Ep #22: Redefining Success During the Pandemic: A Conversation with 3 Senior Leaders

Stacy Mayer: Leadership is a learned skill.

Welcome to episode #22.

You guys are in for such a treat. In today's episode, I'm interviewing three of my 1:1 coaching clients who have all had to redefine success for themselves as a leader during this crisis. All odds have been stacked against them, as they might be for you right now. But yet they have been able to overcome those obstacles and not only persevere, but thrive during this time of crisis. They're going to tell you exactly how they've been doing it, what their mindset has been like, and show you how you can redefine success for yourself as well. Listen on!

Welcome to Maximize Your Career with Stacy Mayer, a podcast about achieving your career goals while also being yourself.

Hello, everyone, welcome to another episode of Maximize Your Career with Stacy Mayer. I am super excited about today's episode today. I have brought on three of my clients to speak with you guys. These clients have just really been doing amazing work throughout this crisis, throughout our entire coaching engagement, throughout their entire career. But I thought that it would be really awesome to hear from three people who are each working in an industry that has its challenges right now. And they have not only persevered through this crisis, but I really see them as thriving and stepping up to a greater level of leadership.

Each of them our vice presidents at their organization as well, which is super exciting. And I believe that they are operating at a senior vice president level right now, if not a c-suite level. And you've heard me talk about this on the podcast before. But it is a really excellent way to not only get the recognition that you deserve eventually, but it's also an excellent way to really be able to make that impact immediately, not when I get the job, but right now. And that is what each one of these leaders have been able to do throughout this crisis. And so I wanted to bring them on today to really just talk to you, inspire you, and show you what is possible if you truly allow yourself to step up to the plate.

Why don't we just start with Corine? So Corine is a vice president of Human Resources. She works in manufacturing. And Corine, why don't you just take a moment here to say hello. Tell us a little bit about what's going on for you today, and then I'll just ask you a series of questions.

Corine Christoff: Hello, everyone. My name is Corine Christoff, based out of Pennsylvania, do work in manufacturing, primarily in the automotive sector, along with some other diversified products. What we have going on right now is we've unfortunately furloughed the majority of our factories from everybody, from the salary personnel down to the hourly personnel. And most recently have started bringing some of them back, which is exciting, challenging and scary all at the same time. Getting them back is not as easy as it sounds in this pandemic, because they need to come back in a safe fashion and they need to feel confident about coming back. So we have to present that to them and make sure that they feel confident when they enter into the workforce and are ready to come back to work.

Stacy Mayer: Now, you're in a unique position because you're the vice president of human resources, but you're actually the top of the chain of command. You report directly to the CEO, correct?

Corine Christoff: Correct.

Stacy Mayer: So when you talk about it being challenging to bring people back to work, that's basically your job.

Corine Christoff: Yes. There's nobody else to turn to to ask... There's my other network of H.R. folks out there in the world. But as far as facilities, I'm it. So I'm making a lot of decisions based on what we hear, the moment in time that we're in and not just trying to get through it and working with the other executives as well. When we furloughed, we furloughed down to the six executive team members and the plant managers, and that was it. So we had to really kind of put on our work hats and take on roles and activities that we haven't done in a really long time. And then now as we're starting to power back up, we're still seeing some of those uncertain areas that we haven't treaded water in a long time. But I'm at the top. There isn't any another HR resource to look to.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. One of the things that really impressed me about you, Kiran, is that you you're all of a sudden having to help them file unemployment claims. You're doing payroll. Things that you haven't done for a very long time in your career. But then you also were able to do some really high level leadership work. You didn't allow yourself to get so mired down by the tasks that were now added to your list of things to do. So if you could just describe to us how did you, "stay out of the weeds" to allow yourself to be able to think more strategically, more bigger picture, for the organization.

Corine Christoff: Well, it definitely brought us challenges, because some of those tasks with 300+ employees, could be daunting when you're trying to file claims for them.

