Parents Sean and Jocelyn Gilligan started a financial services consulting firm in the garage of their Longmont home, and seven years later, that business has been named among the Top 200 Private Companies by ColoradoBiz magazine. The list ranks the top businesses in the state by revenue.
The couple always wanted their firm, Longs Peak Advisory Services, to provide excellent customer service, Jocelyn Gilligan said.
“My husband and I always felt like customer service — for anyone you have as a service provider — felt so bad … you could barely ever talk to a person,” she said. “It was one of the things where we were like, ‘we are going to be different.’”
The business aims to make investment performance information more reliable and transparent, so investors can make informed decisions. The firm has worked with more than 200 clients around the world, the majority of which are in the U.S.
The business has experienced steady growth — even during the pandemic, Jocelyn Gilligan said.
“It was a scary time because all of our clients are investment firms, and during the pandemic, the market took a huge hit,” she said. “I think everyone just kind of went quiet for a little while, and we were really scared about what might happen — I mean, we had a whole team to support; we have a family of four … and I feel like our team is an extension of our family.”
But the firm not only stayed afloat during the pandemic, it continued to grow, she said.
“Things started to settle down and the market kind of came back, and people still wanted to comply and continue with the work that we were doing,” she explained. “We didn’t lay anyone off, which we were really proud of, because it was scary — we didn’t know if we were going to be able to do that.”
The Gilligans dedicate a lot of the firm’s success to the support they give their employees.
“I think we’ve tried to create a fun and unique culture where we do this really professional, very serious work, but we also have a lot of fun together,” Jocelyn Gilligan said. “We’re trying to create a work environment we really want to work in — we offer a lot of benefits for our team, we give generous time off and we’re flexible with work arrangements.”
Most of the firm’s 13 employees are Coloradans, but some work remotely from Texas, Pennsylvania and Oregon.
One of the firm’s top goals for the future is to hire more Longmont residents, the Gilligans said.
“It would be so nice to have more of a local presence, and just support more families that are based in Longmont,” Jocelyn Gilligan said.
The latest job postings for the firm can be found on LinkedIn.
