We Didn’t See This Coming—But When We Leaned In, Everything Changed

A Year-End Reflection from The Aebli Group

If 2025 taught us anything, it’s this:

Businesses don’t thrive because conditions are perfect.
They thrive because leaders stay open to new ideas, seize unexpected opportunities, and know when it’s time to pivot.

This year tested that belief more than any other.

And it became proof that reinvention isn’t just possible, it’s powerful!

A change in U.S. leadership brought real ripple effects.
Tariffs shifted. Markets tightened. And many of our long-time clients were forced to rethink their strategies overnight.

It created a moment of truth:
Would we cling to what we’d always done, or look for the next evolution of who we could be?

We chose evolution.

RISE Robotics launched its Wefunder campaign early in the year, and it wasn’t just a client success story.

It was a signal.

A harbinger.

A preview of what our year would become.

Their community-powered raise shattered records, brought in over $5M, and reminded us of the growing momentum around alternative capital strategies. It opened our eyes to a truth we couldn’t ignore:

Crowdfunding wasn’t just a trend…it’s becoming a major growth engine for companies across industries.

That one campaign became the starting point of a major pivot for TAG, one that would influence everything that came next.

In the spirit of reinvention, we didn’t just watch the industry shift, we created something to shape it.

We launched the TAG Awards, a recognition platform for MedTech and healthcare innovators who deserve real credibility, real validation, and real amplification.

The TAG Awards weren’t a side project.
They became a cornerstone of our mission:

Empower innovators.
Elevate credibility.
Open doors to opportunity.

Every nominee earned the TAG’D seal of excellence.
Every nominee had their voice amplified through our new podcast, TAG’D: Beyond the Award, giving them a platform to tell the stories behind their breakthroughs.

And the industry took notice.

This year, Justin stepped onto stages across the U.S. to champion what we believe in most:
authentic storytelling as a catalyst for growth.

At MD&M West, he led a session on “Storytelling for Sustainability,” speaking about honest messaging, avoiding greenwashing, and using narrative to build trust.

Later in the year, TAG was invited into a deeper partnership with MD&M shows, culminating in a major announcement:

TAG Awards winners will be showcased at MD&M East in 2025, with:

Complimentary attendance
A presence on the show floor
Direct introductions to MD+DI Editors
A featured press release
A spotlight podcast episode
And a full article on the TAG Awards site

This wasn’t just visibility.
It was validation.
For the innovators, and for the work we’re doing to elevate them.

This spring, we teamed up with Mailchimp Partner Development Associate William Howard to host a high-impact webinar on marketing automation strategy:

Mailchimp: the secret weapon to B2B marketing & storytelling

Our message was clear:
Tools don’t make you effective. Strategy does.

Together, we showed leaders how to:

Build smarter automation
Personalize engagement
Integrate CRM and marketing data
Scale with clarity (not chaos)
A powerful reminder that strategy is still at the heart of meaningful marketing.

By midyear, we saw the writing on the wall.

RISE Robotics’ success was not an anomaly.
It was a signal that business leaders everywhere were thinking differently—
and ready to act differently.

More founders began asking questions that sounded less like finance
and more like future-building:

“How do we grow in a way that brings people with us?”
“How do we build a community that believes in what we’re creating?”
“What opportunities are we missing because we’re doing things the way they’ve always been done?”
“What if there’s a smarter, more human way to scale?”

These weren’t questions about capital.
They were questions about evolution.

So we leaned all the way in.

We published crowdfunding blogs, launched podcast episodes with leaders who had done it successfully, and began guiding companies through the strategy, positioning, storytelling, and execution needed to raise real capital.

We spoke on crowdfunding at MEDevice Boston, with Josh Resnikoff of TMA Precision Health joining to share his firsthand experience of raising $1.5M through the crowd.

We expanded this work again for MEDevice Silicon Valley, partnering with Wefunder’s Akshay Prabhu to offer founders a tactical, step-by-step blueprint.

And today, as the year closes, crowdfunding has become one of TAG’s fastest-growing service pillars.

A pivot that wasn’t in our January plans.
But one that perfectly highlights what has always driven us: our belief that marketing works best when it’s human: connecting people, building communities, and telling stories that inspire action.

After 47 episodes, we closed our original podcast, The Inspectations Podcast.

Not because it failed, but because it succeeded!
It became something bigger than we expected.
It shaped how we work, how we think, and how we support leaders.

And it deserved to evolve.

So we launched The TAGLine Podcast, a new home for smarter B2B strategies, deeper conversations, and the human-centered marketing we stand for.

It reflects where TAG is headed: bold, innovative, and rooted in real connection.

That resilience is a strategy.
That openness is a multiplier.
That pivots aren’t signs of weakness, they’re signs of leadership.

We didn’t just survive the year.
We transformed because of it.

We embraced uncertainty.
We built new platforms.
We expanded into new industries.
We deepened partnerships.
We amplified innovators.
And we helped companies raise millions through community-driven capital.

We didn’t do it by sticking to the plan.
We did it by staying willing to rethink the plan.


To our clients, partners, colleagues, and friends:
Thank you for growing with us.
Thank you for challenging us.
Thank you for trusting us with your stories, your brands, and your futures.

2026 will not be a repeat of this year.
It will be the next evolution.

And if 2025 was about surviving and pivoting…

2026 will be about momentum.
Building.
Scaling.
And thriving, together.

Here’s to what comes next!
– Justin & The TAG Team