The Social Lights, LLC is an independent social media marketing agency headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. Over the past 5 years, they’ve grown from a two-woman shop to a team of 12 and counting.

“Since this time last year, revenue growth is up 51.3%. We’ve grown to 12 employees (4x last year) and moved into a new, larger office in Northeast Minneapolis. We’ve picked up several retail clients and will be rolling out new service offerings that will be announced later this year,” said Co-Founder & CEO Martha McCarthy Krueger.

The Social Lights (TSL) was founded in January 2011 by entrepreneurs Emily Pritchard and Martha McCarthy Krueger. During their final semester at the University of St. Thomas, while both were studying Entrepreneurship and Business Communications, they discovered the need for businesses to utilize social media as a strategic marketing communications channel. After months of in-depth research and dozens of discussions with local business owners, they recognized the need for social media marketing services was growing. To meet this need, they created TSL – an agency that offers social media strategy, training, and community management services to help clients achieve their business objectives.
For the full-length startup story, visit: Turning Business Dreams into Reality Without Going Broke…

A memo from TSL Co-Founders Emily & Martha:
At the end of the day, there’s no greater satisfaction than building something out of nothing, creating highly sought-after jobs, seeing the impact you’re making for your clients, and hearing just how much they appreciate the work that you do.
When we started The Social Lights in 2011, there was no template for success. No way to produce a carbon copy of an existing business. So we blazed our own trail. And we’re extremely proud of that. Five years in, we continue to build and grow. We are continuously inspired by the power of social and the business potential of a solid social strategy.
 
The Social Lights has worked with 85 clients spanning a wide range of industries. Five of their clients rank on the Fortune 500 list.
To celebrate 5 years in business, TSL threw a party on May 5, 2016. They brought together over 300 individuals spanning clients, partners, former interns, family, and friends to celebrate and toast to the future of the company.

To view the full set of 5-Year Fiesta photos, visit: Cinco de Social on Flickr