2025 was Neighbourgood’s first full year of really being in it. Not just setting up shop, but delivering, learning, and building relationships that matter. And as a new year is blossoming (as if it’s Feb already!), I’ve been taking stock of what that actually meant…and what I’ve learned along the way.

The weight and gift of small business ownership

Running a small business is educational in ways I didn’t anticipate. You’re involved in everything, strategy and delivery, yes, but also invoicing, proposals, insurance renewals, and the ongoing challenge of explaining what you actually do in a way that actually lands with people. *If you can’t explain it to your grandparents, you can’t explain it.*

There’s no corporate structure to absorb the uncertainty, no board of directors to distribute the weight of decisions. Every project carries your name and your values directly into the world. That responsibility feels heavy sometimes, but it’s also what makes the work feel so meaningful.

What’s struck me most is the courage it takes just to keep showing up. Not the dramatic, leap of faith to start, but the quieter, daily courage of backing yourself when things don’t go as planned, when a pitch doesn’t land, when you’re not sure if what you’re building is working.

This experience has given me profound respect for every business owner and founder I work alongside now. I understand the risk differently. I understand what it means to stake your livelihood on the belief that what you’re offering matters. And I understand why authenticity isn’t optional, you have to actually mean what you say.

The privilege of being trusted

One of the things I feel most grateful for this year is the trust our clients have placed in Neighbourgood.

We’ve worked on projects that really matter, helping organisations understand and measure their community impact, supporting partnerships that bring genuine benefit to people’s lives, navigating the complex human dimensions of corporate social responsibility. These aren’t “nice to have” initiatives. They’re sensitive, often deeply personal pieces of work that require care and nuance. And I’m so incredibly proud of each of our projects.

Being invited into that space is a privilege. It means listening more than dictating, asking questions more to develop ingenuity, and holding both ambition and accountability at the same time.

What’s been energising is working with organisations that take their social responsibility seriously and are willing to learn, adapt, and improve. That word “together” matters. Neighbourgood’s partnership philosophy isn’t just positioning, it’s how the work actually gets done. We’re not parachuting in with all the answers. We’re collaborators helping clients navigate questions that don’t have easy solutions, building strategies that reflect their actual values and capacity, not some idealised version of what CSR “should” look like.

Trust, I’ve learned, gets built slowly. Through consistency, through delivering what you say you will, through honest conversations when things get complicated. It’s earned in the small moments, responding thoughtfully to a difficult question, admitting when you don’t know something, showing up reliably over time.

Community as infrastructure

If this year has reinforced one thing, it’s that no business thrives in isolation.

Neighbourgood has been shaped not just by the work we do, but by the people and businesses around us, collaborators, partners, clients, and peers who share a belief that business can be a force for good. That sense of community has been invaluable, and honestly, sometimes unexpected.

Working with our sister agency Clearbox has shown me what’s possible when skills, ideas, and values align. There’s a generosity in this community that often goes unspoken: people sharing insights, making introductions, opening doors, supporting good work because they genuinely want to see it succeed.

The CSR and business community in Northern Ireland has been a fantastic champion, coffee conversations have turned into collaborations. Established businesses have shared knowledge freely, not because there was something immediately in it for them, but because that’s how strong communities work.

This mirrors something we talk about with clients all the time: the most resilient partnerships aren’t transactional. They’re built on shared purpose, mutual respect, and a genuine investment in each other’s success. I’ve been on the receiving end of that this year, from John Ferris, Accelerator Community Manager for Ulster Bank, Jan Donaldson, Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Young Enterprise Northern Ireland, Lauren Cunningham, Community Engagement Manager at Business in the Community, and Josh Watts CEO of DIY Earth to shout out just a few of the amazing people I’ve been lucky enough to meet and work with this past year.

It connects back to our brand philosophy too, that early internet and arcade culture aesthetic we chose wasn’t just nostalgia. It was about remembering what genuine community building looks like: spaces where people showed up authentically, shared generously, and created value together without needing to dominate or perform. That spirit exists in pockets of the business world, and finding it has been one of the unexpected gifts of this year.

The right people make all the difference

One of the clearest lessons from this year: the people you work alongside shape everything.

I’ve been fortunate to work with Sam, whose genuineness comes through in every conversation and every piece of work. That authenticity isn’t performative, it’s just who he is. And it matters. When you’re doing work that requires trust and human connection, having someone on the team who shows up as themselves, who cares about getting things right for the right reasons, makes the work better and makes the partnerships stronger.

Building Neighbourgood has reinforced something I already believed: you can’t separate the person from the work, especially in this space. The clients we work with aren’t just hiring skills or experience, they’re inviting people into sensitive, meaningful projects. Having a team that understands that, and brings that same care and authenticity to every interaction, is what makes the partnerships work.

What I’m carrying forward

Neighbourgood is still growing, and so am I. We’re refining what we offer, learning where we add the most value, and continuing to ask how businesses can play a more active role in the communities around them.

Looking at the months ahead, I feel clear about the foundations. There’s a solidity to the purpose now, not because everything is perfectly figured out, but because the work has proven itself. The partnerships we’ve built, the trust we’ve earned, the impact we’ve helped create: it all reinforces that this approach matters.

What I’m carrying forward is gratitude. Gratitude for the clients who trusted us with work that mattered to them. For the collaborators who pushed our thinking and opened doors. For the community that continues to remind me why Neighbourgood exists in the first place.

And perhaps most importantly, I’m carrying forward a deeper understanding of what it means to build something meaningful. It’s not about being everywhere or doing everything. It’s about showing up consistently for the right people, building genuine relationships, and creating something that reflects your actual values, not some polished, performative version of them.

That’s what this year taught me. That’s what the next one is built on.

To everyone who’s been part of this first full chapter – thank you – here’s to the next one.