Welcome to The West Forty: Putting Experience to Work

The West Forty did not begin with a carefully polished business plan, a dramatic entrepreneurial vision, or a color coded spreadsheet forecasting five years of growth.

It began with friends asking for help.

Could I design something for their business? Could I help them find promotional materials? Could I take a look at their website? Could I help make their marketing look more professional?

These were practical requests from people who were good at running their businesses but did not necessarily have a marketing department sitting down the hall.

I had spent years working in corporate marketing, where design, promotional programs, advertising, websites, events, vendors, budgets, deadlines, and last minute requests were all part of the job. What felt like everyday working knowledge to me was unfamiliar territory for many of the people asking for help.

I began to think I might be able to turn that experience into a small side business.

Then, in 2020, life changed the plan.

What felt like a loss became a blessing

I was laid off from my corporate position in 2020.

During that same month, my mother was diagnosed with cancer.

Either one of those events would have changed our lives. Having them happen together made it clear that my priorities were about to look very different.

Losing my job was frightening at first. Corporate work had been a major part of my professional identity, and suddenly the stability and routine I knew were gone.

Looking back, I can see the situation differently. Getting laid off was a blessing from God.

God's timing is never wrong, even when we cannot understand it while we are living through it.

Losing my corporate job gave me something I did not yet realize I was going to need: the freedom to bring my mother into my home and care for her during treatment and recovery.

Had I still been trying to keep up with the demands and schedule of my corporate position, being present for her in the way I needed and wanted to be would have been much more difficult.

What first appeared to be an abrupt ending created room for something far more important. It gave me time with my mom. It also gave me the opportunity to begin building something of my own.

Making The West Forty official

Friends were already coming to me for help with designs, promotional materials, websites, and other marketing needs. I already had years of experience that could be useful to businesses outside the corporate environment.

So I formed The West Forty LLC and got to work.

There was no lengthy waiting period for perfect conditions. Perfect conditions rarely arrive anyway, and if they do, they probably have a short cancellation policy.

I began with the knowledge I had, the people who trusted me, and the work directly in front of me.

The West Forty became a way to continue using my professional experience while creating the flexibility my family needed. I was not trying to build a giant agency. I was building a practical business that allowed me to help other people while caring for someone I loved.

That combination shaped The West Forty from the beginning.

Experience should be useful outside the conference room

Corporate marketing taught me a great deal about building brands, managing projects, working with vendors, planning events, supporting sales teams, and protecting budgets.

It also taught me that a marketing idea is only valuable if it works in the real world.

The design has to function in the required formats. The promotional products need to arrive before the event. The website needs to help an actual customer. The message needs to make sense to someone who was not in the six meetings that produced it.

Businesses do not need marketing that merely sounds impressive. They need marketing that works.

That is especially true for small businesses and organizations without large internal teams. Owners may be responsible for sales, staffing, operations, customer service, accounting, and remembering who last replaced the printer toner.

Marketing matters, but it competes with everything else required to keep the business running.

Start with what the business needs

When someone asks me for a brochure, website, logo, advertisement, or promotional item, my first question is rarely about colors or size.

I want to know why the business needs it.

What problem are we trying to solve? Who needs to see it? What should that person understand? What do we want them to do next?

A brochure cannot fix an unclear offer. A promotional product cannot rescue a poorly planned event. A new website will not accomplish much if no one can explain why customers should choose the business.

It is tempting to jump directly to the visible deliverable because that feels like progress. Sometimes we need to back up first.

The answer may still be a brochure, website, advertisement, or promotional product. But now it has a purpose and a much better chance of doing its job.

The beginning was part of a bigger plan

At the time, I could not see everything God was putting into place.

I knew I had lost my corporate position. I knew my mother needed me. I knew people were asking for help I was equipped to provide.

That was enough to take the next step.

The West Forty gave me the flexibility to have my mother move in with me and to care for her throughout treatment and recovery. It also gave me a way to continue working, serving others, and using the experience I had spent years building.

What looked like a professional setback became a personal blessing and the beginning of a new chapter.

The West Forty was built by putting the knowledge, opportunities, and work God placed in front of me to good use.

That is still how I approach the business today.

Help people. Do good work. Use experience wisely. Trust God's timing.

And remember that the unexpected detour may not be a detour at all.