But I just had to to kind of stay focused on the bigger picture. Had to stay very connected to what was going on in the current events, what was going on with our team, our business, our sales, our customers, and try to stay in that forward looking mode as much as it would drag you down in the day to day. If you don't look forward, you can't plan for when you do start back up and how to do it in the right way.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, so that is one of the questions that I wanted to ask you was how are you defining success right now? But there's this idea that you've really connected with the people, you connected with all the actual employees, with the customers, different people like that. You also mentioned research. So it sounds like instead of pulling back, you dove in in a way. You're like: 'OK, I'm going to do payroll, And I'm going to do more research than I did before. I'm going to find a way to really think bigger picture.'

Corine Christoff: Yeah, I mean. With only a few resources out there. We really didn't have a choice, but in the end, it's becoming to me a bright spot because I was able to really spend some time with the employees. Because some of them, there's a whole mental side of this, too, and people feeling very uncertain. And the anxiety and just the angst of being out there and not knowing what the next day's going to look like. I spent some time connecting with them, trying to reassure them that we will get through this together. This too shall pass is kind of a saying. I've been saying for quite some time now. But the days drag on and the weeks drag on. People become more and more nervous that maybe this isn't going to end. So you have to kind of keep that calm, keep that focus. But you also have to be looking at: what does the day look like when they do come back? It really had to try to stay focused on that and connected to the news. In the first week was very daunting and overwhelming. As things started to move along, it got a little less overwhelming, but really trying to just stay focused on what was affecting our business and how adapting to that. And you really could then.. Let's just say the politics and all of those other things that came into play and really decipher out, what did it mean for our business sector and how we were managing through that?

Stacy Mayer: So how do you define success then in your role as an H.R. leader?

Corine Christoff: To me, I think as we managed working at our Michigan facility and we're bringing people back and the fact that people are not fighting us to come back, they're not feeling unsafe when they're doing it. They're not telling us: 'Absolutely, I'm scared to death to come out of my house. Nope. I'll be back to work.'

To me it's a success. And I feel that I was able to keep not only that group home and focused to come back to work, but the people that were working. So at our c-suite we connect twice a day. As they would start to kind of get unraveled a little bit, I tend to be the calming voice that says: 'OK, let's stop. Let's look at what we're doing, let's assess where we're going and let's figure this out together. And then kind of grounds people back down. So to me, success has been the calming factor and the fact that we're now bringing people back to work in a very well organized, very safe manner.

Stacy Mayer: One of the things I wanted to talk to you about, and if you're open to this is like: we didn't start coaching together in the crisis. We were getting together a good six, seven, eight months ago. Right? And I would say that that calming force, as an observer, is something that you've always done quite well. You've always been the calming force. But the person that really shined and that I am proud of you to see is that the side of you that, now let's come up with a solution. These are the things that we need to focus on and move forward. So not only are you able to be that rock, that grounded, calming force, but you're also able and we can talk about in a minute, one of the big solutions that you came up with for your organization that I think really allowed people to feel safe, to feel like they're excited to come back to work and they know that you have a plan in place to keep them safe and healthy. So how are you surprised in this crisis as far as your own ability to really come up with those solutions, to be a little bit of both for the organization?

Corine Christoff: Well, when we started talking about bringing people back to work, my first instinct was, let's just not. It's just easier. It's way easier for me if we don't have people in the facilities. But in reality, we knew that that was going to be something. So I think what surprised me the most was just working with the team and having them look to me for the solution. And having them look to me.

Stacy Mayer: Are you talking about the leadership team?

Corine Christoff: The actual, the c-suite team.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. This is a big deal. That's why I wanted to point that out. So the executive team was looking to you.

Corine Christoff: And what are we going to do? How are we going to get these people back here and how are we going to have a great staff again that's comfortable coming back to work? And so it was put on to me to research what's being put in place around all the industries. And I kind of went to work and I sat through more webinars than I probably ever sat through my entire life so far in these eight weeks. But now that I'm sitting in them, even today, I'm finding out that what we have in place is top notch. We're doing what everybody else is doing and even above and beyond that. So I feel really good about that. I'm very proud of what we put together.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. And one of the things I always encourage my clients to do is. To use "I" language, and I know that it's hard to do, but I am very proud of what you put together. I'm just going to own that for you. It's OK to say "we" because it was a leadership team and it was an executive team. But you did a lot to really drive this. And not only that, but to build trust ahead of time, which is the reason that in the middle of a crisis that the leadership team was able to immediately go to you and say: 'Corine, what can we do? What can we what do we need to do right now? I trust you to help lead us through this.'

