this together. We’re going to do a little she said/she said.
Tina: After eight wonderful years I am grateful to have this platform to thank my colleagues, clients, and most of all, CEO Beth Monaghan, for such a joyful stretch in my career. I’ve been reflecting on all of the good (and bad) ideas we’ve shared, the fun times and the inside jokes we’d never tell anyone else. There is one anecdote that always comes to mind when I think of what it’s been like to work here.
A few years ago, I ran the Boston Marathon, which is such a perfect metaphor for so many challenges in life, whether personal or professional. All along the route, from Hopkinton to Boston, I had colleagues screaming my name and cheering me on. And at the moment I felt the most depleted, on the incline of Heartbreak Hill, there was Beth, ready to hand me a banana and give me a hug; it was just the right gesture, at just the right place and at just the right time. Just like InkHouse.
Beth, I’d climb any hill with you at the top of it.
Beth: I am fond of saying that Tina arrived right on time. She brings a kind of magic with her that is matched only by her steady presence. She built our real estate practice from scratch (Susan Elsbree took the helm last year), she launched our GoodInk practice (which I will now lead with Alison Morra), and shaped our integrated PR strategies (Angela Trapasso leads that practice). But most of all, she is a steady force through any client crisis -- some we saw coming and some we couldn’t make up. In PR agency life, some days it’s a metaphorical circus, others a hurricane. Tina stood next to me day and night helping us make all the right decisions.
Tina: Thanks for setting the bar high and hurdling it every time, from creating an awesome workplace, to anticipating where the industry is going, and working only with the best clients.
Beth: Thanks for showing us that anything can be done. For Tina, there is no trip that is too far (Want to go to China for the weekend? No problem.) and no aspiration too bold. While she helped build InkHouse, she also wrote a few books, raised a family, and fought for social justice (check out her newly launched book on Alice Paul!).
Tina: Thanks for letting me bring Dusty to work (dogs are always welcome at InkHouse); for the unlimited vacation (available to all employees); and the in-office picnic-table potlucks where we’ve shared more than just a meal.
Beth: Thanks for being the person one client said has “great hair and a big brain.” I mean, you do have both, but I’ll always choose you for your brain and your heart.
Tina: Thank you, Beth, for being the obvious choice to attend a Patti Smith concert with, for having the same taste not just in music, but in books and poetry and basically, everything.
Beth: The Patti Smith concert was a spiritual experience I wouldn’t have with anyone else. And in good news, I believe that mark of yours cannot be erased in me or at InkHouse. I’m grateful that we get to carry it with us into our next phase.
Tina: Thanks not only for hiring me in the first place, but for making me part of the InkHouse family. Of course, you do this with everyone and it shows. And most of all, thank for being you and for promising to stay friends/soul sisters forever.
Beth: I’ll be over every Friday for drinks. In the meantime, I can’t wait to see what you do next. From the bottom of my heart, thank you...for everything.
Until our next adventure,
Beth & Tina
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