Nearly 30 Years in Business: Darcy Flanders on Adaptability, Relationships and Playing the Long Game
For Women’s Small Business Month, Certified WBE Darcy Flanders reflects on building BaselineGroupNY, navigating decades of change and why meaningful business relationships are built over time.
Every October, Women’s Small Business Month recognizes the contributions women-owned businesses make every day. It’s also an opportunity to look closely at what it takes to sustain one.
For Darcy Flanders, Founder and Chief Brand Strategist of BaselineGroupNY, succeeding through nearly three decades in business has required creativity, adaptability, and a willingness to keep evolving.
Her agency operated through 9/11, the financial crisis, Hurricane Sandy, COVID-19, and significant changes in technology and the marketplace. Along the way, Darcy has entered new industries, expanded the firm’s services, and continued to build relationships that have supported the business over time.
“I always 100 percent believed in my business, my team and our excellence in branding and creativity,” she says.
That belief has been matched by a practical willingness to adapt.
Today, BaselineGroupNY helps highly regulated, service-based organizations communicate through branding, design, websites, photography and marketing materials. For Darcy, however, the foundation of that work began long before she started the agency.
Creativity Was Always the Plan
A native New Yorker who grew up in Manhattan, Darcy was raised in a family where both creativity and entrepreneurship were close at hand. Her father owned a printing business, while her mother was a senior editor at Hearst Corporation.
By age five, Darcy says she was already painting, drawing and making things.
“There was never really a change of course or any doubt,” she says. “Creativity was what I wanted to do.”
She initially studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology before realizing that her interests were moving in another direction. She transferred to Philadelphia College of Art, where she studied graphic design with a minor in photography.
That decision set the foundation for a career in creative services and, eventually, entrepreneurship.
Building the Kind of Company She Wanted to Work For
Before founding BaselineGroupNY, Darcy spent 12 years working at an agency. She loved the work but wanted something different from the environment around it.
She also wanted to work more directly with clients.
“I wanted to create an environment where people matter and there’s a good collaborative culture,” she says.
Just as important, she recognized that one of her strengths was understanding what clients were trying to accomplish and translating those goals into effective creative work.
So she left.
There was no detailed business plan and no certainty that clients would follow. What Darcy did have was confidence in the work she could deliver and clarity about the kind of company she wanted to build.
Nearly 30 years later, that decision has resulted in a creative agency that has continued to change alongside its clients and the broader business environment.
Adaptability Is Part of Staying in Business
For Darcy, longevity has never meant doing the same thing for 30 years.
When 9/11 happened, BaselineGroupNY’s office was only a few blocks from the World Trade Center, and many of its clients were located there. During the financial crisis, the agency faced another challenge because much of its client base was in financial services.
Then Hurricane Sandy flooded the office and destroyed the company’s server.
COVID-19 brought another disruption when New York City shut down. Today, Darcy is navigating another major change as artificial intelligence reshapes creative work and client expectations.
Each period required the business to respond.
“I entered new verticals, offered new services and continue to pivot,” Darcy says.
That adaptability is particularly relevant during Women’s Small Business Month. Long-term business ownership is rarely defined by uninterrupted growth. It requires leaders to assess what’s changed, determine what clients need next, and continue making decisions even when conditions are uncertain.
Finding a Community of Business Owners
Darcy became connected to WBEC Metro NY and Greater DMV through another business owner.
The appeal was immediate.
“I wanted to be around powerful women who had successful businesses,” she says. “They say if you want to be successful, surround yourself with successful people.”
BaselineGroupNY became Certified in 2004 and has remained Certified since.
For Darcy, the value of Certification has extended well beyond having the credential itself.
Certification has given her opportunities to meet corporate sponsors, introduce BaselineGroupNY’s capabilities, and continue developing those relationships over time. Some have ultimately resulted in business opportunities.
Her experience reflects an important distinction: Certification can create access, but the business owner still has to participate.
“You have to introduce yourself, follow up and show how you can help,” Darcy says. “The more you show up and truly engage, the more it works.”
Her involvement also created relationships beyond prospective clients.
Over the years, mentors, mentees, strategic partners, clients and close friends have all come through the WBEC NY DMV community.
“I talk to somebody from WBENC every day, whether it’s because they are in my RPO, a mentor, a mentee, a strategic alliance, a client or a friend,” she says. “The network is a huge part of my life and has been for decades.”
Darcy’s enthusiasm and commitment to the WBEC NY DMV network was also highlighted this year during the organization’s inaugural Week of WBEC, where she engaged with peers from across both regions.
When Relationships Turn Into Business Opportunities
For Darcy, sustained participation led to tangible business opportunities.
Specifically, relationships developed through the WBEC NY DMV ecosystem helped open the door to work with Capital One. BaselineGroupNY branded the company’s inaugural Envision event and has continued working on the event in subsequent years.
Another important experience came through the SAGE Advice program.
Darcy participated in the program during a difficult period for her company and says it provided practical guidance, support, and renewed confidence as a business owner.
She has since had the opportunity to contribute from the other side, supporting SAGE graduates, serving as a Capital One SAGE business liaison, and mentoring other women business owners.
She has also received work directly from fellow WBEs.
“Solving their creative needs makes me very happy,” she says.
That reciprocal value matters to Darcy. The network has created opportunities for her own company, but it has also given her ways to share experience and help other women business owners make stronger decisions.
A Different Climate, but Relationships Still Matter
Darcy started her company nearly 30 years ago, when she says women business owners had to work particularly hard to establish credibility, make the right connections and demonstrate that they could consistently deliver.
Her advice from that experience remains straightforward.
“Confidence is key,” she says. “You have to know you can do your job with excellence.”
She also points to mentors and a strong professional network as critical parts of building a business. Those relationships become even more important as a company grows and the decisions become more complex.
“Being a woman business owner is something you should not do alone,” Darcy says. “It’s very lonely at the top.”
A strong peer community, she says, provides access to people who have faced similar decisions, corporate partners willing to share knowledge, and other business owners who may become collaborators, clients or trusted advisors.
This critical support and mentorship can help a founder move beyond handling every immediate demand and spend more time working on the business.
Playing the Long Game
Darcy is equally clear that Certification works best when business owners participate actively. For someone considering Certification, she advises looking beyond the credential itself.
“Certification can help you get into rooms and meet people and learn about opportunities, but you have to introduce yourself, follow up and show how you can help,” she says.
Her advice is to approach the network with a long-term perspective: “Play the long game and build relationships through consistently showing up and staying in touch.”
That lesson extends beyond Certification.
After nearly 30 years of entrepreneurship, Darcy’s experience shows that business longevity depends on more than one contract, one client or one opportunity. It comes from continuing to adapt, remaining confident in the value your company provides, and investing in relationships long enough for trust to develop.
For Darcy, Women’s Small Business Month is an opportunity to recognize that work.
It is also a reminder that supporting a women-owned small business can mean beginning a relationship with a company that brings years of expertise, care and commitment to the work.
And for the women building those companies, Darcy’s advice is clear: find your community, learn from the people around you and keep showing up.