A Decade of Growth: Builden’s Evolution and Three Ways to Transform your Business

As we mark the tenth anniversary of Builden, it’s a time not only for celebration but for gratitude. This milestone isn’t just about us—it’s about our valued clients and partners who have been pivotal in our journey from The Brumbaugh Group to Builden Partners. Over the last decade, we’ve evolved, transformed and expanded, always with the goal of better serving those who trust us with their legal marketing needs.
Builden started as a big idea with a small team. Founder Jocelyn Brumbaugh ran things solo before growing into a team of two, then three. Today, Builden’s team has 16 incredible people throughout the United States servicing global firms and powerhouse boutiques.
Here’s a look at Builden’s growth through the years. We hope this serves as a guide to legal marketers striking it out on their own, solo marketers at midsize firms or even lawyers looking to grow their own practice.
Finding Our Niche
One of the most significant factors in our growth has been identifying and carving out our niche within the competitive legal marketing landscape.
Jocelyn Brumbaugh built her career in AmLaw firms, moving up through PR and communications teams. She saw first-hand that tasks were handled with a reactive approach. After leaving an in-house law firm position, she transitioned to a hedge fund and discovered a new world: the financial services industry operated with clear processes.
Early on, she recognized that the unique challenges and opportunities in legal marketing could be streamlined by applying a process-driven approach. By shifting from a reactive to a proactive mindset, Builden has developed targeted strategies that resonate with our clients and deliver measurable results.
Takeaway: Businesses looking to carve out their niche should look where innovation and the market’s needs intersect. How can you leverage your strengths to address those needs in a different way than the norm?
Best Practices for Hiring and Professional Development
Our team is at the heart of Builden’s success. Over the years, we’ve learned that hiring the right people— those who not only possess the skills but also align with our core values—is crucial. The process-driven approach we take to client service applies internally as well; we hire, train and develop team members with that same mindset.
By establishing clear hiring standards, interview questions and decision-making processes, we ensure that we bring in candidates who are the best fit for our team.
It doesn’t stop at hiring. Investing in continuous professional development has been key to growing our team. Builden’s professional development mindset has been around before Builden itself. We integrate professional and team development into our everyday activities through key learnings in meetings, regular training sessions and individual goal setting, creating a culture that promotes ongoing professional growth.
As a leader, it’s important to consider every team member’s individual growth. Jocelyn noted, “It’s so important to me to understand how I as a manager can help my teams’ professional career as a whole, not just during the wonderful time they’re here at Builden.”
Takeaway: Take the time to sit down with your team members individually to discuss their goals. This not only shapes the direction of professional development but also provides insights into how to grow the business based on their strengths and interests.
Expanding Service Offerings
We’re proud to say our process-driven approach to marketing has remained constant. Over the years, Builden has developed dozens of marketing infrastructures for law firms, all based on this process-driven mindset, and we’ve taught our lawyers to adopt it as well.
As the needs of our clients have evolved, so have our services. From traditional marketing to digital strategies and beyond, we’ve expanded our offerings to address new challenges and seize fresh opportunities.
Over the past decade, Builden’s team has evolved from helping clients build their marketing presence by transforming brands, websites and content to becoming a strategic partner in law firm growth. Early on, we collaborated with firms to drive culture shifts, manage leadership transitions and implement comprehensive change management efforts, while also supporting diversity and inclusion initiatives. With our expanded experience and team, we now offer tailored business development coaching and cohort programs for both partners and associates, conduct in-depth client feedback programs to deliver actionable insights, provide fractional marketing support and offer strategic guidance on the planning and growth of marketing and business development departments.
For other businesses, staying adaptable might mean regularly reassessing your service offerings and being courageous enough to make changes when certain products or services no longer meet your clients’ needs.
Takeaway: Stay flexible and open to evolving your services as your client’s needs shift. Regularly assess your offerings and be proactive in making adjustments to remain relevant and valuable in a shifting market.
Gratitude and Looking Forward
Every step of Builden’s journey has been shaped by the relationships we’ve built. Whether transitioning from Brumbaugh to Builden or expanding our services, each change and milestone has been made possible through collaboration and partnership between our team and clients.
In celebrating our tenth anniversary, we extend our deepest thanks to our clients for their trust, partnership and the vital role they play in our ongoing story.
As Builden moves into the next decade, we are more committed than ever to innovating, improving and delivering the highest quality service. We are grateful for the past 10 years and excited for what the future holds. Thank you for being an integral part of our journey.