Aubvious: Solving the Unsolvable Together

“OH MY GOD!!! AAAAHHHHH! [insert name here]”

If you had been standing outside of Brass Monkey last Thursday night, you would have heard the cacophonous greeting on repeat. It was our “OG Google Reunion”, bringing together over 200 ex-Googlers (Xooglers, if you will) - and a handful of current ones with a 20+ year tenure - for a three-hour night of nostalgia. I hadn’t realized how much I had needed it until I was there.

I started at Google 22 years ago, with 1000 or so others who were taking a big risk in their careers. Working for this new(ish) idea of being able to make all of the world’s information accessible. I could write a manuscript about those times and how they differ from our world today (and maybe I will), but what resonates the most with me is how we were a collective. We forged our own way. Asking for help was encouraged, if not expected; trying new things or solving unsolvable problems, or changing the way you thought about something was mandatory. It wasn’t a written mandate; no, it was just how you worked. 

That was the feeling I had surrounded by these very people less than a week ago; that’s what I’ve taken with me. And I’ll be honest: I was a bit daunted attending this “1440 Reunion” (where the office was back in the early ‘00’s) as I was the lone attendee from our (then 9-person) Atlanta office. I was excited to see everyone, but I was also struggling and feeling, well, insecure.

How would I describe what I do for a living?

What would my life look like when compared to all of these brilliant and successful friends of old? 

Would anyone care?

Turns out: we’re still a collective. There wasn’t one chartered path; many - if not most - of the people are still working full-time jobs. Some were taking the leap again at startups; others were helping lead an established company, and I reconnected with so many others running their own business, like I do, helping and advising others and using what we learned at Google to help companies and people thrive.

I love what I do. It’s why I started Aubvious.com 18(!!!) years ago, after leaving Google and figuring out what would be next for me. I’m lucky and grateful that in between different roles, I’ve had this consultancy to return to, allowing me to work with people and companies that needed a little help in their communications, marketing, or operations. I’ve held big “high-falootin’” titles at Fortune 50 companies and agencies during that same duration, but I keep coming back to Aubvious, where I can again embrace those tenets that made us early Googlers succeed.

Trying out new solutions that hadn’t previously existed. Questioning the way things are working…then finding a better way.

Solving the unsolvable problems, and finding simplicity and efficiency in the solutions.

Perhaps I did have an answer of what I’ve been working on, albeit not one that fits squarely into a tagline or elevator pitch. And know what? That’s ok. Because it’s not about a quirky one-liner or an elevated title that drives me; it’s being behind the scenes helping others grow and shine and thrive. To me…it’s Aubvious.