My life and business superheroes in 2020
So, apparently it takes a village to raise a child. So too a brand and a business, and I have a village of superheroes that keep me not just ticking along nicely, but thriving. We’ve all heard that old adage that your network is your net worth (which feels quite transactional and borderline icky, to be honest), but there’s no denying that the people in our circle have an impact on us. When you have a circle that’s as incredible as mine, well, there’s not enough words in the dictionary for me to adequately convey my appreciation. Instead, let’s go with a letter of admiration in the form of a blog post, shall we?
Remember Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs from every first year psychology unit in almost every bachelor degree in existence? While I recall very little from my Bachelor of Applied Science (Nursing), I remember that babies are born covered with a cheese-like substance called vernix and that pure potassium is deadly and is untraceable- or it was then, now I’m not sure so perhaps find another way to … ahem, where was I? Oh yes, first year psychology. I’m a sucker for any sort of graphic that makes sense to me as a decidedly non-visual person, and Maslow’s Heirarchy is often presented as a neat and tidy pyramid. According to Maslow’s here’s what we need to be a functioning and functional human from big ass bottom through to teeny tip:
1- Physiological needs such as shelter, water, food, warmth, rest and health.
2- Safety to feel secure in our lives and our surroundings such as law and order, protection from threats such as violence or sickness and of course we need economic safety to counter threats such as income security.
3- Love and belonging needs that meet our requirements as social creatures that connect #thevillage
4- Esteem needs are actually two-fold; respect from others and the respect for oneself.
5- Self-actualisation is how we aware of how we are realising our full potential, bringing our best self to life.
So, what does ye olde Maslow have to do with my village of life and business superheroes? Everything, especially in this year, when my business came to a grinding halt in March in Melbourne’s first lockdown, giving me an unexpected silver lining of creating Write Here Right Now and Band of Batchers, not only the enduring highlights of my professional (and personal!) year, but also possibly the best programs I’ve ever come up with in my business.
I look at my circle, and I see each and every hierarchy well and truly covered. Of course, we’re not static beings and so my superheroes cover multiple domains.
I am blessed with a diversity of clients across sectors and industries- from corporate, to personal branding, to people with businesses. I’ve worked with incredible people sharing formidable content through Band of Batchers and Write Here Right Now and there are no words for the buzz I get when I see their work unfold across socials, work that started life in scribbled, outline form using the resources I share, written in the space I facilitated. It’s my absolute privilege to hold space for the batch writers that have crossed my path, that have shared openly and without reservation within the writing ‘room’.
My squad of mum friends are without a doubt one of the perks of having children. They have been by my side at every school event (sanctioned or otherwise) and our daughters are regular fixtures in each others’ homes. There’s real comfort in knowing my cherub has a circle of women around her, and I’m utterly thrilled to provide the same. These women are my rocks. Ever supportive and encouraging, tolerant of my (regular) rants about school drop off and pick up shenanigans and always there for me, including the 3 hour phone calls that could/should have been a walk. Yes, Jannah, I’m looking at you.
My Thriving Women soul-sisters headed up by Emma have changed my self-actualising life. My development, personally and professionally has been on crack since our very first dinner and I’m so excited for the adventures of the year(s) ahead.
Last but of course not least my friends and family- my husband and cherubs and of course my ma and pa and the friends who’ve been there long before I became Mama, Blue51 head honcho and have known me for the long haul.
Without this circle I wouldn’t have had an incredible year within a year that has us all muttering WTAF with every new headline. Inspired by my favourite Numbers Nerd, Julie at Cocoon Business Solutions, I’ve done a bit of number crunching:
27 separate Content Blasts detailing 864 individual content pieces
35 individual blog posts for four separate brands, with a total just shy of 20,000 words
14 websites covered with a sprinkling of Word Nerd glitter, including my own!
68 batch writing sprints across 15 events, with an approximate word count in excess of 170,000 words, including course programs, blog content, social media posts, email campaigns and books. While each and every sprint fills me with glee, I’m most proud of being witness to the birth of an incredible book- sprint by sprint, month by month, event by event I watched it unfold and this is truly something special, the process and the book!
12,212 times saying ‘pop your questions in the chat box’ during speaking gigs- in fact, this year, I only had one face to face speaking gig in early February, the rest were all virtual, which while curtailing my tendency to pace, actually have so many benefits to face to face delivery.
47,000 coffees, either with clients as part of my Communications over Coffee sessions or my Word Nerd in your Pocket communications mentoring; and last, but of course not least
1 business book launched with much fanfare minus an actual/standard book launch with a wonderful, mind-blowing, gratitude-inducing response.
So that’s my year in numbers, and none of these numbers would be possible without my village of superheroes.
Tell me, who is in your village? Do they cover off Maslow’s hierarchy?