For me, like most; the pandemic has been tough. Dealing with my own and my family’s emotions regarding lock down is exacerbated by the tricky conversations with business owners and friends about where their business or their careers will end up. The harsh reality of letting people go or being let go themselves.
Recently I had a really tough week. Everyone it seemed needed a little bit of my “happy” and by Friday afternoon I was drained and still had one more conversation to go. This call was with a business owner I hadn’t yet spoken to. I had prepared and sent through to her employment contracts, position descriptions and task plans. Let’s call the business owner Suzy. Suzy needed some assistance in understanding what the documents meant and how they worked together. She was referred to me through Nicole Thomas from the Essendon Hub.
I didn’t want to make the call. But I had made a commitment, so it was time to follow through. I put on my “big girl pants” and picked up the phone. I was glad I did. Suzy and I had a great conversation. I found out she was just about to turn 70 and needed to get the business in order so she could look to sell and retire. Sounded like bliss to me. She was a lovely woman and so grateful that I took the time to go through the documents and help her piece it all together. She understood the how’s and the why’s. I did that!
I hung up the phone and took stock of this new emotion welling in me. Gratitude laced with happy! Suzy had made me remember why we started our business. To help business owners concentrate on doing what they do best and achieve their dreams; hopefully ending in a happy retirement for all of us. That’s the difference I want to make. I gave a happy cheer to Nicole and her team for giving me the gift of “Suzy”.
Sometimes, these little gems happen. No, I didn’t create a vaccine for Covid or create world peace. I am reminded of the lovely story of the starfish. A man walked along a beach, littered with starfish. He watched a youth throw a starfish back in the sea as more continued to wash up on the shore. He asked the youth what he was doing. The man said, “you can’t possibly make a difference, there are thousand of starfish here”. The youth looked at the man and tossed another starfish back in the ocean. “I made a difference to that one”.
Me too.
Lee‑Anne Hunt
Director, HR Dept Ringwood