Corine Christoff: Yes, so I did lead the steering team. And I did put all of the information in front of them to organize, and we as a team then devised this playbook. But I was the leader in the information, the content, that went into it and we built from that content to make it an actual what we call a safety playbook. A call from everything from: who's in charge in each facility if something were to happen, to what cleaning protocol that we have, to what frequency is that cleaning protocol, even down to what materials are we using to provide that cleaning service. Health screenings as employees come into work, and temperature taking, and all of those things. Social distancing. We have a facility that has 200 employees in it and it's not a really large facility,  so the lunch room is very small. So we had to put maximum capacity, and ow are we going to alter break times in order to accommodate that the size of that room? So everything from sanitizing at the door to sanitizing while they're there. So a lot of a lot of thought and work went into that playbook. But it's really comprehensive and I'm really proud of it.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. Thank you for owning that. Because as a listener, one of the really great things, and this is why part of my mission is to get so many talented people like you promoted into leadership, is because when they hear you, when you started going on, I saw the nods from the other two people who are about to speak. It's impressive. And it's but it's also impressive to hear you own that and be proud of that. And I hope that the listeners who are listening and feel intimidated by using things like "I" language and 'I did this research', it's it's not always about you. Because Corine doesn't have an ego. This is why I started with her. She's just like huge smile on her face. Wonderful, beautiful person to be around it. She's not ego-driven at all. But yet it's so empowering to other people to hear you speak that way and to hear you say, you know, I worked hard, and because of that, people are going to be able to come back and be able to feel safe and feel connected. And we as an organization are going to do better because of that work that I put in. So thank you.

Corine Christoff: Thank you.

Stacy Mayer: Well, we're going to move on to the next person, and we'll circle back with you, Corine, before we have to say goodbye. But thank you so much for sharing your story. It's been an absolute pleasure to be your guide on this journey all through the crisis and even before. So thank you.

Corine Christoff: I appreciate you having me on here today.

And Jennifer. So Jennifer is another one of my vice president clients. She's a vice president of sales and she actually works in the study abroad division. I laugh because it's just so ah! So she works in international study abroad sales. So she gets a double whammy there. But boy, Jennifer is a force to be reckoned with. And I have just been so impressed by your leadership throughout this crisis. And thank you so much for coming on here to share it with us. So please take a minute to introduce yourself and tell us what you've been using to stay focused on this journey.

Jennifer Fisher: Thank you Stacy for having me. It's it's a privilege to be part of this podcast, so thank you very much. My name is Jennifer Fisher and I am the vice president of sales at WorldStrides Higher Education. And we sell study abroad programs to colleges and universities. And it has just been absolutely crazy. Like our whole industry has been shut down. We don't even know if colleges are going to be in session on campus in the fall. But it's definitely something that we have to figure out, like what are we going to do? We have to continue to move forward and what is that future going to look like? So it's definitely about putting some plans in place and and moving forward is key.

Stacy Mayer: So one of the things that you did is be super proactive, right? I mean, we're talking January. So can you tell us what went on in your mind back in January?

Jennifer Fisher: Surprisingly, when covid was starting. So it was throughout China and Southeast Asia. And so from my background in sales, my initial thought is: 'OK. How can we go help out our university partners who are going to China probably with maybe another provider, another company? What can we do to help them maybe move their program to Europe or Scotland, things like that.' And so we were reaching out, and proactively reaching out to all of our college and university partners, seeing how we could help them, what we could do. But seeing that, this could happen, this could move in towards Europe. I mean, at the time I was thinking probably not. But you have to prepare. The move in towards Europe, which is our biggest destination for college and university students, never really thinking about what would happen in America, just that we're trying to get students to travel. And so really, just had to sit down and be a visionary and put a plan in place to say: 'If A happens, this is how we're going to deal with it. If it goes to B, we'll implement this when we get to B and just really be able to lay out this plan and really show up as that strong leader of the team who is starting to freak out a little bit, that the whole higher ed international travel industry is becoming very questionable and really saying: 'hey, we've got this plan. We've got this. We've got to follow the plan and keep moving forward.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, so impressive. And then there's this other impressive thing that happened. So tell us about your March and April sales numbers.

