Two years ago today I had worked through the night for the first time in my life, without sleep, to sign up 123 employees to answer unemployment calls for the state of California. First time I hired 123 people in a day to save a job. And, I’m located in Philadelphia! This was in the heat of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 when things were closing down and people were losing their jobs. People like you and me, who had always had a job to be able to put a roof over our heads and feed our families where becoming unemployed and struggling to stay afloat. I document this experience of how I converted my awards company into a call center in my fist published book – A Leap Year of Firsts.
During this time I was working 24/7 to keep my company afloat. I was not paying myself. I was working 24/7 for FREE! WHY????? I found my “WHY” during this craziness and chaos. I awoke on the morning of March 28, 2020 with WHY I was working 24/7 for free. It was to save jobs. Jobs of not only my employees, but other employees from other companies. I was possessed and propelled to do things I never thought I was capable of. Once I secured the jobs of my employees I ventured out to work with other companies to save their jobs. I worked with a Caterer to come up with a microwaved business plan to feed the front line workers. I filled a restaurant with my reservations for the first time. My WHY was fueling me to put myself out there for others.
The president of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce once commented “Save a Job, Saves a Life.” This stuck with me. It even inspired me to sleep on the streets of Philadelphia with the homeless for the first time on December 5th of my year of firsts. I wanted to experience the ultimate consequence of losing a job. I think of that night often. “Save a Job = Save a Life” became my “WHY” during the course of insanity of 2020 and the pandemic. That’s my story. What’s yours? What fuels you to greater heights? What’s Your WHY?