Whether you own, operate, or keep a business going, it’s easy to get lost in the wind and grind minutiae this time of year. Sometimes, when our personal prayers start to sound like whiny wish lists, we start to feel resentful. These two concepts are not unrelated.
The year is winding down; you’re trying to make holiday plans for November and December. You’re trying to ensure your budget for the next year is ready, your cash flow is good, your work is organized, your marketing is planned, etc. It can be a recipe to feel uninspired by your work, your teammates and lose the plot altogether. Pretty soon, your teammates dread seeing you shuffle through the door with your coffee in tow and find excuses to be on a call so they don’t have to engage you!
Let’s do a reset together to keep the main thing the main thing. Ideally, we should be in jobs where we appreciate our income, our work and the people we work with. If that’s not the case for you, change your attitude or change your venue. Or, let’s consider gratitude together.
I’ll start. I am profoundly grateful for my team and here’s why.
Taylor Prado, our Creative Director has been with me from the start, while she was in high school! She has patiently grown with me and has endured my learning how to be a leader. She’s always two steps ahead of me. She has a quiet leadership method that brings the creativity out of herself and everyone around her. She is acutely aware of everyone’s wellness mentally and physically and assigns work [and humor] accordingly. She keeps me tethered to reality while also making my vision for BAMP come true.
Cassidy Marcum, our Web Developer and Graphic Designer, came to us through a client. She had a thoughtful, well-designed virtual portfolio making her an easy ‘yes’. She did client jobs on DAY ONE. Ever since, she has stealthily innovated behind the scenes. Just when I think she’s used to her fullest, she hits us with a new skill. Her design is outstanding but her willingness to step up when it seems like we have no way up has kept us moving forward for years now. Her type of nerdiness is pure gold.
Dana McMullen, our Brand Promotion Director, delayed reaching out to us despite the behest of several clients. Once we met her, her kindness, attention to detail, and determination to do any job with excellence made us basically beg her to put up with us. She fills promo and apparel orders for coast-to-coast clients without a sweat. Everyone she works with comes back because they love working with her! We’ve even gotten her to not check work email after hours!
Jody Regan, our Marketing Specialist, came when we didn’t need her but she was too talented to let go anywhere else. She has proven to be exactly what we need daily. She quietly puts up with the nonsense of her cubicle mate and keeps everyone humble when necessary. She has developed an elaborate marketing strategy for BAMP in addition to becoming proficient in every service line. She’s a quick learner and always willing to help. Not to mention, she’s an outstanding photographer!
Hadlee Kinghorn came to us as a job shadow student! We were smitten with her quiet genius. We never dreamed we would get to call her our own but her work quality keeps us on our toes and reminds us to stay ahead of the design trend curve. We can’t match her but we love seeing everything she creates. In addition to her design, we’ve loved watching her become a mindful strategist. When we shut up long enough to ask her opinion, she wows us with helpful insight.
Finally, let me brag on my pal Jay. He has been my friend since middle school. He retires from the Army next month. In the transition of doing so, he completed an internship with us to innovate our internal processes for efficiency. We never dreamed he’d think we were cool enough to follow a career of defending America with. He has learned in a few short months skills we’ve worked the past nine years to develop. Turns out protecting America is a versatile training. He keeps us looking and thinking forward in practical, measurable ways. He is the motivation we didn’t know we needed!
I can promise you I don’t deserve a single thing or person in my life. Thanks to this team, my husband, my parents and close friends and family, I get to live a life of being a mom while also running a successful creative endeavor that serves clients who we consider to be friends. Do I search on Indeed from time to time to remind myself of how good I have it? Yes. Do I lose sleep wondering how to keep the train on the tracks? Yes. Does my fretting change the fact God has been the exclusive glue to our success? No.
Thank you to everyone who is a part of this tapestry. Thanks for making life meaningful and memorable both on and off the job.
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