It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since we started Broadstreet—it was a big leap, and the time has flown. From our first days with Karissa and I working at my dining room table, we have grown to a company with 20 full-time employees, a network of 15+ regular collaborators, and 6 office dogs (not all in at the same time, of course!). When we started Broadstreet, we had been working in HEOR, in both small consultancies and large multi-nationals, for over a decade – so we felt we had a good understanding of what clients would need. But also, and equally importantly, we had a good idea of the sort of work environment we wanted to foster. Our vision was to create a company that could provide small business-style, personalized attention to clients in an industry where large multi-nationals define the field, in an environment that is collaborative and allows team members to be passionate about pursuing what interests them. The challenge was to deliver. Now, several years down the road, we are proud of what we have accomplished and excited to see what the future will bring.

We have lots of great memories – from shenanigans with old friends we (used to) see twice a year at ISPOR, to a team-building scavenger hunt that included an cleverly planned shock reveal by a co-worker that she was pregnant with twins. Karissa got her 15 minutes of fame when she was interviewed on a national morning radio show, though it wasn’t all glamour. The reality involved an appallingly early start to the day and repeating the interview 16 times to accommodate affiliates in Canada’s six time zones. I really loved a recent opportunity I had to speak to local high school students about epidemiology and the type of work we do.  It was exciting to see their interest and hopefully encourage some young people to consider working in science and this field in particular.

Looking back, we are happy about how we have stayed true to our roots, maintaining small business values while conducting rigorous, high-quality science for clients we like and causes we believe in. We feel so lucky to have had so many wonderful and lasting collaborations over the years and look forward to many more years working together!