Before calendars go quiet and inboxes fill up with out-of-office replies, I wanted to send a quick thank you.
This year had no shortage of curveballs. Shifting priorities, tough calls, and moments where the right answer wasn’t obvious. We watched you navigate all of it with thoughtfulness and grit, even when the plan changed mid-stride. That’s real leadership, even if it doesn’t come with a trophy or a neat wrap-up slide.
Brendon recorded a short video with a few reflections from the year and a thank you for the leaders and teams we were lucky to work alongside. It’s brief, thoughtful, and won’t take longer than your coffee to watch.
We’re genuinely grateful to be on this journey with you. I hope the holidays give you time to unplug, laugh a little, and start the year ahead with fresh energy.
Happy Holidays!
Kristin
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Kristin Dennewill
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Transcript:
Brendon Dennewill, Co-Founder & Co-CEO
As the year wraps up, I’ve been thinking about all the conversations I’ve had with leaders throughout 2025. Between client work, podcast interviews, and a lot of honest off-the-record chats, there’s one thing I can say with confidence.
Very few plans survived this year exactly as written.
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that growth rarely follows the spreadsheet. Timelines shifted. Priorities changed. Budgets tightened. Expectations somehow stayed the same. And just when you thought you had a handle on things, something new showed up to keep it interesting. Looking at you, AI.
But here’s the part that sticks with me.
Most leaders didn’t spend the year talking about what went wrong. They talked about what it took to keep going anyway.
They talked about slowing down long enough to get aligned.
They talked about finally addressing problems they’d been working around for years.
They talked about choosing clarity over speed, even when that choice wasn’t popular.
That matters.
Because even when the plan missed, there were still real gains hiding in the gap. Stronger foundations. Better questions. Teams that learned how to navigate uncertainty together instead of pretending it wasn’t there.
And sure, no one got handed a clean, foolproof growth playbook. If they had, we’d all be recording this video from a beach somewhere. That wasn’t the year we got. But it was a year where a lot of leaders showed up with resilience, curiosity, and more patience than they probably planned on developing.
From our side, we were lucky. We got to work alongside leaders and teams who didn’t wait for perfect conditions. People who leaned into the hard work. Who made thoughtful decisions in uncertain moments. Who chose progress, even when it looked messier and slower than expected.
That’s the work that holds organizations together. Especially when things get complicated. And let’s be honest, growth always gets complicated.
So from all of us at Denamico, thank you.
Sophie Schaffran, Marketing Director
Thank you for trusting us to tackle your biggest challenges.
Kristin Dennewill, Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Thank you for making thoughtful decisions in uncertain moments.
Emily Grotkin, VP of Partner & Client Success
Thank you for leaning into the hard work instead of looking for shortcuts.
Brendon Dennewill, Co-Founder & Co-CEO
We’re heading into 2026 knowing one thing for sure. The plan will change again. And that’s okay. What matters is building teams that can adapt, stay aligned, and keep moving forward together.
From all of us here, we’re wishing you a restful holiday, a well-earned pause, and a strong start to the year ahead. We’re grateful to be on the journey with you.