The People, The Lessons, The Journey: 30 Stories That Shaped WSI’s 30-Year History

Every great story takes time, and ours has been 30 years in the making. It’s a story shaped by entrepreneurs who took a chance on something new, founders who saw potential before the world caught on, consultants who turned strategy into success stories for businesses everywhere, and teams who kept the momentum going through every shift, every challenge, every breakthrough.

 

It’s a story built by people who believed in growth, embraced change, and turned vision into opportunity. For three decades, WSI has been more than a network. It’s been a collective of learners, leaders, and doers committed to helping businesses thrive, and a community many inside WSI simply think of as a family because of how closely people learn, build, and grow together.

The Heart of WSI Has Always Been the People

Technology evolved. The world evolved. But what kept WSI moving forward were the people who believed in what they were building and kept building it.

Growth rarely follows a straight line. It comes from those who keep experimenting, adapting, and finding new ways to make an impact. Over the years, those moments shaped more than our results. They defined who we’ve become.

Every insight, every risk, and every milestone carries a deeper thread. Lessons in vision, resilience, and collaboration. These are the moments that turned ideas into momentum and challenges into turning points. Each one holds a story and a lesson that helped define us.

30 Years, 30 Lessons Learned

Over 30 years, we’ve learned a lot about building a business through change. These are some of the lessons that stayed with us, and that may be useful wherever you are in your own journey.

1. Vision Starts Before the World Is Ready

In the mid-90s, Dan Monaghan, Founder of WSI, saw potential in a connected world most people hadn’t yet imagined. When he launched WSI in 1995, the internet was still a novelty, but he saw what it could become for businesses everywhere.

“We weren’t following a trend. We were building something we believed in.”

For Dan, belief has always been a strategy, and foresight begins with courage. That courage is what led us here today and helped transform WSI into one of the world’s largest digital marketing and AI consulting networks.

2. Build a Community That Lets Others Thrive

Mark Dobson, one of the co-founders of WSI, always saw WSI not just as a company, but as a community where others could build something meaningful. His focus on empowering consultants became the foundation of a network built on trust, not control.

“If you can find people who think alike and move together as one, you can accomplish so much more.”

That idea became the blueprint for WSI’s collaborative DNA.

3. Commitment Turns Opportunity Into Longevity

In Mexico City, Carlos Guzman built his agency on one guiding belief: long-term commitment turns opportunity into longevity. He’s nurtured relationships that span decades by leading with trust and calm direction, long before digital maturity became a trend.

“When you commit to the long game, growth becomes more than an outcome. It becomes part of who you are.”

For Carlos, resilience comes from consistency, the quiet discipline of showing up, adapting, and delivering through every shift in the industry.

4. Growth Is a Team Sport

In his first year as a WSI Consultant, Trung Nguyen learned something quickly: growth doesn’t happen in isolation. At the WSI Regional Conference, standing alongside other new consultants who started around the same time, he saw how momentum builds when people move forward together.

“Growth isn’t a solo journey. It’s built through connection, curiosity, and the courage to evolve.”

Trung’s lesson is a reminder that shared progress lasts longer than individual wins, and that the people you grow with matter just as much as the goals you pursue.

5. Relationships Keep Business Human

For Nicky McKenna, success begins with listening, not as a tactic, but as a way to understand. Every client story, every challenge, every decision starts with paying attention to what truly matters to the person on the other side of the table.

“The best solutions come from really hearing people, not just what they say, but what they mean.”

For Nicky, trust is the bridge between expertise and impact.

6. Collaboration Builds Stronger Futures

For Domenic Ali, the most valuable aspect of a global network is a shared perspective. He’s seen firsthand how openness, sharing ideas, learning from peers, and building together drive better outcomes for everyone.

“When you help others grow, the whole network moves forward.”

To Domenic, success multiplies when collaboration replaces competition.

7. Growth Thrives on Shared Learning

For Jackie Celske, one of the most powerful things about WSI is the community itself, a space where every conversation teaches, challenges, and inspires. Surrounded by people who share openly and think boldly, she’s seen how learning together accelerates growth for everyone.

“Every conversation teaches you something, challenges you to think bigger, and still makes you feel right at home.”

Jackie’s lesson is a reminder that finding the right peers can change how quickly a business evolves.

8. Adaptability Is the Real Strategy

This is another lesson from Domenic Ali, who has learned that change isn’t disruption, it’s the rhythm of progress. He’s watched technologies evolve, industries shift, and markets transform, but what matters most is how you respond.

“You can’t outsmart change; you have to work with it.”

