Building Good Rapport - Resiliency
Why do I keep having discussions on Resiliency?
For these last couple of weeks it feels like I’ve talked about resiliency constantly.Whether it is with my mom, my therapist, my friends or at a networking event for women entrepreneurs. Resiliency was a topic at the Women Who Launch speaker session I attended recently, hosted by The United Women in Business Organization. The founder of Aavrani, Rooshy Roy was a speaker at this event, and she stated that resiliency is a key skill to have as an entrepreneur. This resonated with me because I’ve needed to display this skill in every aspect of my life and specifically, with my entrepreneurship venture.
Regarding my entrepreneurship venture, I’ve spent the last two years building a sustainable, american made, women’s workwear company based in New York City while working full-time in the finance industry. This was very challenging and enjoyable at the same time. I spent months finalizing product samples, planning the lifestyle shoot and arranging production. I diligently met with my creative team, prepped all the details of the shoot, the location, the models, the styling deck, the additional props, covering all the details for this one lifestlye shoot. As expected, I was invested in every aspect of this process and every detail that was planned. I was ready to see my ideas executed on shoot day.
The night before the shoot, I woke up with an achy stomach but went right back to sleep since I thought it was nerves. I had been working hard, knew I was a bit exhausted but was energized to see my vision for the brand in the physical world. I woke up early that morning with anticipation of the day ahead but felt sick with sever stomach pain. I gave my creative team a heads-up that I may not be able to be on set that day, hoping that I would feel better in a few hours. This was not the case and since I had all the samples and extra clothing for the models, I had to get them to the set so we would not cancel the shoot. I gathered my strength, the clothings and made my way to the shoot which, thankfully, was only a couple minutes away from my apartment. There was a brief moment of hope when I thought that I could push through and stay on set all day.
After dropping off the clothing, another wave of severe pain took over and I had to quickly return to my apartment to rest and hopefully recover. The next day, I woke up still in pain but thought I could push through again and make it to work. For the last two years, I went to the office almost every day except when on vacation. I was very hesitant to take a day-off. After speaking with my mom she convinced me to go to Urgent Care since I was not recovering. The doctor’s visit started like any other but shortly into the exam the doctor notified me that I needed to go straight to the emergency room. I quickly went home and headed to the hospital. Little did I know that it was Appendicitis and that within the next 24 hours, I would undergo emergency laparoscopic surgery.
As I recovered from surgery and on short-term disability, I was diagnosed with a sinus infection further prolonging my recovery back to good health. With two illnesses back to back, I had to cancel the October launch of my venture. This meant canceling the official launch event in Soho and other events. In all honesty, I was emotionally crushed missing my brand’s first lifestyle shoot but the disappointment from canceling the launch was literally soul crushing. Things were not going as planned and I needed to regroup and create a new plan. I had to think about the bigger picture. My goal to build a successful sustainable women’s workwear company was not going to fail because I had a medical setback for a few weeks. I reminded myself that everything happens for an opportunity, I was blessed with life and can use this time to do more work for a successful launch. This got me through they’re-planning process.
I did not know it at the time, but I was demonstrating resilience. To make progress on my venture, I need to be adaptable, accepting and working through the challenges. At the time, I questioned why this was happening to me and why at this time. But in the coming weeks, there were production delays and my questions were answered. In a weird way, getting sick provided an opportunity. It allowed me to push the launch so that we had products in stock. It also allowed me to reallocate funds to initiatives with a higher return on investment while building out other service lines of the business.
Resilience is key to entrepreneurship and it is also key to life. The ability to recover when plans go awry happens in life and in business. One’s ability to adapt, accept changes, create new plans, learn and keep striving towards one’s goals is definitely the key skill for entrepreneurs, especially for those who are starting their first venture. I am learning this skill in real-time. Have I mastered resiliency? No, but belief in myself, my vision, and hard work helps me to stay focused on accomplishing my goal, and in so doing building my resilience.