Better Together

It was great to see so many members make the choice to be here. There is something different about being together in the same room. We can Zoom, text, email, or jump on a video call, and we can communicate with people anywhere, anytime—but none of that replaces sitting across the table from somebody: breaking bread together, looking someone in the eye, shaking their hand, having the conversation you weren't planning to have, laughing together, sharing an idea, or simply reminding each other that we're not doing this alone.

That is really what this year's conference theme, Better Together, is about. It isn't simply a conference theme—it's a reminder of who we are, and a challenge for who we need to become. TEEMA has an even bigger, brighter future in front of it, but we will only realize that future if we pursue it together.

It's worth acknowledging something directly: this wasn't the biggest TEEMA Conference we've ever had. Attendance was down, for a number of reasons—personal for some, political for some, financial for many, and for others, simply not yet understanding what they were missing. As most members are aware, earlier this year we announced that the conference will move to an every-other-year event. That was not an easy decision, and personally it was a hard one, because community and being together are things worth believing in.

Some of the best things that have ever happened at TEEMA did not happen on a scheduled conference call or inside a PowerPoint presentation. They happened at dinner, over a drink, when somebody met somebody they didn't know very well and asked what they actually did for a living—and five minutes later realized they needed to work together. They happened when someone shared an idea, made an introduction, offered encouragement, or simply said, "I can help you." That is community, and it is something we never want to lose sight of. TEEMA's core may be founded around the structure of a staffing company, but what we've really built is a community of intrapreneurs who have chosen to build alongside one another—and we are at our best when we are better together.

It's also worth being honest about the market. The last few years have not been easy. The business and client landscape in Canada has changed and we've lost some ground; the U.S. has been a difficult market to break through. Clients are more cautious, budgets are tighter, and decisions take longer. Technology is changing at a pace we haven't experienced before, and AI is fundamentally changing the way work gets done. That kind of change can make people nervous, or defensive, or eager to protect what they already have. But we don't pursue excellence by protecting yesterday—we pursue it by being willing to ask what better looks like tomorrow. Not perfection. Excellence: never becoming satisfied simply because something worked before, being proud of what we've built while still believing we can build something better. That is exactly where TEEMA is today.

What we've built since 2008 is remarkable, and it's worth saying plainly: this is not a criticism of what got us here—quite the opposite. We've built a company. We've built businesses. We've created careers, freedom, and opportunity. We've helped people provide for their families and change their lives, and we've created an environment where people have been able to build something on their own terms. Ultimately, we've tried to live our purpose: bringing great people together to live better. That is something to be genuinely proud of.

But success creates its own danger, and comfort and complacency are the enemy of progress. It's a familiar pattern: you start with a dream, work incredibly hard, sacrifice, and achieve something. Life gets a little more comfortable. You gain some freedom. And eventually, without even realizing it, the very comfort you worked so hard to create can make it harder to take the next risk, harder to change, harder to challenge yourself, harder to get uncomfortable again. That happens to individuals, to leaders, and to companies alike.

So one of the questions worth all of us asking is what growth actually requires of us. It requires curiosity. It requires humility. It requires courage. And sometimes it requires letting go of something that worked exceptionally well in the past so that we can build something even better for the future.

There is evidence everywhere that our future can be bigger. Look at what we're building in Accounting & Finance. Look at Engineering, Healthcare, Locumly, and TEEMA Direct. Look at the opportunity across the U.S. and in government work in Canada. Look at what AI is allowing us to do differently. We have incredible assets and incredible people, but we're leaving a substantial amount of opportunity on the table—and the answer isn't simply "we need more sales." It's deeper than that: we need to become better at doing business together.

That starts with going deeper into our clients—understanding their businesses, not just their job orders; understanding what keeps them awake at night; understanding what they're trying to accomplish over the next twelve, twenty-four, and thirty-six months; knowing what they'll need before they know they need it. It also means challenging a mindset that sometimes holds us back: the idea of "my client." Ultimately, a client isn't just my client or your client—they're a TEEMA client. That doesn't diminish the relationships an individual member brought to TEEMA, or those built and nurtured while here; it makes those relationships more valuable. When, instead of protecting a client relationship, we surround that client with the very best of TEEMA—someone in Engineering seeing an opportunity for Accounting & Finance, a Canadian member introducing a U.S. member, someone working with a CIO realizing TEEMA could also help the CFO, someone saying "I don't personally do that, but I know somebody at TEEMA who is exceptional at it"—that is how we become more valuable to the client, increase wallet share, become harder to replace, and ultimately become more successful together.

The reality is there's no shortage of talent inside TEEMA. We have great relationships, business across a number of industries and geographies, and a tremendous amount of diverse experience and expertise. The opportunity isn't simply adding more capability—it's connecting the capabilities we already have. Sometimes we're so busy running our own business that we forget we're part of something bigger. That means asking different questions: not "how do I solve this," but who else at TEEMA has solved something like it; not "how much of this client can I protect," but how the whole client relationship grows when more of TEEMA is involved; not "what's in it for me," but what's in it for us. None of that means losing our entrepreneurial spirit—it means magnifying it. Independence and collaboration are not opposites; some of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world understand that you can own your business and still leverage an ecosystem around you. That's what TEEMA should be to each of us.

