“You can’t pivot with arms full of crap.”
— Seena Hodges, Founder + CEO of The Woke Coach
Today, The Woke Coach launched a new workshop series - THE HOMEWORK SESSIONS. We are really proud of the series and are grateful that we have the type of work that allowed us to move our work online during these wildly unprecedented, yet somehow familiar times. This series will give us the opportunity to maintain the quality and integrity of work that we have already been delivering and meet our clients where there are right now.
What we have done, to an extent, is pivot.
The definition of pivot is the central point, pin, or shaft on which a mechanism turns or oscillates. The central point of our work is anti-racism and previously we did this work in person. That meant a few things: it was mainly local work—sometimes national— and the work required that people convened in the same space to have a collective experience.
It’s funny how we believed that we needed to physically share space to achieve a desired outcome. What we’ve realized amidst COVID-19 is that although the ability to convene in person has changed for the moment —the necessity of our anti-racist work certainly has not. It has actually increased. (that’s another blog post…)
Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with a group of women and non-binary folks about our new normal and the concept of pivoting. To be clear the session was called “F*ck the Pivot" and I appeared with my new friend Nora McInerny and Erinn Farrell from The Coven in Saint Paul, MN. The conversation was a rich and full one that ended up being cathartic for me.
In advance of the conversation with Nora and Erin, I was asked to share some advice about pivoting as a business owner (among other things). Here is what I offered:
Know your worth and don't compromise. People will remember that you did.
DO IT AT YOUR OWN PACE! We seldom forgive people and businesses that provide crappy or half-baked experiences--even in bad times.
Never ever let fear and anxiety be your guides. Period!
Many of us hold so many things and take on so many roles. We are business owners, parents, partners, caretakers, employees, leaders…you name it. Once the pandemic hit, I had no idea what to do with all of the identities that I hold. When the Stay At Home orders were put in place and our lives came to a halt, I was frozen—quite literally. I wasn’t ready to move or do anything. I realized that in order to run my business, I needed to take care of myself and that had to come first. I’m glad I took that time. Was I worried about the impact of inaction on my business? Yes! But the session with those gracious, grateful humans let me know that it was all worth it and the advice that I ended up giving the conversation attendees was also intended for me.
So, this is where we are. We may not be on the perfect track, but we are in the place and space that we are supposed to be in right now—and we are grateful. Stay tuned…