Corine Christoff: Yes. It's really very exciting, because I wasn't really thinking... We put our plan in place, like: 'This is the plan.' I laid it out to my boss. It's like: 'This is what we're going to be doing and everything.' Worst case scenario happened across the board. So we went right into our plan that I had put together and off we went and we implemented the plan on March 16. I remember that day well. 'Ok troops. This is how we're moving forward.' And it ended up being the month of March and the month of April were our best months, the best March, the best April ever. Like we had our highest months ever. And and right now we're pacing in May to have our best may ever. Sometimes I run the numbers and I'm like: 'Oh, my gosh. Look at this.' But yeah. So it's really quite an accomplishment and I'm very proud of that.

Stacy Mayer: I really want to point out this is not a coincidence, this thing with Corine creating this protocol that other people are looking at. And I'm like: 'Wow, this is this is not what everybody is doing.' Not everybody is having their best March, April and now May months throughout this crisis. So how did you keep that mindset? How did you stay focused on what's important?

Jennifer Fisher: The biggest thing for me was being out of the weeds. We started our coaching sessions a while ago. So fortunately for me, I had already been in the coaching session and I had already pulled myself out of the weeds. And now I clearly understand why I need to be the visionary on this, because I had to put that plan in place. The teams looking to me to say: 'What are we going to do? Our whole industry is falling apart.' And I had to be able to show up strong and say: 'This is the plan. We're going to get through this. Things, quite honestly, may suck for a little bit, but we've got to focus on what we can control. And what we can control is what's happening today, right now, right now with our partners at our colleges and universities. And this is what we're going to do, one day at a time.' And just letting the team know we're going to do this together, and here's the plan for today. And every morning, having team huddle ups. And every time you're like: 'This is what we're going to do. You guys are doing awesome. And just keep reiterating that we've got to focus and we still have to move forward. If we stop or we don't have an industry. So we have to move forward and you have to stay focused and move that business forward.'

Stacy Mayer: So speaking of surprises as well, is there anything that really surprised you that you're very proud of in your ability to step up throughout this crisis?

Jennifer Fisher: I think the biggest thing, the biggest surprise for me, was really being about that strong, impactful leader. Thinking strategically and having a vision, and knowing that this this could come down the pipe. So let's put a plan in place and gain that strategic vision. And there are times, and I think back to many months ago and having conversation with you and really thinking like: 'OK, you know, this is the basketball game, right? And the ball is dribbling down the court. You don't need me jumping in and grabbing the ball and running down and getting a hoop. You need me directing it and stepping back so I can see everything.' And oh my gosh, that is so important. And I got to see firsthand how important it is throughout this Covid. Honestly, if I wasn't pulled out and wasn't able to focus on the vision and the plan, I don't know where we would be right now. And that team is looking at you. So it's like, you know what? I've got to show up as a leader and help guide them to move our business forward.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, because you started out with, surprise, using the words like strong and powerful leader. And I was like: 'Well, yeah. You've always been that.' The day I met you. Like, that's not a question you want, but you nailed it right there. You would get your hands dirty. You would you would be that strong and powerful leader by fixing it for other people. Like, I'm going to fix this. I'm going to do everything and I'm going to show you how to fix that. right? Like, I get I get in there and I get dirty. But this time, I guess the surprise was that you were able to step back and to allow other people to step up, allow other people to shine, but to guide them along the way.

Jennifer Fisher: That's right. That's right. It was definitely very surprising in that I was able to do that, and not only was able to do that, we were so successful.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, I was going to say it worked.

Jennifer Fisher: Even like before, if I thought I was being a strong, impactful leader, now I'm showing up 100% more times as that strong, impactful leader. This is what I was made for. And I think I even said one time to you: 'we're in a little bit of a crisis. We got this.'

Stacy Mayer: And now people are asking for your advice, just like to Corine's point, too. It's like the leadership team is coming to you. Because there are other sales divisions at your organization as well, and they're like: 'Let's talk to Jennifer. She's doing something magic over there.'

