San Francisco, June 2000—Look beyond the streams of computer code flowing through San Francisco’s South of Market district, and you’ll find a firm that exists for the sole purpose of improving real communication, one interaction, one workplace at a time: Ivy Sea, Inc. As fate dictates, the four-person boutique firm is tucked away in the very heart of the dot-com bugaboo, where civility, mindful communication and interpersonal skill can seem more rare than a typewriter.

We don’t have capes, but we’re definitely crusaders
The irony of their location is not lost on the firm’s principals: Jamie Walters, Ivy Sea's founder and president; Tom Tshontikidis, chief operating officer and Walters’ husband; and Sarah Fenson, who joined the firm as its first full-time employee in January 1996 and is now principal of client services. "Being in South Beach, a neighborhood that’s been transformed as technology startups have replaced whole collections of small businesses, is a great motivator for us to stay on our mission," says Walters, whose firm located in the South Park office ahead of the dot-com wave. "While there are some great things coming out of the tech and dot-com sectors, good communication isn’t often one of them."

While the incivility of the dot-com culture is gaining increased media coverage (an article in the April 22, 2000 issue of The Economist recently noted that dot-com companies "wouldn’t know ethical behavior if it fell on their head"), Ivy Sea has been crusading for inspired leadership and good communication since late 1992, when the business was founded by Walters as a one-person shop. "Our mission is more of a journey than a goal," says Tshontikidis, who came on board in late 1995. "We’re not on a specific timeline or pressured to simply get something, anything, out the door. We’re motivated to foster mindful communication for a better world; and we’ll do what it takes to make it happen in a way we can live with."

A mission that’s more than spin, a web site that’s more than technology
Aside from its mission of fostering more mindful communication in the workplace, Ivy Sea opts for a business model that runs almost 180-degrees from that of the so-called gazelle high-tech startups and the quantitative, get-it-while-you-can models of the businesses that feed on dot-coms.

The mission is more than just a tagline and spin, whether in keeping rigorous standards for their own communication skill-building; how they serve their select but impressive client list that has included California Federal Bank, Gap Inc., Charles Schwab & Co., Mervyn’s, Harbinger Corporation, Wind River Systems, PG&E Corp. and several pro-bono accounts per year; or in maintaining a public service web site, Ivy Sea Online Communication and Leadership Center, that has gained praise from industry experts and individuals worldwide (http://www.ivysea.com). The site has no banner advertisements, no flashing lights and spinning icons, no technology for technology’s sake, no big advertising campaign. "We want visitors to find a useful resource, with practical tips, tools and articles — updated every month — to use as building blocks to a communication and leadership skills repertoire that enhances human interactions," says Fenson, who contributes content to the site that Walters maintains. Adds Walters, "We don’t want things spinning and blinking, taking a long time to load only to crash a typical user’s system. Most web sites are more like ad showcases and online resumes for developers’ software and coding skills than they are effective communication vehicles."

Ivy Sea's site, technically simple and content-rich, has begun to attract outside attention, making "Best of…" site lists on other content-driven portal sites such as About.com and Entrepreneur's Edge, and attracting a content partnership from Inc.com, the online entrepreneur resource center and sibling of Inc. Magazine. "Ivy Sea's content is immediately useful, and the advice is practical and real-world," commented Karen Carney, Inc.com leadership and strategy channel producer. "We look for content providers that have been recognized nationally and in the world of small business, and were looking specifically for a resource that promoted mindful communication."

"We see our web site as a communication vehicle to provide valuable resources to the world, rather than a marketing vehicle that serves only us," says Walters. "While we could allocate that time to work with more clients and make more revenue, we choose to dedicate time and resources to creating a public service resource." And Ivy Sea has otherwise resisted the frenzy to dot-com or "e" something.

Says Walters, "We face the same challenges as most small businesses, so cash is always handy, just not at any cost. We’d be concerned that going the "e-something" or dot-com route for attracting cash would derail us from our mission and personal priorities, which are about adding something of true value to the world and enjoying our work, along with building financial wealth. Money’s great, and we certainly have lifestyle preferences and related financial interests, but as an end in and of itself, it’s a vacant pursuit."

Unlike the typical business model that puts maximizing investor profit before passion or service, Ivy Sea has evolved with the notion that people create a business, and there’s no way — or reason — to separate your gut-level motivations from your work. The firm collaborates with self-employed professionals and other small businesses as needed to serve a variety of clients and projects, and receives almost all of its business from repeat client engagements and referrals. With a book, Big Vision, Small Business: The Four Keys to Success & Satisfaction as a Lifestyle Entrepreneur, and other offerings in the works, Ivy Sea aims to keep evangelizing the value of inspired leadership, high ethics and effective communication in the workplace.

"We consider Ivy Sea a living lab, in which we mold and test business models that best allow our mission. Likewise, each of us uses the company as a vehicle to attain the goals that are most important to us," says Tshontikidis. Adds Fenson, "From selecting clients, to remaining a four-person shop, we filter all of our decisions through our mission to promote and foster mindful leadership and communication. We’re proud of the work we do. That’s why I’m here."

Find more information about Ivy Sea, contact Sarah Fenson at 415/778-3910.