Camille Porco

To start my CIWG journey off, it begins when I was first interviewing. And the funny thing is, I got turned down for the job, which took me by total surprise. I remember thinking, well, that's that. And then about a week later, Melanie from HR calls me up and says something like, "So, I know I told you we were moving forward with another candidate… but we'd actually like to move forward with you too." Which is a wild sentence to receive. Looking back now, I think it's a very fitting plot twist.

Initially, I was a little suspicious. The company website at the time looked like it was designed in a high school class… like, full Photoshop-clip-art energy. I remember thinking, is this company even real? Is this too good to be true? But the more time I spent here, the more I got it: we were so laser-focused on our clients that we genuinely just… never got around to making ourselves look good. The brand took a backseat because the work never did. Kind of a backwards flex, but I'll take it.

Since then, I've been through multiple role changes and multiple restructures, not the "one big glow-up" story, more like several plot twists back to back. We move fast here. Like, sometimes uncomfortably fast. That means long hours figuring out a new role, a new process, a new piece of tech, while you're still holding the last one together with duct tape. There have been more than a few times I've had to physically get up from my home office, walk outside, plant my bare feet in the grass, and just breathe for a second before going back in. Very "corporate employee discovers grounding techniques," but hey, it works.

I remember one of my first meetings with Jenn, I spoke up about something I thought was dumb and could be done better, which is very on-brand for me, since I've always been blunt and said what's on my mind, sometimes to a fault. To my surprise, she genuinely appreciated the feedback and was completely open to hearing my point of view and talking through how to improve it. That was maybe my first month at CIWG, and it set the tone for everything after. Ever since, I've felt confident and comfortable being completely transparent, with her, and with everyone else here.

So with all of that (the chaos, the restructures, the grass therapy sessions) here's the actual why behind why I keep showing up and working as hard as I do: I believe in the vision. I believe in Jennifer. And I've seen, firsthand, what this work actually does in our clients' lives and businesses. That's not a line, that's the thing that keeps me here. I want to help people be successful, and I genuinely care, probably too much, if I'm being honest, about every single one of our clients. That care is exactly what makes the hard days worth it.

Honestly, the hardest part hasn't been the job itself, it's been learning where the line is at home. There are still nights my wife has to physically tell me to put the laptop or the phone down and be present with her. I'm lucky she's as patient and understanding as she is, because she's the one who actually keeps me showing up, for her, and for myself.

If I had to sum it all up: it's been one of the most beautiful, fun, eye-opening, exhausting, psychotic things I've ever done. All of that, at the same time. And honestly? I'd take this ride, gray hairs and all, over an easy one that didn't mean anything. Every. Single. Time.