We recently connected with Nancy Lyons and have shared our conversation below.

Nancy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

I really hope my legacy will be one of honesty, authenticity, and courage. I think in growing our business, my partners and I made the choice to care for people more than we cared about profit from the outset. In other words, we have bucked the system on more than one occasion and opted to cut our own salaries before we did layoffs in particularly hard times. I am grateful that we were not confronted with that need too often. But it did happen. I hope that my legacy is a story that demonstrates that capitalism doesn’t have to rob us of our humanity. Success doesn’t have to be measured by who makes the most. We get to define success for ourselves. And it can include decency, care, and compassion.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Clockwork is an experience design and technology consultancy with clients all over the country and the globe. We build technology products that solve complex problems for the enterprise. And we don’t just build tech – we also research and define the strategy to ensure product success. Some key differentiators for us include a change enablement practice. We understand that simply investing in technology doesn’t solve the problem. You have to invest in taking the people along for the journey in a smart/strategic way. Clockwork thinks about the key components that drive success of technology initiatives – people, process, AND tech.

I have spent my entire career in exactly this space – having found my way here right around the time the internet started to move into the mainstream. I was fascinated with this new networked landscape and the future it promised. I remember trying to teach myself how to code from a book. But the world didn’t need another software engineer – it needed someone who understood that language and could make it accessible for everyone else. I have been in the business since before we really understood how valuable this technology would become. And I’ve helped navigate this landscape for literally hundreds of clients in the past 25 years.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Clockwork has been around for over 20 years. And before that my business partners and I were involved with another company that we ultimately sold. Both companies were solely focused on problem-solving technology for the enterprise. And we have always specialized in regulated industries – spaces where privacy, security, accuracy, and scalability were of the utmost importance. Our reputation was seeded by being first-early adopters. But we built on that by doing exactly what we said we would do. In fact, our very first core value is, and always has been – we tell the truth and keep our promises. That statement is essential to our reputation and to who we are as humans and as an organization.

I learned early in my career that most service businesses declare victory when they make a sale. We consider ourselves victorious when we deliver a product that alters the trajectory of our client’s business. Plenty of technology companies deliver vapor. Billing clients, for many, is more important than delivering for them. Our philosophy is the opposite of that. We don’t want to build dependency. We want to build business: successful, independent, scalable business. We want to build relationships with our clients – as trusted partners.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Our very best source for leads are our clients. Word-of-mouth has helped our business grow beyond anything we could have orchestrated via marketing or otherwise. And all of that stems from our reputation and our commitment to our values. Our penchant for delivering for our clients is what drives new opportunities. Our clients’ success is our success. It’s really that simple.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clockwork.com and https://www.nancylyons.com and https://www.madebytempo.com
• Instagram: @clockworkinteractive and @nylons
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clockwork-active-media-systems and https://www.linkedin.com/in/nancylyons/
• Twitter: @clockwork_tweet and @nylons