Domenic believes that adaptability turns uncertainty into forward motion for any business.

9. Curiosity Keeps You Moving Forward

For Eric Cook, curiosity isn’t just a mindset; it’s momentum. Even after years in digital marketing, he still approaches every project or client as an opportunity to explore, test, and learn something new.

“The second you think you’ve mastered this business, it passes you by. The fun part is learning what’s next.”

Eric’s story reminds us that staying curious keeps you relevant and that learning is a journey, not a finish line.

10. Leadership Starts with Empathy

When Larry Barnaby talks about leadership, he rarely starts with goals or performance metrics. He starts with people. He believes understanding others, clients, colleagues, or teams, is what makes progress possible.

“If you know what drives someone, you know how to help them move forward.”

Empathy, for Larry, is one of the strongest qualities a leader can possess.

11. Stay Flexible to Stay Relevant

Ryan Kelly believes that relevance comes from staying open to ideas, technologies, and ways of working that push your industry forward. He believes flexibility isn’t about reacting to change, but staying ready for it.

“Stay relevant, and you stay relevant by staying flexible.”

To him, flexibility is focus in motion, the ability to keep refining what works while making space for what’s new.

12. Strategy Before Everything Else

With decades of experience in digital consulting, Neal Lappe has seen what happens when businesses jump straight to execution without a plan. He believes real impact begins with thinking, not tactics.

“If you get the strategy right, everything else works better.”

For Neal, clarity of purpose is the most powerful marketing tool of all.

13. If You Keep Learning, You Keep Moving Forward

Mark Jamieson believes credibility is something you earn over time, through how you work, how you learn, and how you evolve year after year. His journey has been shaped by staying open-minded, refining his strengths, and growing alongside a community that pushes him to think differently.

“Staying open to learning is what keeps you moving forward.”

For Mark, trust grows from consistency, from doing the work, staying curious, and improving every step of the way.

14. Growth Begins with Gratitude

For Madhu Chadha, success has always been personal. She built her WSI Agency by putting relationships before revenue, treating every client as a partner and every win as a shared success.

“Gratitude builds trust. And trust builds everything else.”

Her story reminds us that progress feels stronger when it’s grounded in appreciation.

15. Build Locally, Think Globally

Operating between Canada and Panama, Francisco Hernandez has seen how digital transformation connects communities and economies alike. His approach is simple: serve locally with the mindset of global impact.

“Digital marketing is borderless, but relationships are still built one at a time.”

For Francisco, growth isn’t about scale. It’s about meaningful reach.

16. Let Technology Amplify the Human Work

As a Certified WSI AI Consultant, Rita Powell sees AI as a catalyst for human potential. Her curiosity for technology isn’t about chasing trends; it’s about helping people work smarter and uncover new possibilities.

“AI makes it possible to do more with clarity, confidence, and the human touch that still leads everything.”

Rita’s lesson is that technology works best when it supports better thinking, better decisions, and better relationships.

17. You Evolve Professionally Through Being Curious

From the WSI Home Office team, Cecilia Decima has spent 18 years growing through roles across sales, operations, and marketing, each chapter shaped by curiosity, collaboration, and a willingness to learn.

“All my biggest successes have come from asking, ‘Why is that being done this way?’ and then falling down a rabbit hole until I find an answer.”

For Cecilia, growth comes from staying curious, adapting to change, and helping others do the same along the way.

18. The Right People Make Work More Meaningful

Patty Viegas, also from the WSI Home Office team, has been with WSI since the very start and has seen how collaboration can turn individual ideas into something far greater. For her, the people behind the work, their creativity, resilience, and shared purpose, are what make every success meaningful.

“It’s inspiring to be surrounded by people who genuinely care about what they do, and the people you do it with shape every milestone of your journey.”

Patty’s story is a reminder that your professional growth and satisfaction are deeply influenced by the people you surround yourself with.

19. Exploration Is Your Compass

For Samin Soltanzadeh, exploration isn’t just a habit, it’s a direction. As an AI and Digital Strategist at WSI, she’s learned that discovery often leads to more lasting value than control ever could.

“Your curiosity is your compass. Trust it.”

Her work reflects a quiet kind of leadership, one that turns exploration into strategy and reminds us that innovation is at its best when it stays human.

20. Creativity Flourishes When Trust Leads the Way

For Sheetal Pinto, founder of MintCopy, creativity has always thrived in spaces built on trust. Over nearly two decades of partnership with WSI, she’s seen how openness, respect, and shared vision create work that truly connects.

“When there’s trust, creativity flows freely, and that’s where the best work comes from.”

