Pando
My wife and I love to explore. We spent the first 19 years of our marriage exploring many countries in this world. In-fact, up until Covid hit, we had visited or lived in over 60 countries. We love meeting new people, experiencing new cultures, learning about the things that make each of the people and places unique, and yet at the same time, familiar and easy to love and appreciate. What is interesting about all that travel is that every time we come back home to the SF Bay Area, we are also filled with an appreciation of home and our roots.
Since Covid hit we have been substituting international trips with road trips exploring where our roots are from, the US. We have seen so many wonderful national parks, beautiful places and met so many amazing people. Like international travel we came to love the places, and more importantly the people we have met. We have learned about what makes them unique and both different to us and, at the same time, familiar and easy to love and appreciate.
About 2 weeks ago we decided to take a bit of a spontaneous road trip to Yellowstone as we have always wanted to experience Yellowstone in the winter. We rented an Airstream and headed out, stopping first in Valley of Fire National Park in Nevada and then headed up north to Yellowstone via Utah. As is usual on these trips, we do research on natural wonders we want to see. In that research I came across Pando. Pando is located in South Central Utah and is the single largest living organism on the planet. It is a colony of quaking aspen sharing one single root system, occupying 108 acres and weighing in at over 14,550,500 pounds.
Oddly enough, Pando got me thinking about RP. Pando started with just one tree and it grew from there. Pando has been alive for several thousand years, surviving numerous threats (its biggest threat ever is now due to human development and global warming). But through it all, from starting with one tree, it is now an impressive colony of trees that spans a massive area.
RP started in the fall of 2016. It started small - just me. And yet it has now grown to over 400 people on 6 continents. No matter where those people are, they share much of the same “DNA”. We are all passionate about people and helping both people and companies achieve their potential.
I recall the first time we had more than one client. I recall some of the first people that joined me in this endeavor (Sarah, Molly, Nicky, Christine, Darin, Amber, Panha, Pam, Chris, Helen, “Project Stockton”, and many more). I recall the first time we had clients outside the SF Bay Area. I recall the first time we had clients in NYC. I recall some of the first people outside of California (Malcom, Dan, Nicky). I recall some of the first people outside the US (Fede, Argelio, Mariela). I recall some of the first people in EMEA (Ivan, David).
Unlike Pando, RP’s survival is not at risk. The future is bright. We have an internal mantra that is “Drive to 500” people. We will achieve that in a month or two. The goal beyond that is to be 1,000 people within 12 months. All of our goals are in service to our mission of being “The Best Talent Solutions Provider” in the world. We will grow, we will expand, we will add new people, partners, and service lines to continue our mission to bring the best possible talent solutions everywhere they are needed.
Pando created a lot of reflection for me, a mental journey as it were, through the history, growth, and future of RP. It helped me appreciate the uniqueness of each and every one of our current and past team members. It helped me appreciate the familiarity we all share. It helped me to love and to appreciate all of them all the more. And, like yesterday when my wife and I crossed over Donner Pass, drove through California’s “Central Valley” and finally crossed over the Martinez bridge to be back “home” to the SF Bay Area, it made me reflect on the roots that started RP. Thank you to each and every team member, those here in the Bay Area, those across the US, those in LatAm, EMEA, Asia and Australia. Thank you to our clients and partners across each of those places. I appreciate each and every one of you and what we together have accomplished thus far. And I can’t wait to see what 2022 will bring to all of us.