And then there's AI. It is changing our industry now, not someday—how we source, recruit, sell, communicate, and how our clients operate. Some jobs will change, some services will become commoditized, and some of what people have historically paid us to do will become faster and easier. That isn't something to fear; it's something to become exceptionally curious about, because as technology gets better, the things that remain uniquely human become more valuable, not less! Trust, judgment, curiosity, creativity, empathy, relationships, understanding nuance, understanding a client's business, knowing when an email won't do, when to pick up the phone, when to sit across the table from somebody, and how to bring the right people together. AI can connect information – WE CONNECT PEOPLE. There is enormous value in that—but our opportunity isn't to compete against AI. It's to become extraordinary at combining technology with the human relationships that have always differentiated great businesses. That, too, is a pursuit of excellence.

When members hear the word "reimagine" over the coming period, it shouldn't be read as "everything we've done is wrong." It should be read as an invitation to ask what TEEMA would look like if we started again today, with everything we now know. What would our leadership team look like? How would we approach clients? How would we build and organize around industries? How would we approach growth within specific regions? How would we use AI? How would we sell, recruit, and collaborate? How would we compensate people? How would we expand our biggest clients, and how would we attract the next generation of great people into this community? These are exciting questions, and we're going to ask some of them—though we won't have all the answers coming out of the conference, and we shouldn't. The goal isn't to walk out with every box checked; it's to walk out thinking differently about what is possible.

Through all of the change we've been through, and all of the change still ahead, there are things we never want to lose: trust, entrepreneurial spirit, empowerment, accountability, being member influenced, community, freedom, opportunity, relationships, and the belief that great people deserve the chance to build a better life. Those things aren't holding us back. The challenge is figuring out how to take that foundation and build something even stronger on top of it. That is what pursuing excellence looks like: not protecting everything exactly as it is but knowing what must never change—and having the courage to change almost everything else when the opportunity demands it.

That brings us to leadership. We've been having significant conversations about TEEMA's future—about where we are today, where we want to go, what needs to change, what we need more of, and how we build the next best version of TEEMA. Those conversations have included our executive team, our senior leadership team, a number of trusted advisors in this community, and our founder, Brian. Over the last several months, Brian, Steve, and I have become increasingly engaged in conversations about TEEMA's future—not because TEEMA is broken, not because what we've built hasn't worked, and not because we're trying to go backward. Quite the opposite: Brian sees the same opportunity I see, and in many ways sees even further, and he wants to help us pursue it.

Because of that renewed engagement, we're excited to share an update on the continued evolution of our leadership team.

With any announcement like this, it's natural to want to understand the "why" right away—what happened, why the change, who's doing what, what does this mean. Those are fair questions, and the honest answer is that we are still defining the exact swim lanes. What is already clear is why we're doing it: we believe TEEMA has another significant chapter of growth ahead of it, and that adding Brian's energy, vision, entrepreneurial mindset, relationships, willingness to challenge assumptions, and ability to live out in front of the business will only make us stronger. This isn't about going backward.

Brian and I are different leaders, but our individual strengths have always complemented each other. My commitment to TEEMA hasn't changed. My vision for TEEMA hasn't changed. My responsibility to lead this organization, lead our people, strengthen our business, drive performance, protect our culture, and relentlessly pursue excellence hasn't changed. What changes is that there is another experienced leader who wants to stand beside us and help create opportunity. Brian will spend a significant amount of his energy in front of the business, where he thrives—hunting for opportunity, building strategic relationships, supporting significant sales opportunities, challenging how we think, helping us reimagine what TEEMA can become, and helping point us toward the next mountaintop. My role will continue to ensure we have the right people, priorities, leadership, and execution required to actually climb it, while Steve and the rest of our executive team continue turning those priorities into disciplined execution. Different strengths. Different responsibilities. One TEEMA.

It's worth being direct about one more thing: Brian is not coming back to save TEEMA. TEEMA doesn't need saving. He's coming back because, deep down, he misses the very things that have made us special and made us strong—our culture and our community—and because he believes, as I do, that there is more: more opportunity, more growth, more clients, more businesses we can build, more people we can attract, more markets we can enter, more value we can create, and more lives we can impact. This isn't a rescue story. It's a story about a founder looking at what has been built and saying, "we're not finished"—and I couldn't agree more.

We're not finished. Not even close.

My challenge to every member is simple: meet somebody you don't know. Ask somebody what they're working on, and how you can help them. Share an opportunity, an idea, or something that's working—and talk honestly about something that isn't. Be curious about AI, about another vertical, another market, somebody else's business, and somebody else's life. Challenge your own assumptions and challenge ours. Think bigger and be willing to get a little uncomfortable—because growth often starts when we become uncomfortable enough to move.

TEEMA's best days are still ahead of it. We can be bigger, stronger, and more profitable. We can become more valuable to our clients, create even greater opportunity for our members, attract incredible people, build new businesses, and lead rather than react to what is happening in our industry. But none of that happens because one person has an idea—it happens when we decide to build it together. The greatest competitive advantage TEEMA has isn't its ATS, its commission model, any single vertical, or any one person. It's the collective strength of this community: what happens when somebody on one side of the room knows something somebody on the other side needs; what happens when opportunity meets expertise, when trust creates collaboration, and when great people come together.

So yes, the intent is to grow, to reimagine, to challenge ourselves, and to change—while continuing to live by a simple standard: never settle simply because something is good, never confuse comfort with success, and never believe the best work has already been done. Keep learning. Keep growing. Keep challenging. Keep building. And keep bringing great people together. Our future is bigger and brighter, and most importantly, it's one we build together—as a community that continues to reconnect, challenge each other, imagine what's possible, and build the next chapter of TEEMA.