In this episode, Kelly discusses how to focus on the right things during the COVID-19 crisis, including coping strategies and lessons moving forward.
Kelly is married but does not have any children, which is somewhat of a blessing, however lonely. She lost her dog in the fall. Kelly’s husband works in nursing homes, so he is really on the frontline of the coronavirus problem. She mentions how he talks about the concept of “peacetime CEOs vs. Wartime CEOs,” and how he has largely become a wartime one in the middle of all of this. Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York are all locking down around Rhode Island, and you can’t even send the elderly flowers during Holy Week, which has been hard for Kelly, as a Catholic. “It’s difficult, as a leader, to turn off COVID-19,” she says.
Kelly mentions a few of the consequences of the quarantining:
- Personality types are coming out full-force
- There’s a feeling of take care of “your family first”
- People are passing judgment on frontline workers and the otherwise selfless; try to relinquish judgment if possible, it’s part of their superpowers.
- We are trying to identify our new roles and responsibilities while trying to take care of our families.
Despite the setbacks, Kelly has been able to transfer clients to virtual, and she is excited to launch the online course. “We cannot judge each other, but we also have to step up to the plate,” Kelly posits as a response to the fear we are experiencing. She names two camps: fear of the disease and fear of the economy. Because people are afraid, we need to be kind to how people are reacting to this. “The idea that we are going to go back to normal is still far away; the idea that business will need to transform is crystal clear,” she reflects. Kelly says she’s coming home exhausted every day, and has never been this tired.
So, how do we focus this week on what’s next?
- We lean on things that are sometimes unhealthy—
- Curb the emotional eating.
- Curtail the drinking a good bit, too.
- Watch your consumption of news; it can get overwhelming when it’s all everyone is talking about
- Kelly is going to try yoga!
- In a hopeless, helpless time, it helps to have a little control over projects in our lives, one day at a time.
And to everyone else:
- Hardship makes the best of us, it’s just a matter of getting there.
- Things will be different, and that’s okay.
- What is this teaching you?
- For Kelly, it’s holistically looking at the business.
- This is a time of transitions.
- Don’t put off your bucket list items.
- Investing in yourself is not a bad thing.
- Fear is an (irrational) emotion that you can control.
- Identifying the fears helps a lot to process them.
- It’s okay to be a little sad, or distraught, or confused as we get through this.
Kelly is going to keep putting up the daily videos. She believes optimism is the answer. She’s found a lot of comfort in listening to Brené Brown. The industry needs to be prepared for what the market is going to do in the coming months.
“Sometimes, you need to go and binge watch Tiger King for four hours.”
Kelly gives a very special shout-out to all the first responders and medical professionals. And a reminder that it’s nice that the flowers don’t know there is a pandemic going on.
Stay safe everyone, and remember to send in your 3-minute videos!
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