Veracity grew up in Kansas City. Twenty years later, the relationships that helped us get started still shape the way we do business.
Twenty years ago, I started Veracity in Kansas City because this was home. My relationships were here. My clients were here. My network was here. I knew technology and I knew I wanted to help people solve meaningful business problems. What I didn't yet know was how to build a company.
Fortunately, I didn't have to figure it out alone.
People took my calls, made introductions and shared what they had learned. I went to strategy sessions at the Women's Business Center when I was still figuring out what it meant to be a business owner. Clients gave a young company a chance. And people were willing to put their own reputations behind an introduction because they believed we could help. Over time, I learned that this willingness to help one another is one of the things that makes Kansas City's business community so special.
Trust Compounds
A lot has changed at Veracity since 2006. Our team is larger, the problems we solve are more complex and the technology is dramatically different. But I don't think any of those things explain why we're still here 20 years later.
I think trust does.
We've always been real with people - our employees, clients and partners. If we don't believe we can help a client, we don't take the work. When we say we're going to do something, we do it. And when something goes wrong, we own it and make it right, even when doing so costs us. Over 20 years, I've watched what happens when you operate that way. Clients call you again. Partners put their own reputations behind introducing you. People choose to build careers with you.
Growth Changes a Company. It Doesn't Have to Change What Matters.
One of the things I'm proudest of is that as Veracity has grown, we've never wanted our people to feel like just a number. I want people to feel known. I want them to feel valued. And I want them to have opportunities to stretch themselves, learn new things and build careers they're proud of.
Some of the people who helped build Veracity's earliest capabilities are still here. Their roles have changed dramatically because Veracity has changed and because they have grown along with it. Others have gone on to do great things elsewhere. Either way, I hope when people look back at their time with us, they think, "That place was special."
Kansas City Gave First
Community involvement has been part of Veracity almost from the beginning. In 2007, when we were only a year old, I began supporting Women's Employment Network. I believed in women helping women achieve financial independence and it gave us an early way to be part of something bigger than our own business.
Over the years, we've had the opportunity to be part of organizations including WIN for KC, American Heart Association, Operation Breakthrough, Harvesters, Children’s Mercy. Each connected us to different people and different parts of Kansas City. They all helped shape what community involvement would eventually mean at Veracity.
But there's another side of that story that matters just as much.
Kansas City gave to us before we had much to give back.
People here gave us their time, advice, relationships and trust. As Veracity grew, it became our responsibility to do the same for others.
That's why I still mentor other business owners. It's why I still take the call when someone asks if they can pick my brain. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was simply doing for someone else what so many people in Kansas City had done for me.
That's how strong business communities are built.
The Next Twenty
Twenty years gives you enough distance to recognize what matters and what doesn't. Technology will continue to change. AI will reshape how all of us work. The services Veracity provides will evolve. New people will eventually lead this company, and I hope they take Veracity places I couldn't have imagined when I started it in 2006.
But there are things I hope never change.
It would break my heart if Veracity ever stopped being a people-first company. And it would break my heart if we ever stopped believing that being part of a community comes with a responsibility to give something back to it. Looking back, I'm grateful that Veracity didn't grow alone.
Our clients trusted us with work that mattered. Our employees chose to build careers here. Our partners opened doors we couldn't have opened ourselves. Kansas City gave us a community that challenged us, supported us and celebrated with us. Twenty years later, Veracity is stronger because of all of them.
We hope Kansas City is a little stronger because of Veracity, too.