Next year, Monument Advocacy will celebrate its 20th anniversary. The changes we’ve seen in the world of advocacy, and in the world at large, would have been hard to imagine in 2006. The rise of Donald Trump and the omnipresence of smart phones and 24/7 connectivity have been just two of the most significant sea changes that our firm, and our many competitors, have had to navigate.
But almost as challenging has been Monument’s evolution from a one-person shop to a multi-city enterprise of nearly 60 professionals. We were founded on a promise of personal attention and an “all-hands-on-deck” mentality, and those attributes certainly have contributed to our client retention over almost two decades.
At the same time, it’s obviously neither logistically possible nor financially viable to deploy our whole team to all of our clients. So how have we tried to maintain that small-firm feel while evolving into a large enterprise? This transition has required four guiding principles.
1. Divide responsibilities and empower your leaders.
As we have grown into 13 substantive policy areas and a hybrid government relations and public affairs firm, we have empowered practice area leaders to make decisions about how they manage clients, who they choose to hire and promote, and how they do marketing and business development.
Our agriculture and food team, for instance, has grown substantially with a great mix of talent at different levels of seniority that gives employees at a client multiple touch points with our team. Hiring costs money, but you need to trust your leaders to know when the practice area merits more investment.
2. Team players are a must.
You have to hire team players, not lone rangers. Not every client fits neatly into a specific practice area with narrow goals. Issues evolve and emerge and our team members must be willing to jump in with new areas of expertise.
During Covid-19, for example, almost every client needed immigration-related work related to getting executives into the US. And our public affairs team has assisted clients of all stripes in navigating the whiplash on social justice issues from the summer of 2020 through the backlash against diversity, equity, and inclusion in 2025.
To be sure, jumping in on a client where you might not have a deep understanding of their business model or history can be nerve-wracking, but most clients appreciate the fact that new talent may be needed for new challenges. Adaptability and curiosity are essential attributes to consider when hiring.
3. Build trust through fair, flexible incentives.
As I brought on partners, I asked them to trust me to negotiate a profit-sharing agreement where we were paid not solely by client originations like most law, lobbying, and professional services firms, but based on a wide range of factors that I would evaluate, including client service, firm responsibilities, and political connectivity.
Fast forward to 2025, and we have been able to negotiate a profit-sharing agreement every year while expanding to 14 equity holders, without ever resorting to a formal vote. These agreements require a tremendous amount of trust among our partners that their contributions are valued fairly.
If your firm has more than a handful of owners, I’d encourage you to try an approach where different skill sets beyond client originations can be a major part of compensation decisions.
4. Redefine advocacy beyond lobbying.
Advocacy means a lot more than lobbying. The days when a well-connected lobbyist in a smoke-filled room could cut a deal with a senator have been over for a while.
Success now requires strategic campaigns that marry compelling collateral with broad stakeholder engagement. A think tank or a journalist may be just as important as a lawmaker, and finding alignment among industry players often is a prerequisite for having any hope of engaging Congress.
I tend to think of the actual lobbying part of our work as the tip of an iceberg that sticks out of the water—significant and visible, but not nearly as large as the submerged mass of work that it takes to build a case for action.
Looking Ahead to 20 Years—and Beyond
We are excited to be gearing up to celebrate our milestone anniversary next year, but the real satisfaction is working with an amazing group of clients every day. Whether it is a massive corporation, a trade association, an important nonprofit, or members of one of our in-house coalitions, our team has the opportunity, and responsibility, to partner with smart and demanding clients—many of whom have become close friends.
If you’re running a smaller firm and worry that growth may cause you to lose your “special sauce,” hopefully the points above will show you a path to a bigger platform that can keep your brand while being able to bring a bigger skill set to the fight.
This article does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg Industry Group, Inc., the publisher of Bloomberg Law, Bloomberg Tax, and Bloomberg Government, or its owners.
Author Information
C. Stewart Verdery Jr. is the founder of Monument Advocacy, a bicoastal and bipartisan public affairs and government relations firm, and formerly served as a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security and as counsel in the Senate Republican leadership.
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