The Challenge of Change

A cool, airy mist had taken hold among the short blades of grass from the last mow of the year. The mid-October chill of a New England autumn would be wiped out by the strange rise in temperature later in the day as was expected for the remainder of the week. My car was "tinging" and "cracking" behind me as the engine chimed down from the short drive in to work. I stepped into the building and greeted my co-workers as I had done for years prior to today. The computer booted up as I tapped the mouse forward and the generic background flashed white across my eyes. A distant, soft echo of a masked cough from the manager had rattled through the halls and naturally my first fear was that they had come into contact with the now dominating Covid-19 virus.

For weeks we had been watching the news about its fast paced spread across the country. Even in the secluded forests of the northeast US it was unavoidable and unrealistic to think it wouldn't eventually cross paths with me. I had been taking all of the recommended precautions. Washing hands, Sanitize surfaces, wear a mask. We were doing it all.

A few hours had passed in the day and as I sat, typing and focused, I heard the front office clamor and talk amongst themselves. Words like "lock the doors" and "We'll post a notice" were being uttered amongst themselves before an official announcement had been made. In my chest I already felt what had happened. The panic and concern of the confirmation was thick in the air around me and I could see it on the passing faces of the hallway.

"The manager has a confirmed diagnosis."

The words fell out from the supporting manager and while I heard them, I was locked in the shock and concern that had raced through me. I, like my colleagues, had jumped into our vehicles and raced to the nearest testing facility to see if we also would meet the same conclusion. 4 out of 7 employees, including myself, had walked out of that building with confirmations. The following weeks would prove trying on my family as I was eventually let go and joined the growing masses of unemployment.

I took the time to reflect on what I wanted in my life. Not just for myself but for my family. I had a wife and a young son to think about and even in the job I had, it wasn't enough to "improve" our lives. I had been growing angry and frustrated at the world around me. I had sunk thousands of dollars into a college education that now wasn't doing me any good. Employers wouldn't take me for lack of experience or simply that they were no longer hiring for the position. Following into Covid times, the experience I did have was also useless as many employers that could use my experience were either closing their own doors for months or just shutting down all together.

I was fast realizing the future was never going to be the same and if I wanted to survive in it then I needed to adapt and reset my skills and experience to something that was not only interesting but beneficial for me and my family. I took to the internet and found myself investing in certification courses and writing seminars that were being hosted online. For a few months prior I had been writing a book and was hoping to have had it release before the year ended (Spoiler: it didn't happen. )

I had been consuming whatever was being offered in the idea that if I apply the right set of skills to each other then perhaps something useful would come out of it. If I'm being honest, I wasn't even sure what it was for in the beginning. yet the more I learned the more ideas came into my head until one night I had the epiphany of what I was doing. I was building a business.

Currently, I have now established a business for myself using my personal hobbies as a foundation into the new future: Writing and Photography.

So what can these two polar opposites create?

"Marketing and Brand Awareness."

Now certified in marketing strategies, I work with small businesses in the area to help keep them relevant and accessible to their clients even amongst the challenge of Covid. Businesses have slowly been re-opening and while it's a great step forward the fact is that the majority of the public is still cautious when traveling into the world. Sitting in a restaurant or a traditionally tight quartered space is often nixed as a plan today and it causes many businesses to fear the outcome of these decisions.

In response I've worked to set-up marketing and business strategies for many small businesses so that people are still using their services and products without the cost of illness or sore budget constraints.

The point I aim to leave here is that regardless of what the challenge is ahead of you, there is an answer for it. Finding it is often the hardest part but if you evaluate your own personal strengths and weaknesses then you can begin to decipher what it is that will lead to a better, happier life for you.