For a firm in the people business, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that amid all the change, the constants are the people. The Pekarsky is still hanging around, as are Ranju, Cam, Susie, Kate, Kiara—the same core team that’s been together for nearly a decade—and a few newer faces, too (Rachel, Neel, Breanne, and Ryan). The relationships, the trust, the humour, the heart—all still here. We’ve turned former employees like Erin Hoekstra into treasured clients and alumni, kept the same partners and suppliers who’ve supported us since the beginning, and even our space at Le Germain has lost that new-car-smell and feels comfortably like home.

As 2025 draws to a close, in many ways this moment feels like year one again. When we started Pekarsky & Co. back in 2009, we built a brand rooted in trust, community, and a little tongue-in-cheek humility. Our tagline—We Know People—was more than a marketing slogan. It was our promise. And over the years we earned the confidence of clients who came to see “Pekarsky” as shorthand for something solid and local but worldly enough to get things done. Today, we have a new brand, a fresh platform, and a renewed sense of purpose. We’re telling our story to new audiences, reconnecting with old friends, and, at times, reintroducing ourselves to people who never realized we went anywhere.

But getting back out there under a new flag is a little like learning to date again—awkward at first, but ultimately exciting. We get to bring our history, reputation, and local roots into a global network that shares our values and standards. We get to stay who we are while growing into who we can be.

Of course, rediscovery isn’t theoretical—it’s lived. And nothing brought that home more clearly than our recent hiring of Ryan Kennedy—a fellow recovering lawyer. Over the past several weeks I’ve been taking Ryan on a jam packed tour to meet many of our longest-standing friends and clients. The mission was twofold: introduce Ryan in a way that sets him up for success, and tell, with humility and clarity, face to face, the story of our recent changes. This process felt like what I imagine it must feel like to be suddenly single and easing back into the scene—not defensive about the relationship you were just in, but explaining it respectfully, reflecting on the lessons learned, and ultimately focusing on the future. And the most reinvigorating part? Discovering just how forgiving people were of our detours, and how genuinely supportive they are of our new chapter.

All of that reconnection—the meetings, the conversations, the reintroductions—has made this feel like a true fresh start. And as we were reconnecting out in the world, it only made sense that we’d reconnect internally too, which carried straight into mid-November when we held our annual strategic planning retreat.

One of our guest speakers was Costa Tzavaras, the Director, Global Programs at Amrop. A supremely talented guy who happens to be Canadian, though resides in Greece, Costa walked us through the many cool things currently underway within Amrop and oriented us to the firm’s zeitgeist. Exhibit A? At one point he warned, “Beige will kill you. Be provocative.” Check and check. We have found our people.

At another point during his presentation, which focused on Costa’s experience having integrated 69 offices across 57 countries to the Amrop brand, he gently suggested in the slide below that we must avoid the traps of “unconscious nostalgia.” I couldn’t help but think that was meant for me. In my defence, my nostalgia is entirely of the conscious variety.

We all knew he was right. Lots of nodding heads, foremost among them my own. But it’s not easy! You start a firm, you grow it, you lead it, you nurture it, you care for it, and then you manage to give it away to an unwelcoming home, only to wrestle it back and hand it over again—this time with far more intention. Of course I’m nostalgic! And protective. And yes, cautious. Yet, it’s really working this time. The early returns are extremely positive. The collaboration is real. The actual building of a great firm is well underway, and it is meaningful and important work that we are all committed to, as equal partners with an equal voice.

Even as names and logos change, the essence doesn’t. The relationships we’ve built, the candidates we’ve championed, the boards we’ve supported—those are the constants. That’s our currency. That’s our brand. Reconnecting in person with so. many. people. has reminded me how much I missed it out there—the conversations, the problem-solving, the human connections. Turns out the best way to remind people who you are is to show up and remind yourself first.

On reflection, and I’ve been doing that a lot lately, maybe we got a little complacent. When we first started the firm, it was equal parts hustle and heart. Every introduction mattered. Every placement carried the weight of our reputation. Somewhere along the way, as we grew and restructured, some of that scrappy energy got replaced by process and polish. Not bad things, just different. The past year has given us permission to blend both: the wisdom that comes from experience with the hunger that comes from starting fresh.

There’s also been a lovely irony in how this “fresh start” has brought us full circle. Clients who worked with us ten or fifteen years ago have reached out—some to congratulate, others just to reconnect. In an odd way, stepping into a global partnership like Amrop Rosin has made our local roots feel stronger, not weaker. It’s reminded us that Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Toronto, and so many points in between, aren’t just markets; they’re communities we’ve invested in for years.

We’ve always believed in long games over quick wins. And after everything, I’m more convinced than ever that endurance—not perfection—is what defines real success. The false narrative of smooth, uninterrupted growth is just that: false. Business, like life, is more often about how you navigate the detours than how you celebrate the milestones. Business isn’t your beautiful smiling family posing for an Instagram selfie; it’s the unedited reel—imperfect, unpredictable, and far more honest than the polished version we pretend is the whole story, built from the hundred unseen moments it took to get one good shot. We haven’t reinvented ourselves. We’ve simply returned to ourselves.

So, have I ever had a hole-in-one? Yes.

And where do I work?

Well, I suppose I could say we recently joined Amrop Rosin, part of the global Amrop network spanning over 50 countries, which you might recall came after being part of something else, which itself came after we were proudly and independently known as Pekarsky & Co., which of course followed our earlier incarnation as Pekarsky Stein, which itself evolved from The Pekarsky Group, all of which unfolded while our tagline shape-shifted from Raising the Bar to We Know People to Leaders for What’s Next, and while our office migrated like a particularly ambitious Canadian goose from my basement to borrowed space at Deloitte, then perched for a decade and a half above The Cellar wine store in the old Alberta Hotel Building before finally nesting at Le Germain, and along the way we opened an Edmonton office, then closed it, twice flirted with Toronto, dabbled in consulting, outplacement, third-party client satisfaction audits, and student services, became podcasters, and generally tried on more names, offerings, and alternate identities than a witness-protection program run by a particularly indecisive branding agency.

Or I could say, I work at Amrop Rosin.

Happy Holidays and wishing you a wonderful year ahead.

Regards,

Adam