History - The Passion gets its start

In 1994, I had no idea what I was getting into. The passion I carried through 2 other organizations fueled the dream of what is now the largest company in the Manifest family. And my employees are the ambassadors for our messsage of change.

I had $1,000 in my checking account when I came up with Manifest Solutions as the name to my idea. I believe in Manifest Destiny. I also believe CHANGE is the only constant in life and business.

With the financial support of my parents, I converted my house in Hilliard into a make shift corporate headquarters with my kitchen serving as our conference room and strategy center. My empty dining room and spare bedrooms became offices for my support staff and garage door openers served as corporate key cards to enter headquarters.

I will never forget the first contract we landed because a previous client had the faith and fortitude to work with us. Our passion was ignited and our confidence grew as old friends began joining in and providing us more opportunities to make a difference.

By the beginning of 1996 it was apparent my house wasn't going to continue as our corporate address. I had an aversion to leasing office space on what I called "Consultant Row" - the areas of town all of our main competitors called home. We were a grass roots organization built on the idea of differentiation.

We searched and found a house in August on Hilliard-Rome Road for sale. It needed a lot of work with its outdated wiring and psychadelic interior paint job and carpeting. We learned valuable lessons about teamwork as we spent our days building the business and late nights wiring and networking the house so it would be ready for us in October. Our weekends were spent ripping out carpet and painting walls.

When the move occurred in October 1996, I was ecstatic. The plan was to be there 5 years. That was a miscalculation. By late 1997 it was apparent we couldn't stay much longer. There wasn't enough space to accommmodate everyone, not to mention the logistical issues with our restroom facilities.

As timing would have it, the house next door came up for sale. We found ourselves remodeling again. We updated the interior and wired the house for phone and network capabilities. To address the issue of connectivity between our distributed locations, my husband trenched between the houses and we ran phone and network cable through plastic PVC pipe buried a few feet underground.

Staff came and went as we experienced the growing pains of a maturing organization. In 1999 the company faced an identity crisis. It was time to decide whether the company was going to take the next step and change its image. We were outgrowing the houses. I was still adverse to being like everyone else and renting office space with a swanky address and huge lease payment. I wanted independence, and a physical representation to my staff that I was in this for the long haul.

In late 1999, my VP Kathy Bryan and I set out to find a building to purchase. Our first walk through was a building on Riverside Drive. The minute I walked inside, I knew this was it. There was an incredible energy in the place. The vision of what I wanted was in front of me, even though the exterior of the building needed updating. The current owner of the building was great to work with and I was able to buy the building and the contents for an affordable price.

We moved on April 14, 2000 to our current address at 2035 Riverside Drive in Upper Arlington.

I want to thank the people who believed in me at the beginning when I didn't even believe in myself. And in 2002, the people who still believe and are beginning to believe in us keep our passion burning bright. This is for you, and you have my deepest respect and gratitude.

Nancy Matijasich