Have you ever had an opportunity and regretted not taking it? Or have you known you’ve needed to make a change but were afraid to take it?
I’m guessing the answer is yes. I've experienced both many times in my life, and they’ve shaped a lot of what my career has looked like.
In the beginning of the year, I told the team at thinkPARALLAX I was going to take a sabbatical in 2027, and I'd figure out how to put a plan in place to make it happen. I didn’t exactly know what that looked like, but having my first job at 13 and starting thinkPARALLAX in 2003, it was clear that I needed some time off to better understand what I wanted to do and how I could be most useful to make a positive impact in the world and with thinkPARALLAX. Like most things in life, it has a way of working itself out. That, and when you surround yourself with a great team, transitions are much easier.
What I didn’t expect was a call from the sustainability team from Riveron Consulting the same day I told the tPX team about my sabbatical. The Riveron sustainability program was being divested, and after getting to know each other over the next month, we decided to acquire the team. In doing so, we’re adding new capabilities and clients along with a group of values aligned, hardworking folks.
That feeling of knowing I needed to take a leap, being able to connect the dots while not knowing exactly how to get there, is a large part of how the business (and myself) have evolved over the years. Trusting my gut started even before the business: I once had a panic attack after receiving a job offer at a large packaging distributor — their office mirrored “The Office” — and I knew it wasn’t the career I was looking for.
It led me to meeting with Guusje Bendeler and asking why we couldn’t just start our own agency. We could differentiate ourselves by having more than one perspective. That's where the name parallax came from and the multifaceted approach continues today.
Finding our way out of the garage with the most mixed bag of projects to keep food on the table brought us to another pivotal moment: Can we do work that makes a positive impact on the world? Not just to drive profit? Our Lead The Way campaign with the National Institute of Health got people tested for HIV with the theory that if you know you have it, you won’t spread it. Low and behold, in the following year, cases for HIV dropped significantly in San Diego County.
Read more: Why Riveron joined thinkPARALLAX
That aha! moment led us to narrow our focus to purpose. Soon thereafter, we had projects with the Red Cross for those devastated by the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, water saving projects for our county, fundraising work with educational institutions around the state, and reforestation projects with global NGOs.
Around the same time, we started working on our first sustainability report. We narrowed our focus in 2014 to be a sustainability reporting and communications agency, and, since the ESG boom in 2020, we have been able to add on services and team members that have the expertise to build out sustainability strategy services to make us a truly full service sustainability advisory — from strategy, to reporting, and finishing with comms where we started at 23 years ago.
While this is far from my retirement, thinking about the last 23 years, I can say the failures have taught me more than the wins. An opportunistic outlook and an ability to connect dots keep me excited, and an unwavering belief that everything is figure-out-able gives me the confidence that thinkPARALLAX will continue to evolve with new services and new markets to keep making a positive impact in the world. To do more good.
Which brings me to one of the best decisions I've made in this whole process: asking Janna Irons to step into the CEO role. I've watched Janna grow with this company, and I've seen firsthand the agility, grit, judgment, work ethic, and care for our people and clients that make her the right person to lead thinkPARALLAX forward. I have full confidence in her ability to take this company into the next chapter, and I'm genuinely excited to watch her do it.
Read more: Perspectives on thinkPARALLAX’s next chapter
As our titles and roles change this week, I'll stay closely involved through the end of the year to support a smooth transition before I step back in December/January. And to be clear about what's next for me: this isn't a sabbatical followed by a return to the corner office. I'm stepping into the role of Chairman, focused on partnerships, growth, and new opportunities as both the world and the company evolve. What exactly that looks like day to day is still taking shape — figuring that out is a big part of what this next year is about. But I do know I'll be around, invested, and pushing for thinkPARALLAX to keep doing more good, just from a different seat at the table. I found a way up and over this wall 30 years ago. I’m even more sure I can do it this time around.
Jonathan Hanwit is the founder and chairman at thinkPARALLAX. He brings over two decades of expertise in strategic communications, sustainability, and social impact. Since founding thinkPARALLAX in 2003, Jonathan has transformed the agency into a nationally recognized leader in sustainability strategy, reporting, and communications, serving a roster of Fortune 500 clients across the country.
