143PR Celebrates Five Years

Five years ago today, on June 1, 2021, we took a leap that felt equal parts exciting, terrifying, and a little irrational.

Like so many mothers during that time (and still today), we were navigating impossible expectations: to be fully present parents, high-performing professionals, supportive partners, caregivers, teachers, schedulers, and somehow still ourselves. We spoke as friends of nearly 15 years about how we wanted to be all of these things but our current situations made that impossible. 

In the middle of the pandemic chaos with newborns at home, a quiet idea kept surfacing: what if we stopped trying to make a system that wasn’t working fit our lives, and instead built something that did?

So, we walked away from the security of our corporate careers to start something of our own. We weren’t entirely sure how to do it but the encouragement from friends and family (and final push from our husbands) helped us take the leap.

143PR was born at kitchen counters, between nap schedules, and in early-morning brainstorms at a local harborside coffee shop. There were moments it felt overwhelming. Imposter syndrome showed up often. But so did belief from our families, friends and former colleagues – and that kept us going.

There is a particular pressure placed on women to do everything well at the same time: build a career, be present at home, stay grateful, stay ambitious, stay composed, and make it look effortless. But neither entrepreneurship nor motherhood is effortless.

Over the past five years, we’ve learned that balance rarely looks perfect. Sometimes it’s answering emails at a dance competition, between shuttling from one activity to the next, or while waiting for the school bus to roll up to the house. Sometimes it’s celebrating a client win while reheating the same cup of coffee for the third time. And often, it’s about pivoting, extending grace to ourselves, and redefining success in real time.

What we’re most proud of isn’t only the growth of 143PR. It’s how we built it.

We built 143PR while staying present in our lives. We built it with our children watching—giving them a front-row seat to what it looks like when women bet on themselves.

And maybe that’s the real milestone.

Not just five years in business, but five years of proving to ourselves, and those around us, that there isn’t one definition of success. That you don’t have to choose between ambition and presence.

Looking back, leaving our corporate roles during such uncertainty did feel risky. We could still be in those jobs today. Instead, we’re here – working from coffee shops overlooking the harbor, building something we believe in.

To our clients, past and present, the media, our families, friends, former colleagues, and everyone who has supported us: thank you for growing with us.

And to our kids – thank you for being our why from the very beginning.

Here’s to five years of 143PR. We can’t wait for what’s next.