Jennifer Fisher: Absolutely. And my boss is the chief revenue officer of the whole whole company at WorldStrides, which which is all about educational travel, but many divisions. A high school division, sports division, all these different divisions and performing arts, all sorts of things. And he's in charge of all of them. And yes, right now, my chief revenue officers like; "Jen, you and your team are the jewel of the company. You're the only team in all the divisions of world that is moving the business forward.' And so he's he's pulling things together so I can share what we're doing. And really he's just like: 'You got to be doing what Jen's teams doing.'

Stacy Mayer: Unbelievable. It's so exciting. And that feels great, right?

Jennifer Fisher: Yeah.

Stacy Mayer: Now, I got to get you guys some more money after this podcast. Yovani, how are you doing over there?

Yovani Pina: Hey Stacy. This is fantastic.

Stacy Mayer: Isn't it awesome.

Yovani Pina: I love this. Thanks for the opportunity.

Stacy Mayer: Yovani works in performing arts. He's the vice president of technology. And yeah, another industry that's not soaring during this time. But yet you've been able to really step up and become a leader for your company as well. So just introduce yourself and tell us what has been coming up for you.

Yovani Pina: Yeah, absolutely. Thanks again for letting me participate on this. I'm in great company with Corine and Jennifer, so thanks for the opportunity. My name is Yovani Pina. And as you said, I'm the vice president of information technology for the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Colorado. We're one of the nation's largest, not for profit theatre organizations. And yeah, this little pandemic thing has thrown us quite a curveball without having audiences to come and see the shows that either tour the country and stop in Colorado or the shows that we put on. It's been it's been an interesting time these last couple of months.

Stacy Mayer: So perfect question for you right out of the gate. You have to redefine success. So how do you define success for yourself and for your team?

Yovani Pina: Yeah, so talk about the re-definition of what we do. The metrics aren't based on attendance or revenue numbers or the number of shows. It's how do we make sure we treat our teammates like human beings in a tough situation and how do we make sure we come out the other side and we're still here? Arts is very powerful. And from speaking from a geek at heart, I have an appreciation for the arts. It gives you a well-rounded perspective on both the science and the humanities side of things. The definition has now become: how do we make sure we treat our teammates, who some of our teammates have been with us for 30 sometimes even 40 years, how do we protect them as much as we can? And once we we see solutions to the pandemic, how do we make sure we're still here for our teammates and for our audiences? Those two key factors: How do we listen to people, find out what their concerns are, and then how do we start looking ahead a little bit and saying: 'what else can we do to monetize to create revenue streams, to engage our audiences, to engage our teammates?'

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, it sounds like you've also been working... So when you're speaking of team, that team has broadened to your contractors, to the audiences. So the team has just gotten bigger and bigger and bigger than just information technology.

Yovani Pina: Yeah, yeah. And being in a in a support role. We're now a technology company, we're a performing arts company. So my main objective is to make sure that the technology works and the customers can get tickets and that we can scan them in and make sure they get to their seats and that my staff has provided the services for email and accounting and all that. But, you know, when you really take a look at our industry, it's not just our our teammates, it's our audiences. It's the folks that provide services or the actors on stage. The audience all of a sudden became a lot larger for me, and how how do we how do we support the off the office staff that primarily go to a building to work in a place that didn't have remote work, and from March 15th to March 16th, flip a switch and have them all work remotely. It's fun and scary all at the same time.

Stacy Mayer: So what are the unique things about your leadership style is you have this ability to figure out the practical, which is like: 'OK, we all have to work from home and we're no longer selling tickets, OK? So we have to figure that out.' So the technology you're really great at, but also the people. And so you have this unique ability to really be able to listen, to communicate, to ask better questions. And I have noticed in your leadership style that you've been able to broaden that out as part of this crisis. So what do you feel like happens for you to make that team, so to speak, to realize: 'Oh, it's it's not just about my division. It's not just about the people who work for me. It's about the organization as a whole, the customer.' What do you feel like you've had to do to really expand that for yourself?