Sheetal’s story is a reminder that creativity flourishes when people feel safe to explore ideas, take risks, and create without fear.

21. When Values Align, Partnerships Last

For Vidushi and Suresh Prasad of Vidushi Infotech, more than two decades of collaboration with WSI have been defined by alignment in values, vision, and purpose.

“When goals align, and values match, time only strengthens the partnership.”

Their story reminds us that long-term success comes from shared understanding and trust, the kind that time only deepens.

22. Transformation Is a Shared Journey

In 1995, Luciana Salanitri was beginning her studies in Hospitality Management in Argentina, focused on service, experience, and working closely with people. The digital world was just emerging at the same time.

“Embrace Digital. Stay Human. That’s not just a tagline. It’s what brought me here.”

Luciana’s story is a reminder that transformation unfolds over time, as people, work, and values evolve together.

23. Every Setback Is a Lesson in Disguise

This is another lesson from Nicky McKenna. She reminds us that confidence in digital marketing doesn’t come from getting it right every time. It comes from learning when things don’t go as planned.

“You won’t get it right every time. Every setback is a lesson in disguise.”

For her, progress is built on reflection: adapting faster, thinking positively, and always “falling forward.”

24. Stay Human as the World Accelerates

Building on that earlier perspective, Dan Monaghan reflects on how technology has changed at record speed, but the constant he’s held onto is the human side of the work. Through every shift, he’s believed that relationships, empathy, and shared purpose are what keep a company resilient.

“Technology evolves fast. People drive the impact.”

For Dan, the future belongs to those who embrace innovation without losing what makes the work meaningful.

25. Collaboration Is the Engine of Progress

Larry Barnaby returns to a familiar theme when he reflects that success doesn’t happen in silos. What has defined WSI’s growth over decades is the habit of learning together, testing, sharing, and improving as one network.

“The best ideas are born when you listen, not when you talk.”

His words reflect the quiet power of collaboration: when you create space for others to contribute, the outcome becomes bigger than any one person.

26. Culture Outlasts Every Trend

Mark Jamieson reflects again on why he doesn’t take the idea of WSI as a “global family” lightly. Over the years, he’s seen technology evolve faster than ever, yet the relationships built through trust and shared purpose have only deepened.

“What keeps you in business for 30 years isn’t technology. It’s people who believe in each other.”

For Mark, culture isn’t something you inherit. It’s something you protect and rebuild with every new chapter.

27. Growth Requires Rethinking How You Work

Mark Dobson also reflects that longevity has never been about staying the same. It’s about staying willing to rethink how you work, how you lead, and how you serve. From the earliest days of WSI, he believed that progress comes from continuously questioning assumptions and refining how value is created.

“Nothing stays the same. And the moment you stop evolving, you stop growing.”

Mark’s reflection is that reinvention isn’t a disruption to avoid. It’s a discipline that keeps a business healthy and responsive over time.

28. Momentum Is Built by Those Who Move

Across WSI’s history, progress has rarely started with perfect clarity — it has started with people willing to take the next step. Ryan Kelly, Carlos Guzman, Nicky McKenna, and Domenic Ali each spoke to this in their own way: growth comes from motion, not certainty.

Momentum builds when people keep moving, learning, and supporting each other along the way.

Their reflections remind us that progress is shaped by steady action — thoughtful, shared, and grounded in the belief that we move further when we move together.

29. Let Your Work Shape You, in the Best Way

This reflection comes from me, Cheryl Baldwin. I joined WSI straight out of university, and over more than two decades, my work has grown and evolved alongside the network itself. It’s shaped me professionally and personally, through constant learning, meaningful relationships, and shared progress.

“We should all be lucky enough to find work that we want to keep doing, work that challenges us, grows us, and stays meaningful along the way.”

My lesson is that the right work doesn’t just build a business. It builds the person doing it.

30. The Future Is Already in Motion

It feels fitting to close with this one.  Valerie Brown-Dufour, President at WSI, sees thirty years not as a finish line, but as proof of what’s possible when progress never pauses.

“Anniversaries remind us that growth isn’t a moment. It’s a mindset. The work continues, the ideas evolve, and the opportunity ahead is bigger than ever.”

Her focus is forward and collective: to keep advancing with curiosity, collaboration, and purpose.

What We’ve Built Matters. And So Does What’s Next.

Every relationship, every challenge, and every lesson has shaped who we’ve become.

Thirty years later, we’re still learning, still evolving with the same mix of curiosity and commitment that started it all.

WSI’s story isn’t defined by the years behind us, but by the possibilities we keep creating together.

Embrace Digital. Stay Human.