Growing Through Trust: How Referrals Built My Career and Solution Street

Flashback to late 2010! I was a stay-at-home mom and my kids were elementary school age so I had much of the day at home to myself. When the kids were home they were entrenched in the latest Beyblade and Rainbow Loom crazes. While I was an avid baker, reader, scrapbooker and kept myself busy with many other tasks, I started thinking about rejoining the workforce after an 8-year hiatus.  Where would I begin?

At that time, my husband, Jeff, had been working for Solution Street for over 7 years. I knew the two Managing Partners (Arthur & Joel) well, as they had both worked for my former employer. As the spouse of one of Solution Street’s employees, I had the benefit of joining many of their social events such as the annual company picnics and holiday parties which helped further establish relationships with their team. Because of those trusted connections, I knew this was a place where I could build a meaningful career with people who genuinely cared about the work and each other. The trust I had in Solution Street made stepping back into the working world so much easier and it’s the same trust that fuels my growth and our company’s growth today.

Fast forward 15 years, I’m now the Director of HR and oversee the Recruiting team at Solution Street. Because of my history, I know firsthand how important it is to trust the people you are working for and believe in their company culture and values. When you know how great the culture, leadership, and work are, you naturally want to bring in people you trust and respect. Since joining Solution Street, I have personally referred five people to our team. Each referral was someone I trusted to thrive here. They were people I knew would bring their best to our projects and fit seamlessly into our culture. They embodied our core values of Honesty, Transparency, Dependability, Respect and Fun!

I’m not the only one referring people to Solution Street! One third of Solution Street’s new hires have come through referrals. These referrals are made by employees at all different levels in the company and it shows their trust in Solution Street. In my HR role at Solution Street, I work hard to build real relationships with every employee. Each year, I hold 1:1 meetings with every team member, not just to discuss policy changes or gather feedback on specific programs, but to create an open space where anyone can raise questions, share ideas, or voice concerns about anything happening at Solution Street. I truly love holding these 1:1s because I always learn something new about each employee. Often, if they are comfortable, we’ll delve into their personal life as well and I get to hear what they are passionate about outside of work, what motivates them, or what challenges they might be navigating. These conversations help me stay connected and responsive, and they often lead to thoughtful referrals of people who would thrive in our culture. 

I’m proud to be part of a team that has established and refined a goals and performance review process. We work with each employee to define personal and professional objectives and provide the support and feedback they need to achieve them. When you’re helping people grow and succeed, they’re more apt to bring others into that environment.  

Candidate referrals are awesome, but how do we get the work to grow our business so we can keep hiring these referrals? You guessed it – client referrals!!  Eighty-five percent of our new clients come from referrals by current or former clients and partners. Whether it’s a CTO recommending us to a peer, a founder introducing us to another startup, or a former client bringing us into their new company, referrals tell us that we’ve earned their trust.

When I started at Solution Street in 2011, we were a small team of about 10 people working with just a handful of clients. Today, we’ve grown to a team of 60 with over 30 active clients. As a member of the management team, I’ve been fortunate to witness many business referrals come in through different avenues. I still remember a few years ago when we received a voicemail from a plumbing company. At the time, we never would have imagined that this company would grow into one of our largest clients. When we met with the owner, we learned that he had been referred to us by someone close to him who had previously worked with another of Solution Street’s clients.

When a client refers us, it is not because of an incentive or kickback scheme. It’s because they’ve experienced firsthand what it is like to work with a consulting partner who truly listens, delivers on their promises, and feels like an extension of their team. These referrals often come from professionals who have partnered with us on complex projects and want others in their network to have the same positive experience.

These are not cold introductions, they are warm handoffs built on mutual trust. And because the person making the referral already understands our values and capabilities, the fit is usually stronger, the onboarding smoother, and the outcomes better.

Here are a couple of examples of email referrals that I’ve seen during my time at Solution Street:

“Arthur and Solution Street have shown companies how to build modern, cloud-based applications and deliver impactful solutions across multiple projects.”

“Solution Street is a company of smart, engaging people who are great communicators and deliver impressive work.”

What’s more, we treat referrals with the same care and attention we give to long-time clients. We don’t just jump into writing code – we take the time to understand the business goals, user needs, and team dynamics so we can tailor our approach and make an immediate impact.

We also focus heavily on nurturing our client relationships through consistent check-ins and in-person lunches with our client contacts. These regular touchpoints help us understand evolving business needs, enabling us to build rapport and strengthen trust. Whether it’s a quick virtual sync to align priorities or lunch to discuss upcoming strategic goals, we prioritize staying connected to ensure we’re always delivering the highest value.

I get to see firsthand at Solution Street that every new client is a relationship, not just a transaction. That mindset has helped us turn referrals into long-standing partnerships, with many clients returning to us again and again as their needs evolve.

Referrals create a cycle of trust. People refer those they believe in, whether it’s recommending a talented engineer for an open role or connecting a peer to a consulting partner who will deliver. That trust shortens the time it takes to build strong working relationships and helps ensure the fit is right, from cultural alignment to shared goals.

Looking back on the last 14+ years, I’m grateful for the referrals that brought me here and for the countless referrals that continue to grow Solution Street. Relationships are the real foundation of our success!

If you know someone we should meet, whether a great engineer ready for their next chapter or an organization looking for a software partner who will truly listen and deliver, send them our way! We’re always looking for great people and great problems to solve.