Curious Jane is celebrating in a big way today because we are ranked No. 1,085 on the Inc. 5000, which recognizes the fastest-growing companies in America. It’s a huge milestone for us – one for which we are as grateful as we are proud.
To make the prestigious list, companies must demonstrate an extremely high level of growth over a three-year period; the companies on this year’s list had to provide financial information on calendar years 2021, 2022 and 2023. But in actuality, our growth story started many years earlier, when we chose franchising as our niche.
Putting Our Stake in the Ground
Curious Jane is more than 20 years old, and the agency’s roots are in franchising. Our first clients were franchisees.
But until about 2016, we worked with clients from other sectors, too. As a matter of fact, for several years, we served clients in two distinctive verticals: About half were franchises, and about half were healthcare companies. But we knew companies that “specialize” are more successful in the long run, and that eventually, we would have to differentiate ourselves by putting our stake in the ground.
So, we made the strategic decision to focus solely on franchise businesses. And then something amazing happened: Franchisors began to find us because of our positioning on our website, advertising and PR. They invited us to respond to RFPs, send proposals and make pitches.
And Then, COVID
Of course, every great story has a villain – and like many great companies, we went a few rounds with COVID-19. However, our agency recovered quickly, as did many of the franchises we worked with before, during and after 2020. A number of our clients were deemed essential businesses, and we were proud to be their partner as they supported franchisees and sought to help the world recover by providing critical services.
By late 2020, the agency had turned a corner and was picking up momentum as well as new clients. It hasn’t slowed down since.
To meet client demand, we added several new services – CRM automation and segmentation, for example – and the people to perform those services.
We’re All In
Today, Curious Jane is experiencing unprecedented growth. The Inc. 5000 feature calculated that we grew 471% from 2020 to 2023, and this year has brought more of the same. Our team has grown to about 50 people.
We eat, sleep and breathe franchising, and that has helped us build an amazing reputation in the franchising world. We love going to conferences and having people come by our booth and say, “Curious Jane! I’ve heard about you!” This year, we have participated in more RFPs than we ever imagined, and we find ourselves regularly pitching our services to brands that are our dream clients.
In the words of a great T-shirt brand, Life is Good®. It’s really, really good.
As wonderful and welcome as the Inc. 5000 news has been, however, we won’t rest on our laurels. Our CEO declared 2024 the year of the customer, and we marvel every day at how lucky we are to get to do the work we love for clients we love. Today, we hope our clients, families, friends and neighbors will join us in celebrating this big moment in our agency’s life – and that they know they all have contributed to our being here.
