Hi friends,
You’ve done it again!! You’ve crushed another week in COVID-19! Welcome to the 1st of May!
In all seriousness, I hope you are holding up ok. And, I also hope you are finding great ways to maximize your time (even if that means plowing through a long list of Netflix shows), listening to past episodes of She Said/She Said Podcast (sorry, shameless plug! But if you are finding value in it, please share us!), finding as much joy as you can (often by recognizing the little things and by creating unexpected fun), and that you are able to draw from many of the incredible (and often free) resources that are now at your fingertips. So many online courses, webinars, and great stuff out there! It’s awesome!
I’m incredibly inspired by the creativity of so many of you! You are amazing! You are truly making the best of all of this. You are helping and caring for others, creating magic, keeping your humor (even when it takes work), while also (at least for many of you) embracing the role of homeschooling mom. It’s exhausting! But you are doing it! Yea you!! (and school will have to end soon, right?!)
Like you, I’m thinking about what lies on the other side of COVID-19. I’m working hard to keep my anxiety in check (some days better than others), but also I’m thinking about how to maintain some of the good practices I’ve developed, or that we’ve embraced as a family, while dialing back on those less healthy ones! (i.e. too much take out — despite my attempted justification that I’m helping the economy…. and, maybe I don’t need a glass of wine EVERY single night…, etc…. ) What will have changed for you coming out of COVID-19? What new practices will you work to maintain and why? How will you reflect on this time? Every person has experienced this in her own way, and I’m immensely curious about what that will mean for all of us going forward. I would love to hear your thoughts! Please send me a quick email if you have a minute and let me know.
This week, in Episode 101, I continue our series with women small business owners and feature Laura Hayes Morgan, CEO of Creative Event Strategies in Raleigh, NC. Laura and I have been friends for many years and worked on many projects and events together. Laura was actually the person I was talking to on the phone when the second plane hit the Twin Towers on 9/11. We both had colleagues in New York including some who worked at what became Ground Zero. With COVID-19, Laura’s entire book of business stopped abruptly when distancing measures went into effect. For her, it has meant digging into the core of what has always helped her company differentiate itself: helping clients identify clearly their strategic objectives and what they are trying to accomplish with an event(s). Given the current options, helping her clients fine tune their “why” related to an event, enables her team to figure out the best option of the limited ones now available. Her approach has always been practical and thoughtful, and that mindset is serving particularly well today as she embraces a very difficult business pivot during this pandemic and potentially beyond. It goes to the importance of finding ways to think creativity and to not be confined by the “what was” so that you can see the “what if’s.”
For actress Tina Sloan, in Episode 102, reinvention required dealing with the loss of a 26 year run as Lillian Raines on The Guiding Light soap opera, and saying goodbye to colleagues who had become family. It meant she had to rebuild her confidence and find a new voice — or in her case a new outlet (or two) for her voice — and a new purpose for herself. Her story of reinvention and of embracing new things is not only inspiring, but instructive related to aging not just gracefully, but with total enthusiasm. She’s the epitome of embracing the blessing of being alive and making the most of it every day!
As always, I’m grateful for you, for the time you spend with us, and for all the wonderful feedback you send along. Most of all, I hope you continue to find this content valuable and that it makes your own journey just a little bit easier. Please let me know what you think!
Be safe and be well!
xoxo Click here to continue reading