Written by: Brea Starmer Photo by: Becca Ellison of The Fix Photo Group

One perfectly-Seattle-grey fall day in 2015, I lost my job and found my way.

I was working for a beloved Seattle startup, building a new business division and it didn’t seem like it was going very well, frankly. So when I was invited to an emergency all-staff meeting on a Thursday morning in October, I knew what was about to happen.

This wasn’t my “birth plan”

This wasn’t my first rodeo. I was laid off once before – and had conducted a layoff myself. These situations are horrible and very common in this market, and they really, really suck. I agreed with the business decision, but it was pretty bad personal timing… I was seven months pregnant.

Inner monologue #1: You are fiiiiine. People will value your experience and will hire you in your third trimester, no proooooblem.

Inner monologue #2: All of your plans, hopes and dreams are now not real and you are screwed.

So I started looking for a new job, really quickly. One that might have medical benefits for the baby I was going to deliver in about 13 weeks, and I was shocked by the blatant discrimination I faced.

This bathroom selfie (not sure what I was thinking here, folks) was me on a job interview, trying to hide a giant baby belly. It didn’t work.

This employer told me that their hiring process took 4 months. How convenient.

Through straight scramble and networking, I was very fortunate to set up a consulting practice, essentially, overnight. I billed 60 hours per week for my full third trimester to save enough for a self-funded maternity leave. I was exasperated, exhausted, and grieving my lost plans. Not to mention, I was totally freaked out to be having a BABY!

I consider my consulting career founded under duress, thanks to a work world that left my pregnant self behind, despite my strong career performance and ambition. I didn’t fit in. I was scared and lacked control.

Motherhood called me to serve

My contractions started quickly and ramped up much faster than the doctor said they would. By the time we got to the hospital, I couldn’t walk. Four hours later, my son Cedar was delivered via emergency c-section and with his arrival, my life cracked wide open.

Being a new mother is like running a marathon in a country you’ve never been to before, having only read books about the food, with a tiny zombie attached to your body.

I loved being a mother far more than I could have ever anticipated. It brought out a soulfulness in me I didn’t know I possessed, connecting me to a sisterhood of women I didn’t know I needed.

It was like I was parched: I needed to be in community with women, after a career that left me thirsty. I was awestruck by the intrinsic motivation of the mothers I met, between my friends, my family, and women I had never known, acutely focused on helping one another.

This experience inspired me to want to share more than my favorite brand of diapers with these women; I felt deeply called to help mothers succeed professionally too.

Whoa, consulting is amazing

Consulting was a profession I ended up loving. I was able to make big impacts very efficiently, and then head home to my kiddo. No guilt, schedule flexibility, fair pay. I was learning and delivering cutting-edge marketing and business acumen for some of the largest technology companies in the world (on four hours of sleep a night).

I started gaining momentum, building up multiple part-time projects with clients who valued some of my time and didn’t need all of it. I controlled my workload and pace (which was increasing as my joy for this work increased) and I loved helping others find success.

{As as I think about it now, I realize the earth was paving my path all along. I just didn’t know it yet.}

One day at home, I decided to indulge in a nap with Cedar, ignoring the sleep books telling me to leave him in his crib. I just wanted to be covered in this beautiful baby and soak in the absolute gratitude.

As I lay there, I realized that I had built a life I loved, quite courageously. And I felt that this much privilege comes with great responsibility. I decided right then to share this way of life – this model of working – with others. To fulfill on this calling, I also wanted to provide economic opportunity to working mothers.

In January 2018, I founded Tribal Team, my own consulting practice and was awarded Diverse Supplier status with Microsoft and Google.

A baby AND a business!

The same month I opened my business, I got knocked up with baby two. Huzzah! I started preparing for scale – two-fold.

My business introduced a new model to the market: consulting fine-tuned to working parents but flexible enough for anyone seeking more control over their career. I found it to be a perfect match for organizations who didn’t want the burden of long-term, full-time staffing or cumbersome agency-of-record deals. I was on to something: everyone wants flexibility.

We believe:

• Employers want access to top talent, no matter if they want to work 30 hours a week, or from their camper on the coast, or at midnight if they choose.
• Inclusive cultures that enable knowledge work to happen when and wherever will guarantee outcomes that far exceed exclusive teams with rigid values.
• When people are treated with respect and trust, they will perform their best and will hold our relationship for a lifetime.

As my belly grew, so did our team. By the time I was ready for my second maternity leave, I was far more prepared. We had 9 consultants serving 4 clients – all with flexible schedules and work that was working.

Scout was born in December 2018, and I fell in love once more. He joined me at work a lot in those early months. We started 2019 with a new baby and full-blown business!

2019 has brought about 5x growth of our team and client base. We proudly added full benefits for our employees, including a profit share as we head into 2020. But more than that, we meet our staff and our clients where they are – to ensure fit and efficiency all around.

What I’m hearing is that we are building something different in the market:

We are caretakers and journey-seekers. We are an agency with the courage to roll up our sleeves alongside you, to fight for what’s right and an outcome that’s better as a result. We believe in “highest and best use” of our precious resources, fearless because of our community.

This summer, I was thrilled to welcome all of our consultants to our first Family Picnic in my backyard. I remember it smelled a little sweet that day, the blackberries from the forest were just ripe and the horses in the barn across the street neighed at us playfully. Everything felt warm and people were happy.

Holding my son, I got to thank our team for trusting in me. My evergreens bore witness to my public acknowledgement of this great privilege and responsibility of leading people – something I hold as dear as my own two boys. The earth felt more solid than ever that day.

A bright, bright future

We. Are. Just. Getting. Started.

We are on a mission to change the way we (all) work! To inspire fearlessness in pursuing a career and a life of your dreams – as an entrepreneur or an intrepreneur. Because if you don’t, you may find yourself left out like I was; without a voice or a choice in the matter.

The way we work is changing and I intend to keep our clients and consultants at the forefront of this movement – because flexibility is not an accommodation, it’s a strategic advantage.

Business is not for the faint of heart, and neither are we.