Nine Years of Evo Communications: Built for the Moments You Can’t Get Wrong

Nine years ago, I left a senior corporate communications role with one simple problem to solve: Who do you call when you’re accountable for high‑stakes comms, your team is underwater and you can’t add headcount?

I started Evo Communications as a one-woman relief valve—stepping in myself to cover leaves, lead big programs and get enterprise teams through those “this cannot slip” moments. Over time, it became clear the need was bigger than my own calendar. So, Evo Communications EVOlved (true to our name) into what it is today: a practitioner‑led matchmaker (That’s me!) connecting overstretched communications and HR leaders with a curated circle of senior, enterprise‑ready consultants who can walk in, plug into a matrixed environment and contribute fast.

From “I’ll step in” to a curated bench

When I started Evo Communications, I didn’t have a “bench.” I had me.

Leaders would call when someone went out on parental leave, when a reorg hit and there was no change comms lead, or when the calendar was full of town halls, benefits changes and transformation work—with no extra capacity to run it. I would step in as the fractional comms lead, get the work moving, calm the chaos.

But there was a hard ceiling: my own time. When a client asked me to stay on and I literally couldn’t—because two other corp comms teams were already counting on me—I realized the real model wasn’t “Amy as extra hands.” The real model was a practitioner‑led way to bring in the right independent comms talent, fast, without turning leaders back into full-time recruiters.

This is where flexibility came into play: I became a matchmaker. I looked for other people with significant corp comms experience similar to me who wanted to do fractional work and could walk into a complex environment and contribute immediately. When I found them and the opportunity was right, I connected them with communications leaders who needed short‑term, temporary help.

The evolution didn’t happen overnight; it was shaped over time through the relationships I was building with clients and consultants. And though it wasn’t what I initially set out to do, I can’t imagine Evo Communications evolving any other way.

The world changed. The need didn’t.

I started Evo Communications in 2017, a few years before the pandemic shut the world down and changed the way we work. By early 2020, we were all stuck at home, working remotely and some of us were quite unhappy. The Great Resignation and quiet quitting both became a thing, and more people left the corporate world to try working as an independent.

I met with many who wanted to contract with corporate comms teams. I had already formulated a process to interview, vet and add consultants to my bench of available candidates. As time went on and Evo Communications grew, I attracted more potential candidates and created a vast network of experienced professionals to tap when I found the right opportunities.

That network is resilient and continues to grow. I’m still meeting with and learning about potential candidates every week and I truly believe that my bench of independent communications consultants is one of my biggest differentiators.

What durable relationships actually look like

Two of my very first clients are still with Evo Communications nine years later. The logos on the brands have shifted, leaders have changed seats, priorities have moved—but when a comms director or HR leader inside those companies hits a leave, a reorg or a “we need a senior person in this seat next month” moment, they still pick up the phone and call me.

Sometimes that means finding one fractional director. Sometimes it means building a small team to carry a multi‑year transformation. Either way, they’re not sifting through 200 resumes; they’re looking at a short list of two or three vetted consultants I’d trust to sit in the role myself.

Over time, those working relationships have at times turned into real friendships—but not because we did “nice” work together. It’s because we’ve shared late‑night crisis calls, complex reductions‑in‑force, messy system rollouts, and the quiet, high‑stakes moments you can’t get wrong. When you navigate years of those together and still pick up the phone, that’s what resilient, flexible and durable really looks like in this business.

Resilient, flexible, durable—put to work

The traditional gifts for a nine‑year anniversary are pottery and willow, both symbols of resilience, durability and flexibility. They can sit untouched on a shelf or they can be used—showing small scuffs and markings that prove they’ve been relied on again and again.

That’s how I think about Evo Communications and what it’s become over the last nine years. Yes, the business has changed, the landscape has changed and the economy has changed, but the business has adapted as the needs of clients and consultants have shifted.

What hasn’t changed is the foundation: understanding what my clients need, finding the right people, providing high-touch service and building relationships that endure.

Nine years in, I’m proud of the resilient, flexible and durable business I’ve built, and I am beyond grateful for the people who have helped shape it along the way.

Thank you for helping make Evo Communications what it is today.