Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Marrs.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I never set out to start a company. I have always worked in research and I have a passion for problem solving and building client relationships. I began my career with Nielsen and over the years I worked with a variety of clients, amazing teams, and brilliant co-workers.
About three years ago, I realized that my values and leadership style did not align with my employer, which forced me to make a really difficult decision. Starting over and building a company from the ground up was challenging and stressful, but I knew it was the right thing to do. My husband and I sought loans from many banks and investors to start the company, but no one was interested in taking a chance on us. My parents generously offered to lend us $250k to get the company off the ground, but we made the decision that we did not want to borrow money from family.
By some miracle, the Frost Bank team we were working with figured out a way to extend us a line of credit. I thought Chirp would be a small company with 3-5 employees for the first several years. When I presented my business plan to Frost, I estimated $750k in revenue for the first full year. My plan was always to value people over profit, and rather than have a numerical goal at the end of my first year, I focused on making people’s lives better in any way possible. One of our first priorities in building Chirp not only as a company but as a culture was establishing the charitable arm of the company, Chirp For A Cause. I hired a Director of Operations and Charitable Giving, and we donated a large amount of money in our first month. Chirp For A Cause enables our team, as well as our clients, to learn about various charities and to be active in giving back by voting on the charities to which Chirp donates.
To this day, I am in disbelief that we paid off our line of credit within the first few months and became profitable in about six months. We more than doubled the first year projections set out in our business plan, and we currently have more than ten full-time employees. Our success is due entirely to the amazing employees who work at Chirp. Their values and morals align with our brand, and because of my strong belief in philanthropic causes, culture fit is the #1 attribute we look for when hiring at Chirp. We have the privilege of working with a diverse set of clients both in and outside the United States, and we feel fortunate that these clients are such a pleasure to collaborate with every single day.
Has it been a smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. The first two years were very stressful, not so much due to starting the company but due to other external circumstances I’m not at liberty to discuss.
Starting Chirp was not necessarily easy, but it was a labor of love and thankfully we had a lot of people cheering for and supporting the small company/underdog.
Despite the struggles and stress in the beginning, Chirp has continued to thrive. The process of building this company from the ground up was so worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are a full-service research company that values people over profit. We conduct a variety of research to help our clients develop new products, optimize their messaging, inform overall company strategy, understand their customers, and much more.
We are known for our “yes” attitude, our love of research, our curiosity, our agility, and our overall company culture. We love what we do and we love working together, which quickly becomes clear to our clients.
I’m most proud of our team and the fact that there is no internal drama or egos at play. I am constantly amazed by how everyone helps one another and is proud to be a part of the Chirp team. I’m also really gratified that we are able to give back and that we have Chirp For A Cause as such an integral part of the company’s foundation.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Dallas is booming and it is an ideal location for our company. We work with many companies in Dallas, but we also travel a lot to service clients in other cities. Dallas has two major airports and we are able to make day trips to most U.S. cities if we need to. Calls with all other time zones are very convenient and flexible since Dallas is in the central time zone. Dallas is also a great market for conducting research given its mix of populations, ethnic and workforce diversity, and central location.
More and more companies seem to be moving here and I’m very excited about that.
Contact Info:
- Website: chirpresearch.com
- Phone: 9729870597
- Email: hello@chirpresearch.com
- Twitter: @chirpresearch
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/chirp-research/
Image Credit:
Sevyn Ezra Photography
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