New Beginnings: The Next Chapter

Once upon a time, there was a woman who started writing out of frustration during a global pandemic. Egged on by her social media audience, she continued to write, documenting her recognition of burnout and her journey to rise above the ashes, better for it.

If you’ve been following along for the last five years, you probably recognized this story as mine. I’m excited to share the next chapter and demonstrate how being true to yourself and connecting with people is a magical lifeline to a happy ending, or at least a path to get stuff done and find more joy.

As seen on previous episodes, a bunch of stuff happened and then I resigned from my corporate job in early 2021 and launched two consulting businesses over the next three years. I started a blog to share weekly what I was learning. Unexpectedly, these blogs were a conduit to form new relationships and strengthen existing ones. I found myself leading workshops and speaking on the topics I was researching and applying.

In one case, I sat on a panel with industry professionals to talk about how to support employees’ post-pandemic needs. I met a fellow panelist, a smart man who was in the business of recruiting talent. We shared stories and contact information.

Fast forward one year, that same man, playing the long game, came to me with a potential job. Evaluating openly and curiously, I concluded it was the right opportunity at the right time for me personally and professionally. So, I’m jumping in starting this month!

In this new, full-time role, I will pause my consulting business to build on existing industry knowledge and relationships to do work that supports a safe, affordable and healthy food supply. But (and it’s a big “but” Becky), I will be drawing from an improved set of skills as a leader and an employee.

Here are a few things I’ll be focusing on as a leader and employee:

1. Simply bring value: When you have your own business with an uncertain income, you strip away everything but being worth the money someone is paying you. The scope is simply to ask: How can you help? Every month is a chance to create something that matters. There is an urgency to spend time on the most productive and value-added activities. There is an urgency to learn new things, to be creative, innovative and observant. I’m excited to test how this mindset can guide action in a new setting.

2. Turn down the noise: Yes, I’m talking about Fortnite noises from my son’s room. I’m also talking about how to reduce unnecessary noise for a laser focus on what matters, both in business and internally. Are we spending our mental, emotional, social and financial capital on the things in our control? Are there opportunities for more discipline and new habits to ward off distractions? Time and energy are finite, so we must make choices to clear the way for only those things that bring value to our journey.

3. Dance in the rain: Not to be completely cliché and quote motivational barnwood signs, but “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass; it’s about learning to dance in the rain.”  The pandemic was a lesson on living in chaos, an unexpected gift of relief to realize many of the things we were trying to control aren’t in our control anyway. Our number one job is just managing ourselves and being there for others as they figure out how to manage themselves when life’s hurricanes and derechos are swirling about.

There are several ways to keep things in perspective. Employ moments of quiet and clarity. Pause for a deep breath or an observational freeze frame. Reset with ten minutes of meditation. Phone a friend. Laugh at the crazy. Finding even a tiny bit of emotional distance to zoom out and observe our collective mess is a game changer. Be more like Ferris and don’t wait for the rain to pass, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

4. Try anything and fail fast: As an entrepreneur, you learn to try stuff, even if you have zero experience with it. You get scrappy and almost desperate to try new technology. You learn to overcome the fear of failing by looking at new challenges as experiments. Sometimes, when you think it’s the right thing, you need to light the firecracker and run back to watch what happens. It might be a dud, or it might be amazing. Either way, you gain important information to keep moving forward. Being stuck in indecision and fear is the enemy of joy and progress. Conversely, an experimental mindset creates a relief valve and builds courage.

5. Good communication as a way of life: I've learned how powerful good communication is to build things - relationships, business, opportunities, joy. I look forward to using these honed skills in my new assignment to make a difference in the work we do and with whom we do it.

In conclusion, let’s do this thing!

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