Six Years of Comma: Churros & Content Chats (VIDEO)
In 2022, Comma celebrates six years in business. Earlier this year, we hosted our own business birthday party, dubbed “Cupcakes and Content Chats” and here’s a play-by-play recap of this fun night for clients, team members, and friends of Comma.
This year’s event, “Churros and Content Chats,” was definitely a night to remember. Clients and team members gathered at Kiln, a hip flex office space in Salt Lake City.
Upon arrival, guests were greeted by Comma team members and participated in a mystery raffle. They ate dinner — catered by Costa Vida — and mingled with other copywriters and Utah marketers.
After dinner, Comma’s founder, Crystalee Beck, welcomed the crowd and shared Comma’s origin story. She took us back to 2016, shortly after having her second baby, when she was was laid off from her full-time job. She had one baby and was pregnant with No. 2. This put her at a crossroads. When her second baby was born, she made him a promise.
“I remember holding my new baby and whispering to him: ‘I’m going to be there for you, and I’m going to be me too,’” she said.
Crystalee Beck, founder of Comma Copywriters, with her “home team”
That little boy was six at Comma’s party. Her desire to balance both her children and her passion for writing led to the creation of Comma as we know it. Crystalee then invited her four babies onstage — ranging in age from four months to eight years old — and introduced them as her “home team” and Comma’s biggest supporters.
After the children said hello, Crystalee gave a brief overview of Comma’s history:
2016 – Professional Communication Consulting (PCC) is founded.
2017 – PCC passes the $100,000 revenue mark.
2018 – Additional writers and brands are added.
2019 – Professional Communication Consulting rebrands to Comma.
2020 – Comma grows, expanding into multiple teams of writers.
2021 – Comma named on the Fast 50 list by Utah Business Magazine and establishes five company values: Freedom, Accountability, Humility, Curiosity, and Care.
May 2022 – Comma now has a team of 41 writers in 20 different states!
Crystalee briefly reviewed Comma’s new values, explaining why they were chosen and how they guide our work today. She emphasized the value “Freedom: Life first” and how Comma strives to give everyone the ability to put whatever they want first.
“Whether that’s your children, traveling, acting, or doing yoga on the beach, whatever your passion is, we want to support you in putting life first,” she said.
Comma Mamas! From left to right: Jen, Paige, Crystalee, and Emily show off their babies in Comma Copywriters onesies.
She then recognized five Comma Mamas and their adorable babies (dressed in Comma onesies for the occasion) who were all born within the same four-month span this past year. Check out those matching Comma onesies!
Crystalee wrapped up with an overview of Comma’s goals for the future:
By 2026, regularly deliver 1,000 pieces of content each month.
Work with companies starting with each letter of the alphabet. (We’re only missing J, K, Q, U, and Y!)
Send 100 girls to school with Kurandza.
Earn a spot on the Inc. 500 list.
Katie Higley, singing at Comma’s 6th Birthday Party
After Crystalee spoke, former American Idol contestant and “song-versationalist” Katie Higley took the stage. Inspired by Comma’s values, Katie wrote a special song for the occasion, “We Are Comma” and taught the audience the chorus so we could sing along with her. Wanna hear her magic? You can listen to this custom song here.
Comma’s 6th Birthday Highlight Reel
Following the performance, we had the pleasure of hearing from six talented Utah marketers for six minutes each (6 x 6 for six years in business!).
Rachel Cottam: Director of Editorial Strategy for Clearlink
Kicking off the content chats was Rachel Cottam. She spoke about the need for increased authenticity in both the workplace and content marketing.
Rachel Cottam of Clearlink speaking at Comma’s 6th Birthday Party
“The world looks different today than it did in February 2020. We are different people.” She said. “This is a good thing. We are now more authentic. We are creating trust, we are building brands of character, and we are bringing authenticity back into the office.”
Sawyer Norman: Founder of Norm Marketing
Next, Sawyer Norman spoke about how content is the great equalizer, allowing businesses to grow and scale without feeling transactional.
Crystalee Beck (left) and Sawyer Norman (right) of Norm Marketing
“The new landscape of marketing for small businesses relies on differentiating yourself. That’s where missions, visions, and stories come in,” he said. “We’re not just having transactions anymore; we’re having conversations.”
We can help clients make the shift from transactional to personal by focusing on the impact we make instead of using sales-focused KPIs.
Heather Hurst: Vice President of Marketing for Canopy
Our third speaker, Heather Hurst, shared six tips from content marketing lessons she’s had to learn the hard way.
Heather Hurst, VP of Marketing at Canopy speaks at Comma’s 6th Birthday Party
Don’t get too excited about an angle or topic until you’ve tied it to the company’s story.
Put the same amount of time and effort into promoting the content as you do creating it.
Publish when it’s strategic, not when it’s done.
Working with the right influencer can be amazing, so take time to pick the right one.
Live within your means. Budget your money, time, and resources effectively.
Content requires constant care and feeding. Only use a channel if you can properly feed it with consistently good content.
Steve Arntz: Founder of Campfire
Steve Arntz, founder of Campfire, stressed the importance of putting your whole, authentic self into what you create. He gave us the acronym C.A.R. to help us remember three things we should strive for in our content marketing: Consistency, Authenticity, and Relationships.
Crystalee Beck (left) and Steve Arntz (right), founder of Campfire
“If you put your heart, your soul, all of you into the things that you write, your reach will be an order of magnitude larger than what you’ve currently achieved,” he said.
Sara Jones: CEO of InclusionPro
Sara Jones helped us define diversity, equality, and inclusion to improve our DEI marketing efforts.
Diversity is the art of identifying characteristics and different world views.
Inclusion is the art of engaging meaningfully with people.
Equality is the art of creating the same rights for all people.
Sara Jones, CEO of InclusionPro, speaks at Comma’s 6th Birthday Party
“The reality is we live in a world that is inherently unequal,” she said. “We need something to help us achieve equality. It will not naturally happen. That’s where equity comes in.”
Sara defined equity as building pathways of success for each person. Rather than giving everyone equal opportunity, we need to individually consider what each person needs to be successful.
Scott Porter: Owner & Founder of San Diablo Churros
Finally, Scott Porter reminded us about the importance of humanizing the brand experience. He shared a story about visiting his favorite taco truck after being out of town for six months. The worker called him by name, asked if he’d like his usual order, and inquired how he had been. Personalized micro-interactions with our customers increase brand loyalty.
Scott Porter, Owner and Founder of San Diablo Churros, speaks at Comma’s 6th Birthday Party
“We’ve been living most of our lives in a consumer economy where I give you money, you give me something, and we call it,” he said. “Now, we’re requiring more of each other. We’re expecting our brands to know us and our names, to give us recommendations, to care and to listen.”
Raffle Prizes & Artisan Churros
Both Sara and Scott brought surprise gifts for a few lucky audience members. Everyone sat on the edge of their seats hoping their raffle number would be called to win a “Churro Fiesta in a Box” from Scott Porter or a decorative copy of Nelson Mandela’s autobiography custom folded into the word “journey” from Sara Jones.
Afterwards, guests enjoyed delicious San Diablo Artisan Churros and mingled. Each guest left with a goodie bag filled with gifts from our sponsors, including:
Here’s to another year of Comma! We can’t wait to see what the rest of the year will bring!
Comma team from local Utah, team works all over US
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