Yovani Pina: Yeah, it's it's interesting because a lot of what my team does, again, is focused on technology. And being in a support role, sometimes you have you have such a deep focus on what the task is at hand that you kind of miss what's going on around you. But in this case, it's asking those questions. First and foremost, listening to my team. How are they feeling? Are you anxious? Or are you having a good day? Is there a concern? I believe that just listening and understanding kind of what their state of mind is, for lack of a better word, but how they're feeling and how they're engaged can be a good sense into what's going on. And then once you have that sense of somewhat ease, as much as you can have during these times, it's asking some questions about impact. What we're doing is one thing, but what we're doing, how does that impact another team. What we're putting out there, how do you think? And it's not really what's happening. It's not by flicking the switch, I sell a ticket or I allow refunds to happen quicker. It's: 'I make it easier for our boxoffice teammates to manage their workflows and manage the customer expectations and be able to talk to the customers.' You know, it's really asking questions to kind of get them to focus on a little bit bigger picture.

Stacy Mayer: Now, you seem to also have your head on your shoulders, right? Like you're not getting mired down by the fact that you're like: 'Oh, OK. We're a performing arts center and we can't do that now. So how are you staying sane, as your own being. How are you taking care of yourself right now?

Yovani Pina: Having a good network of support around me, having peers that we can talk to, and taking time to to reflect on the situation. You have to remain optimistic. One way or another, we're going to come out on the other side of this. I don't really think of it as a win or lose. I think of this as a rough spot that we're going through. And what we do today will help us operate tomorrow and next week and next month. So it's really taking some time to reflect, having some quiet time to say: Here's what happened yesterday. Here's what went well, here's what I could do better. And then putting that into the action the next day. The other part of that, again, like I said, is the network. Having a great coach. Thank you, Stacy. Having a great coach to help refocus some of how I think of things and how I communicate and share that sense of optimism, again, even during a pandemic, has helped.

Stacy Mayer: So how have you surprised yourself during this crisis, being able to step up and use this as an opportunity to show more leadership?

Yovani Pina: Well, one of the big surprises as a leader, obviously all eyes are on us to set a direction or to to make that statement that resonates with everyone and have that 'aha moment'. OK, the leader said something. That's what we're going to do. Well, the stress of that, when you really sit down and everyone is hooked on the next words that are going to come out of your mouth. What surprised me along the way is that having the time to reflect, think, bounce off ideas, get feedback, and really focus what the intention of my next step is isn't really all that hard. It's hard when you're in a silo and kind of letting everything creep in. But when you have the advice of good, trusted people around you, it's really not that hard. you can have conversations, you can have brainstorming sessions, and and you can really fine tune that message.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, I feel like your relationship with your direct boss is a lot stronger actually because of this crisis. And so it's like: she's coming to you and you're able to go to her. It becomes this very mutual thing that you're not just in a silo having to come up with orders.

Yovani Pina: Exactly. Yeah. And it's you're not in this alone, right? I mean it with my peers on the executive team. I'm in it with my boss. I'm in it with my coach and even with some newfound friends on this podcast.

Stacy Mayer: Yeah, well, as as we start to wrap this up, I'm going to go back through. So, Yovani, we'll start with you and go back to Corine again. But any words of wisdom that you could offer to a fellow leader that might be having more of a challenging time right now. Any advice that you would have for them?

Yovani Pina: Yeah, the key pieces of advice is take a deep breath. If you're going through it, you're not in it alone and start leveraging your network. And if you don't have a network, you do. Don't think that you don't. There's a friend, there's a trusted business partner, there's a trusted peer, that you can knock on their door and start a conversation with. Take a deep breath and leverage your network, for sure.

Yeah. Yovani, before we move on to this, so this is leveraging your network, right? That's like a term that people use that keeps them from actually leveraging their network because it becomes a thing, right? But what you did when you were describing going from a silo to communicating and connecting with people was leveraging your network. But what is the difference? Like if you think of yourself...you're like: 'OK, I need to, as in as a listener of this podcast, you're offering advice to leverage your network.' What if we turned that into something that you actually did, which is in a sense, leveraged your network, but how would you phrase that a little bit differently?

