September is one of my favourite times of the year.

For Leaps&Bounds, it marks the beginning of a new fiscal year, which gives us a natural opportunity to look back at what we accomplished, reflect on what we learned, and get excited about what comes next.

And there is a lot to celebrate this year.

We met our stretch financial targets and expanded into a fourth province, with clients now spanning Manitoba, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan.

We continued to invest in better systems. We took on projects that challenged us, stretched us and taught us. And we built and deepened relationships with clients who touched us in ways I don’t think they always realize. With my founder hat on, I couldn’t be prouder.

There is another milestone this year that feels particularly significant to me personally. If you’ve followed our journey, you may know that when I launched Leaps&Bounds, I made the decision not to take a salary (or any dollars out of the org). Instead, I chose to invest that money in building the team and the business.

This was a choice I was fortunate to be able to make. I believed that if I wanted to build something bigger than myself, I needed to invest in people from the beginning.

Well, I am very excited to share (and my husband may be even more excited!) that as of this month, Leaps&Bounds is in a healthy position to pay its founder a salary. We continue to add to our team in different ways: permanent and contract, internally and client-facing. You need to invest to grow, and we will continue to do that thoughtfully.

We are also getting very close to finding our first office space, which will be another big milestone for us.

But perhaps the thing I am most proud of hasn’t changed. We continue to hear from clients that we are different. I’ve talked about this before, but I keep coming back to it because it really is at the core of how we are building Leaps&Bounds.

We don’t lead with, “How much revenue/profit can we make?” We lead with, “How can we provide the most value?”

Sometimes that means doing a little more than expected. Sometimes it means telling a client they don’t need something they thought they did. Sometimes it means understanding our clients’ budget and creating a solution that meets their needs.

We believe that if we do great work, provide real value and build relationships based on trust, the rest will follow. So far, it has.

Every September, I ask myself one important question: Is this still the right path? This year, that question carried a little more weight. A health scare earlier this year gave me reason to think about a lot of things, including how I want to spend my time and energy and what I want this next chapter of my life to look like.

Interestingly, while the question may have carried more weight, the answer was easier than ever. Absolutely, yes!

How fortunate am I to be building something I genuinely believe is special, with an extraordinary team beside me, while working with clients we can support and learn from along the way?

There is still so much we want to do. There will undoubtedly be more lessons, some missteps and a few sleepless nights along the way. But as we start this new fiscal year, I feel incredibly grateful for where we are and genuinely excited about where we’re going.

And if September represents something new for you too, whether personally or professionally, I wish you every success in whatever comes next. Here’s to another year of learning, growing and taking a few more Leaps!