When disasters happen, what do you do?
As you read this, the areas where I am this week are getting ready for its second fall hurricane. I wasn’t here for the first Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour on average.
I could blog about how to prevent disasters, but that would be a lesson for another day. So, since it is top of mind, with Hurricane Nicole coming to the Volusia County Florida Coast where my husband, 2 pups, and I are right now—I will stick to the current topic.
When life sends hurricanes and all seems lost, what do you do? Do you stay and endure? Do you clean up and hope it never happens again? Or do you leave and start all over?
In the funeral, cremation, and cemetery profession, many disasters can happen. We hope none that results in a loss of life, however, many times it may feel as if someone has died.
In my case, someone did die. I was 30 years old when my dad died suddenly at age 53 of a heart attack while he was attending a funeral convention in Nashville, TN. We were not prepared to live without him, nor run the business without him (or so we thought). It was 2 a.m. when the phone rang at our home, and my mom shared that dad had died. As we witness most families who face a sudden loss, we were all in shock. We felt frozen in time and not able, we thought, to make many decisions.
I was very fortunate back then, to have two strong and experienced licensed managers at Baue’s. After I called them and put on a pot of coffee, they were at my home within 30 minutes. We sat around my tiny kitchen table, cried together, and then began to plan. Had it not been for their presence that early morning, over the next few days, weeks, and months to come, I am not sure how I would have managed to handle my dad’s death or learned to run a family business.
Having good friends, managers, and a team of people who care for you, teach you, and spend time with you thinking through solutions is imperative. What I learned during this unpredictable and sudden disaster in both my personal and professional life is that we are never alone. We must rely on and have people we surround ourselves with who “have our backs”. People who will help us clean up messes, assist in finding solutions to problems, and be there for us when disasters and tough times occur. These two men were part of my mentoring group over the years, as well as other women business owners and community leaders that also reached out to offer their support and advice.
So, ask yourself, who has your back? Who do you have to talk to when a disaster happens, or maybe just when you have a hard day or a particular business challenge? Who is there to pick up the phone and call when you just need someone to think with, someone that has the experience and knowledge to best advise you?
At Your Funeral Coach, this is what we do. We are here with my Collaborative Network Partners to help you day or night, to be a sounding board, to give you a listening ear, and to help you problem-solve.
It does not matter if you are an owner, a “want to be” owner, a manager, or an aspiring professional in our business, Your Funeral Coach is here for you. My Collaborative Network Partners and I offer an hour of our time for free, to listen, get to know you, and identify your needs and how we may help you.
To connect with us, visit YourFuneralCoach.com to set up a free consultation.
Thank you for reading my blog this week and remember, you are not alone. Disasters can and will happen at some point in our lives and our careers. They are survivable, especially if you have others to support you. Don’t leave, quit, or go to another location just yet. Let’s talk first.
My best always,