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. So let me go back to when we first started to get to know each other, Stacy, I realized that I was in a place where I didn't have the right resources around me. I wasn't getting the right type of feedback or potentially different perspectives that I was looking for. So and leveraging my network, I literally started the search. I believe that I needed a coach, somebody who can give me an outside perspective on how I operated, how I said things, how I thought about things. And I just started calling people and doing my research. And finally we got connected and here we are. But that's the thing that I did is I took a second and said, stop, I need another voice to help me think through this. And I looked at who I know or who I thought I should know and start making those connections. Picking up the phone, writing an email, even if it's a third party introduction, phoning a friend who can help me make that introduction. That's how I started.

Stacy Mayer: So good. Now I have as a listener, I have something to do right. So I'm always into that. Thank you so much. So much.

Yovani Pina: Yeah. Thank you.

Stacy Mayer: Jennifer, back to you. So what kind of words of advice would you have to a fellow leader that maybe is not having their best may ever or is struggling or having more challenges during this time?

Jennifer Fisher: I would say focus on what you can control. We all go through scenarios. You're looking in the rearview mirror and seeing what used to be and how awesome it was. And we were on track to have our best year ever before it fell apart. So you don't look in the rearview mirror. But also don't look too far ahead in the windshield either. Because I know, within my industry, we don't know what's going to happen in the fall. That's some of the big questions, right. And that will caused you some very sleepless nights. So focus on the here and now. Focus on what we can control. We don't know what's going to happen, but we know what is happening right now. We know we are connecting with colleges, universities, right now to plan for next spring. So let's just focus on that. And by all means, we've got to stay positive. As much as Yovani said, we're going to get through this. Now, is it going to be in August or is it going to be next January? I don't know. And if we keep thinking too much about stuff, you're going to get upset stomach and be awake all night. Focus on what we're doing right now. Build those connections, whether it's for you, for your network or through the job, through the industry. We're connecting with our university partners. We're offering them resources just to be there for them. Like how can we help them. They're home now trying to figure things out. They're trying to get students home that were abroad. What can we do to help? And just be there for people. Because, again, focus on what you can control, be positive and what we're going to get through this.

Stacy Mayer: Awesome. I love it. Thank you so much. Corine, what words of wisdom do you have for our listeners or any leaders that might be struggling during this time?

Corine Christoff: Well, I echo a lot of what was said, but I do think,  the stay calm, be the one that they can look to for that calming advice on what we are going to do in our next move. Rebrand yourself, recalibrate yourself. Is there something that you can do differently that will be a help in this situation,  that will maybe expand your business to what you worked before? We're seeing in one of our locations where we're looking at making the face masks, which is not something that we did before, but our materials lend ourselves to that. So how can we do some different things that will boost our sales and allow us to have a stronger business? Because we are going to have a rough second quarter. But we need to get on to the other side of this. We need to know what our new normal is going to look like. And we need to be part of that solution. So, where do we see ourselves? How do we get there and how do we do it in an organized fashion?

Stacy Mayer: Yeah. Get a Corine on your leadership team. That's my advice. That's awesome.

Thank you all so, so much for being here today. I know that this is really, really helpful for our listeners. I wanted to celebrate you because I'm also I'm so proud of each and every one of you and the accomplishments and the ways that you've been able to stretch yourself. So thank you for sharing your stories with us.

Before you go, I want to give you all the details about how you can work with me personally to reach your own career goals.

If this episode resonated with you, if you heard Corine, and Jennifer, and Yovani talking and you thought: 'Man, that's what I want out of my career, then I invite you to schedule a free career strategy session with me. Each of these clients that you met today came, to me with various different challenges. They either wanted to speak up more in meetings, they wanted to be seen as a valuable member of the leadership team, they wanted to work on some of their difficult relationships at work, they wanted to get clear on their priorities and how they could better motivate their teams. And you heard them today. Not only did we do all of that, but now they are able to thrive during a time of crisis and make the impact that they have always wanted to be making at their organization. And you can absolutely 100 percent do that, too. And it all starts with a free career strategy session. You can sign up at www.StacyMMayer.com/apply. Go to www.StacyMMayer.com/apply to apply. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next week. Bye!