ASLU 051: Reflections On A Pandemic (and running a business)
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This week Melissa and regular guest host Heather Travis reflect on a full year of running creative small businesses during a global pandemic: the good, the bad, the silver linings and a year of pivoting.
The picture above says it all… there was nothing pretty about this last year: it was masks, inches of roots, grungy hoodies and yoga pants, exhaustion, boredom, too much loneliness, too much togetherness and worrying about everything.
Everyone has been in some form of survival mode this past year and faced challenges (and probably some very unpleasant truths) they weren’t expecting. Our bodies’ fight or flight mode has been activated every minute of every day for 12 months. It’s not meant to operate like that.
But this year has also provided some important lessons and silver linings. It really is true that when a door closes, windows open.
As creative entrepreneurs we have the ability to innovate and create hardwired into us. We know how to pivot and come up with creative solutions - that’s not a problem for us. What is our problem is that most of us get in our own way with our personal hangups around money, tech, selling or putting ourselves out there. This year forced us to get over it and get those creative solution happening.
If you just want the links to the resources mentioned in this episode, scroll down to the bottom.
Listen To the Episode
Here’s a direct link to Episode 51 - or you can listen via the players below:
Lessons From A Pandemic
Here’s some of the things we’ve discovered after reflecting on a year of running our businesses during a pandemic.
We’ve learned what’s important to us: people, things, places, values.
Mother Nature has a way of making her point - especially when we’ve stopped listening. She made us slow down this past year, she made us realize what was important and she made us think about our stewardship of Planet Earth
We’re all a lot stronger than we ever thought we could be - humans are remarkably resilient.
We can be flexible and nimble and we can pivot our businesses in ways we never thought we could.
Yes, in fact, we CAN do that thing in our business we didn’t think we could
When creative minds, governments and funding come together, humans can do truly remarkable things
The world truly is global and things that happen far away can have a huge impact on us right here at home
Supporting local has never been more important but local needs global and global needs local.
Oh hey… people who create stuff are important!
More than ever, people want to know the provenance of the things they purchase, be it food, gifts, clothing or services. Where did it come from, what’s in and who made it
A light has been shone on some tremendous inequalities and shortcomings in our country - let’s make sure we don’t ignore them and work to fix them.
People are over perfection
People are craving connections - community and connection has always been important but now more than ever
Health care workers, grocery store clerks and teachers are under appreciated.
Mentioned In This Episode
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