Happy 1st Birthday LE3!

Looking Back

This same day one year ago I received a call that just sucked.

It was my second time being laid off because my position was being eliminated.  Round one, I had a 6-week-old boy, so the distraction was high, and it felt like a bit of a relief.

Round two, there was no distraction. I was neck deep into my role with a resolve that kept me up more hours than it should have, always willing to travel and hell bent on completing the projects to carry out my vision for resident experience.

It was 9:30 am, I had 6 hours before IT cut my cord.  Being COVID, I had driven to Dunkin to get a drive-thru coffee.  I sat in my car and cried.  The wave of feelings started; anger, disbelief, embarrassment, betrayal, financial responsibility, and loss of my pride and professional identity.  I went through all the emotions like anyone has felt when they are blindsided with unemployment.  Looking back, the slew of feelings to unpack were completely one-sided. In my emotional-state they came from a place of infliction and unfairness.  Nevertheless, I knew I needed to sort them out. The level headed, rational side of me soon learned the following:

People vs Corporation

The personal evaluation compared to a company’s pragmatic decision making to keep the bottom line black will never line up.  There are no feelings tied to corporate survival and how a company makes cuts.  Luckily, I learned this time around how the process works; names are not even present, just some titles and the capacity for some other department or person to absorb the work. 

For the record, Kelly and I think every person should encounter two experiences in life.  1. Being let go from a job you enjoy.  2. Working in food & beverage and/or retail.

Keep Moving Forward

But this writing is not to share a sad story, point a finger or have a pity party. Instead, celebrate what has been the best professional year of my career. Building a brand with a great partner and having a blast doing it. Congrats to anyone who has found success on your own. It is not easy and not guaranteed for any length of time.

But there is also a sincere, heartfelt goodwill for all of our former employers. Sometimes the best things transpire from the rubble of our greatest, but limited plans. The “provider” setting provided us with a foundation that we did not recognize was being formed and exposure to a network built by simply talking and connecting, never expecting to start a company. 

Side note - I always knew the industry was small, but it is even smaller.  Don’t burn a bridge.

So…

Happy First Birthday to LE3 Solutions (formerly know as Life Elevated 3, circa 2017). That is the backstory. A company that came to life because of corporate death(s).  Four to be exact. Kelly is in the two-timer club as well.  It feels like our rite of passage, our learning ground, training camp(s) and required pre-requisite to fully understand all sides of the space:  residents, families, staff, vendors, innovators, owners and operators. 

Lessons Learned, Wisdom Earned

1. A year+ without seeing residents; giving and receiving hugs and hearing stories is a really, really long time.   This first year of work has one HUGE missing component - people.

2. Can we get to the point of accepting we are NOT the smartest people in the room?  When surrounded by and servicing and caring for older adults we must acknowledge their wisdom and life experiences.  What if we started to admit that many of the answers we are seeking and hiring people to do are a mere conversation a few feet away. I’d take finding new work for voices to be heard!

3. Do not assume people are unwilling to use technology just because you think they may be uncomfortable or intimidated by technology (family, residents and staff)

4. Intentional downtime without nonstop entertainment and distraction is not a bad thing.  We must make space for one’s personal interests, commitments, pursuits and more time to plan, strategize and educate all staff.

5. We have sucked at a lot of things: proofreading (curiosities 😊 for those that know this reference), QuickBooks, Canva, Venngage, Squarespace, SEO, E-commerce, giving away too much in a scope of work, not giving enough details in a scope of work, determining a client’s preferences for “Zoom” meetings (camera, no camera, seated or free to move, kids or no kids/animals, casual or business up top).  To learn something new you must first be bad at it! 

A Big Thank You from Us

For those that believed in me early on and took Kelly into the project without question or hesitation, thank you.  For those that mentored me month 1 and shared a few tips on how in the world to even put together a scope, what kind of consulting agreement I should use, or advice on making sure you are not only a consulting business, thank you. To the first 3 people (Alex Goldscher, Darin LaGrange and Tom Grape) that believed in an imperfect, but passionate pitch and entrusted your project to LE3, thank you. You were a collective catalyst.

For those that doubted we would succeed in the most disruptive year in aging services, or questioned why someone would leave a great company and guaranteed salary to go “play” and take on the unknown risks, thank you.  Being doubted and the desire to work to prove people wrong is solid motivation. If you love the underdog, you don’t mind being the underdog (Go Buffalo Bills)

For those that have rejected a scope, denied a meeting or found someone else to do the work, thank you. Rejection is the best teacher and has taught us not every project is a good project or every company a good partner.

Here’s to year 2!