Reach Partners, Inc.

10/06/2026

You don’t have to lead a meeting to make it better.

We’ve all been in meetings where things start to drift. Someone takes the conversation down a side road; another is in the maze of their laptop; a topic gets recycled without anyone knowing what decision needs making.

But meetings are collective work. Everyone is responsible for results, whether they intentionally participate or not. Here’s how you can help make a meeting better:

You don’t have to lead a meeting to make it better. ​ I mention this because we’ve all been in meetings where things start to drift. Someone takes the conversation down a side road; another is...

08/26/2026

Our own website project kept getting pushed aside by client work. Maybe you know the feeling. We decided to treat Reach Partners like a client and give the project the time, structure, and attention it needed. Anita shares what we learned along the way.

https://www.reachpartnersinc.com/blog/managing-our-own-projects

07/28/2026

Happy anniversary to us! Twenty-five years is long enough to watch almost everything about work change.

We've gone from fax machines to Zoom meetings. Project plans moved from binders to cloud-based software. We communicate faster than ever before.

Over the years, Reach Partners has expanded from its roots to serve health and wellness into government, nonprofits, agriculture, community development, and beyond.

But some things haven’t changed at all – like the importance of nurturing relationships. Here’s what else we’ve learned over 25 years:

Twenty-five years is long enough to watch almost everything about work change. We've gone from fax machines to Zoom meetings. Project plans moved from binders to cloud-based software. We communicate...

07/08/2026

We notice a difference between projects that feel like a grind and projects that people want to stay in. The difference isn't usually found on a task list. We find it in how people show up.

Are people engaged? Are they asking questions? Do they feel connected to the work and to one another? If so, the project or event is more likely to be successful.

Most projects don't fail suddenly, they drift. This starts when a stakeholder disengages. Or a volunteer stops showing up. It continues when a conversation that should happen gets postponed. People...

07/01/2026

25 Years!
It’s been a privilege to be apart of the projects and client work over the last quarter of a century. Over time, we’ve learned project management isn’t just about timelines, and tasks. It’s about people. Creating clarity when things feel complicated, driving momentum when the work gets busy, and communicating, communicating, communicating. We’re grateful for everyone who has trusted Reach Partners and invited us into work that matters. That’s a responsibility we never take lightly. Congrats to Anita for building something that has made a difference, and the clients and partners who continue to be part of the journey. Here’s to the next chapter!

06/18/2026

Anita wishes mistakes didn’t happen, but here’s what happens when they do:

As a perfectionist, I don’t ever want mistakes. Yet I know communication gets missed. Someone misunderstands expectations. A detail falls through the cracks. Sometimes the mistake is small and, yes, sometimes it leads to big consequences. Still, I don’t call these mistakes failures.

To me, failure is more deeply connected to what happens – or doesn’t happen – after the mistake.

Do we spend our energy figuring out whose fault it was?

Or do we learn from it? Do we adjust? Do we communicate honestly about what happened and what needs to change moving forward?
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That difference matters.

I’ve been thinking lately about the difference between mistakes and failure, especially when expectations for leaders and events are high and a lot of people depend on things to go well. Because...

05/15/2026

At Reach Partners, we’ve come to rely on speaker meetings as one of the most valuable steps in preparing for a successful event.

At Reach Partners, we’ve come to rely on speaker meetings as one of the most valuable steps in preparing for a successful event. In fact, we recommend holding speaker meetings prior to every...

04/20/2026

After every major event we produce, there’s one thing we schedule: a rest day.

That’s not easy. As Rachel shares in this month’s blog, we’ve been raised to believe that rest is suspect. That no matter how much has been done, it’s never quite enough to justify stopping.

There’s a pull between feeling productive and actually sustaining performance. Between continuing to move and allowing time to recover. But rest is needed to gain momentum:

After every major event we produce, there’s one thing we schedule: a rest day. I grew up hearing my grandmother call herself “lazy bones” while maintaining an immaculate house, baking...

03/30/2026

Take the long view when debriefing after an event. The temptation to move quickly is understandable. Action feels productive. But disciplined reflection builds better events. Read more in our newsletter.

The event is over. Relief mixes with exhaustion. And almost immediately, the conversation turns to what needs to change. It’s natural. Leaders want to improve. We want to fix what didn’t work,...

03/23/2026

Visual cues are often the most accessible and yet, underutilized tools in project management. Nonverbals can show us whether plans are starting to drift. They offer real-time feedback. At Reach Partners, we know how to pay attention to these cues and navigate those signals that something needs to change.

Growing up on a farm, I learned to measure the severity of winter weather with one simple question: Can you see the big barn? If the barn across the yard remained visible, we could confidently...