Ben & Clair
April 1, 2025
Five Years.
Wow.
Impactful Clients,
Amazing Coworkers,
Lasting Memories.
It is hard to think back to five years ago when we met in LA, eating our first passion fruit (we realized after we named the company that neither of us had ever tried one before), and dreaming up what our consulting firm would look like. We wanted to create an environment where we could work with really smart people, have balance to spend time with loved ones outside of work, and prioritize working with organizations that made an impact. We chose to support nonprofits because we wanted to support essential missions and create partnerships with purpose.
On our chosen launch day of April 1, 2020, we faced uncertainty as the pandemic had just started, and we were unsure what the future would hold.
Fast forward to today, five years into our journey with Passion Fruit, and we are more grateful than ever for everyone who has been part of Passion Fruit along the way. We are thankful to our team, clients, and every other cheerleader who has watched and supported us along the way!
As in previous years, we like to use these posts to reflect on how the year went and how we did in relation to the goals we set. On our 4th anniversary (April 1, 2024), we set some ambitious goals, and below is how we did:
- Grow to 20–25 people by April 1, 2025
- We have grown to 21 people and have three open roles as of April 1, 2025.
- Continue to Donate 1% of Revenue to Nonprofits
- We donated $32,708 in 2024 and an additional $5,000 to mark our fifth anniversary this year, bringing us over $100,000 in all-time nonprofit donations since we launched.
- Add a Client Partner to our sales team
- Sara joined our team as a Client Partner in July 2024!
- Maintain a Customer Satisfaction Score of 4.9/5
- We finished 2024 with a 4.9/5 CSAT score.
- Ensure all vacation time was used by all team members
- Done! In 2025, we also launched a Work from Abroad policy, allowing team members more flexibility while working remotely.
- Host more local team meetups
- We introduced our first ever Volunteer Day (paid day), where the team was able to support amazing local nonprofits along with a donation. We had our 4th annual retreat at Loon Lake where a lot of team members met each other for the first time. We also held in-person local team meetups once every second month!
- Create and publish more client case studies
- We have published nine impact stories since September 2024!
- Grow, but not at the expense of others
- We have delivered multiple successful Nonprofit Cloud and Data Cloud projects and are excited to deliver on AI projects as well! We’ve worked with 49 unique nonprofit organizations and exceeded our revenue target by 12.5%. We have also launched our Managed Services team to serve our long-term clients better and to support team members growing their unique skillset to provide the most value.
- Prioritize personal development and learning new skills
- We have launched career ladders for the delivery team, and look forward to additional career paths like sales and leadership as the company grows.
- Maintain work/life balance for the team
- This is something we continue to monitor on a daily basis and make a focus of our weekly leadership meetings. In consulting and project-based work, some periods are busier than others, but we are proud of how we’ve spread the workload amongst the team and said no to work when we are over capacity.
- Stay true to our values
- As a team, we did a core values exercise in 2020 to determine what was important for us to take through to our work and everyday lives. Passion, Authenticity, Integrity, and Quality are how we show up for each other and our clients. We aim for these values to stay at the forefront of every decision that we make.
Lessons Learned
- Host more local team meetups. We introduced our first ever Volunteer Day (paid day), where the team was able to support amazing local nonprofits along with a donation. We had our 4th annual retreat at Loon Lake where a lot of team members met each other for the first time. We also held in-person local team meetups once every second month!
- Different engagements require different approaches. This year, we recognized a need to shift how we deliver to our retainer clients, as longer-term engagements require a different delivery methodology. Our Managed Services team was born to service this need and focuses on delivering the greatest value in high-impact areas. The Managed Services team acts as an extension of the organizations that they work with and as an integral part of their teams. We are incredibly excited to see Reagan’s team, “The Avengers”, specialize in delivering long-term value to support the missions of the nonprofits they work with.
- Take moments to celebrate. We love to set and reach goals, but we sometimes forget to take the time to celebrate what we have accomplished. This is a special year. This is year five. We’ve made it here and are incredibly grateful. Celebrating all we have achieved together as a team is extremely important. While we have brought the team together at Loon Lake at all previous retreats, we are very grateful this year to have brought the team to Mexico to celebrate our anniversary, promotions, project launches, and all of each others’ wins throughout the year!
- Take good care of each other. Many of the clients we worked with in 2024 were long-time partners—some since our first year in business. Their continued trust and support helped carry us through the quieter parts of the year. We are incredibly grateful for every client who continues to work with us, refer us to others, and share kind words about our work. We wouldn’t be where we are without you.
Each of us has struggles in our everyday lives, and it is ever essential to continue lifting each other or listening to each other in times of need. Thank you to our team for being there for each other through difficult times and lending a helping hand when it was needed. It is truly every single person on this team that makes PFP such a supportive community.
Thank You
To our team: Reagan, Junette, Jennifer, Lihan, Arjan, Cindy, Kevin, Andy, Krislie, Rachel, Debbie, Henry, Suvane, Anderson, Sara, Karan, Adam, Justin, and Courtney —thank you for everything you bring to Passion Fruit. This is all possible because of you.
Billy, Scott, Andrea, Michael, and Krista - though you have all moved on to other adventures, we thank you for everything you’ve done here.
A special thank-you to Reagan and Jenn, who’ve been with us since Year One and are taking well-earned sabbaticals to mark their fifth year with Passion Fruit. We’re so lucky to have you both.
To our extended network: Laura at Social Storie, Dan at Cacti Creative, Justin at Gregory Yick, Anthony and Holly for HR support, and Allison and the Syncopate team—thank you for your continued partnership and support.
To the entire nonprofit team at Salesforce: thank you for your collaboration and for introducing us to so many amazing nonprofit organizations.
To our clients: Thank you for letting us support your missions. Your work makes the world a better place, and we are honoured to partner with you.
Looking Ahead
When we started this company, we didn’t know where it would take us—we just knew what kind of place we wanted to build. Five years later, it’s been more than we could have imagined. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, grateful for the people who’ve helped us get here, and more energized than ever for what’s next.
Here’s to the next five.
Sincerely,
Ben & Clair
