The Picard Group Celebrates a Decade of Results
01.11.2021
3,650 days. It seems this was the number of days in the year 2020 alone!
As I reflect on the 10 year anniversary of The Picard Group today, one predominant thought comes to mind: Gratitude.
Gratitude. Many, many people have helped us get to this point. Clients, friends, elected officials, fellow lobbyist colleagues, and certainly our employees. Our success is attributable to your kindness, trust, and belief in us as an organization.
Ten years ago, through the kindness of two lawyer friends, I was able to sublet two 100 square foot offices in Lafayette (for my assistant Marianna Lewis and myself), along with a single phone line and a single fax line. Another friend, in the advertising business, built a website at cost and helped design TPG’s logo and branding. Another friend, a global executive consultant, helped me define “who we are, why we are in business, and what defines our brand," and how to build that into an organizational business plan. Our goal was to earn the trust of a few clients that would enable us to pay our overhead and hopefully earn a salary.
I never would have dreamed 10 years ago that through the support of the groups and individuals listed above, we would grow to 13 team members with offices in four different cities: Lafayette, Lake Charles, Baton Rouge, and Washington D.C. Nor would I have dreamed that the firm would be blessed to represent dozens of clients on the state and federal level, over 10 of which are Fortune 500 companies. I distinctly remember in our first month that I had multiple phone calls and visits to business mentors, legislators, members of Congress, statewide elected officials, and mayors to both inform them of this new venture and learn from them. I wanted to learn what they saw as effective in the lobbying firms they encountered. They were generous with their time and insightful with their advice. Those conversations formed the bedrock of our firm’s vertical (from local to state to federal levels) and horizontal (across executive, legislative and regulatory arenas of government) integration of services when representing our clients.
There are probably 3,650 people I need to thank for helping us to reach our 10 year anniversary. All of you know who you are and how appreciative I am for what you have done for us.
As proud as I am of our team and our work accomplishments on behalf of our clients, I am equally grateful for the culture of civic involvement and community spirit that permeates our group. From Junior Achievement, Catholic Charities, CABL, One Acadiana, Junior League, LASOAR, United Way of Acadiana, Parish Proud, and Foster the Love to name a few, giving back our time, talents, and treasure to the communities where we work and live is part of our firm’s DNA. Each and every member of our team recognizes the unique organization we are blessed to be a part of.
We have laughed together at each other’s weddings and birthdays and cried together at each other’s family funerals. While we will continue to accomplish our clients' objectives over the next decade, I am grateful for the firm-wide commitment to making our communities and state better places to live through our volunteer efforts. I am humbled to be a part of an organization that cares about each other and their fellow man as The Picard Group team does.
In his final months, my late father reflected with both peace and fulfillment on his career in education and public service, and how his life had followed a path that he would have never dreamed for himself at a young age. “God has a funny way of guiding you to your destiny,” he said. Those words never seem truer than this day.
Thank you for a wonderful decade of The Picard Group’s existence. We face the next decade with optimism and hope, as we will continue to live our mission of "removing obstacles and building bridges that enable our clients businesses to thrive” and to ultimately deliver Results.
- Tyron Picard, Principal and Founder