Zilker Media turns 8 years old today.
It was a second chance, a shot-in-the-arm and a true, unexpected blessing all rolled into one when we launched the agency on April 1, 2017.
At 8, Zilker Media is two years older than Shelton Interactive was when it was acquired by Advantage – The Authority Company back in 2016, and I’m honored to still be partnering with Adam Witty and the wonderful team at Advantage (now a house of brands that includes Forbes Books, Entrepreneur Books, SXSW Books and others) to build that business on into the future. It is the rare acquisition story where you are better friends with the founder who acquired you nine years later than you were the day the deal was done and I’ll forever be grateful to Adam for giving the thumbs up on Zilker when he did and to the team there for their continued partnership today and on into the future.
There is a certain magic in second chances, and this one has been no different, but I remember at first we couldn’t think of a name for the business.
We wanted something that was true to our Austin roots and that stood out to Austin leaders while not limiting us to a local client base.
It just so happened that 2017 marked the 100th anniversary of Zilker Park, Austin’s oldest and most beloved park, which was donated to the city by local entrepreneur Andrew Jackson Zilker in 1917. The park, which includes the iconic Barton Springs Pool, is the heartbeat of our city – the gathering point for our community – and is the home of so much of what makes Austin-Austin.
That seemed like a perfect fit.
Several of us grew up going to Zilker Park – from the playground as kids to Barton Springs in college and now festivals and all kinds of other gatherings as adults – and it represents three things that we believed would be crucial to our success:
- An entrepreneurial spirit – Andrew Jackson Zilker came to Austin at the age of 18 in 1876 and started out as a dishwasher before becoming of the city’s earliest entrepreneurs, making his fortune in the ice business (which he sourced from the crystal clear waters of Barton Springs), before giving back to the city and serving his community in a variety of roles, including head of the school board. Our team strives to embody this spirit with an ownership mindset and our value of bettering our community.
- A gathering point for our community – We wanted Zilker Media to be a company that attracts the best talent, companies, leaders, clients and partners and we strive to be that kind of magnet as we grow on into the future. Getting better so we can create a sought-after destination is a focus for our leadership team every single day because it allows us to punch above our weight class as we serve those around us.
- Deep roots and good vibes – One of the most inspiring things to us about Zilker Park was the combination of history – deep roots – and the good vibes that it has always been known for. Our vision was to build a one-of-a-kind independent agency with an eye on the long-term – to put down roots – and emphasize our value of good vibes along the way.
We quietly launched Zilker Media in the spring of 2017 with a small team, a handful of long-time clients and a vision to build the kind of independent agency we could be proud of – a full-service PR and marketing firm that accelerates trust for leaders and companies in an environment where authentic trust creates an unfair advantage.
8 years in, we have plenty of areas to improve on but we are proud of what we have accomplished together.
We grew. We made mistakes. We won awards. We managed leadership transitions. We fought through COVID. We innovated. We served our clients and built long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with them as partners, not vendors. We dreamed. We helped our strategic partners while also leaning on them. We built our own office on Fitzhugh. We made memories. We gave back to our community. We learned how to better serve our team (and are still learning). We made fashion statements. We built something bigger than ourselves and we did it our way.
And thanks to the hard work of our team, the trust and confidence from our clients and support of our partners, we’re just getting started.
On a personal note, my entrepreneurial journey has been the greatest gift of my life outside my family and I’m so grateful to my partners, Paige Velasquez Budde, whose leadership has driven so much of our success, and Clint Greenleaf, our leadership team, Shelby Janner, Nichole Williamson, Haley Snider & Patti and our team, who are ultimately the ones responsible for our success. I am also thankful to our clients, our partners and our alumni for their trust and support each step of the way over the past 14 years across both Shelton Interactive and Zilker Media. By far the most significant reward of this journey are the relationships we have had the honor to build along the way and I’m looking forward to the next 8 years and beyond.
