Twelve months ago yesterday, I bravely updated my linkedin to say Codex Communications is officially “live.”

It started with a survey I sent around asking, “What’s missing in the market, and could a strategic comms firm like Codex be useful?” The overwhelming kindness (and honesty) in those early responses gave me the push to jump early. So I did what any rational person would do: used an AI website builder, made a logo in 30 minutes, and declared Codex open for business the next week.

I had no clients. A cobble together AI website. And a brand no one knew. (The Codex web and brand have since been revamped significantly, turns out its cheaper to just pay an expert to it).

I had two clear rules for the business:
1. Everything we build must age well (unlike my first website)
2. Every bit of advice we give must be the right thing to do, even if it’s hard

With that, we were off.

The early months were full of lessons (some expensive). So I wrote them down, every mistake, every awkward call, every “ah yep, won’t do that again” and turned them into something we now call the Code of Codex. A values system that’s not performative, but practical. It reminds us how to show up, tell the truth, and do better next time.

Now, we’re one year old, and I want to share the biggest lesson of all: no one is an island.

Behind every late night, tight turnaround, or client win, someone else made a quiet contribution, whether it was picking up the kids, passing on a referral, liking a post, reading the website draft, or just sending a message saying “keep going.”