January 8: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announce they are stepping down from their duties as senior royals in Buckingham Palace.

January 11: China records its first coronavirus death.

January 16: The impeachment trial for President Donald Trump begins.

January 20: The first coronavirus case in the US is reported in Washington state.

January 23: Wuhan, China — the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak — goes under an unprecedented lockdown, impacting 11 million residents.

January 26: Kobe and Gigi Bryant, along with seven other passengers, died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California.

February 5: Trump is acquitted by the Senate on both articles of impeachment.

March 11: The WHO declares the coronavirus a pandemic.

March 16: Dow plunges 2,997 points in the worst drop since 1987 amid coronavirus fears.

March 24: The 2020 Summer Olympics, which were supposed to take place in Tokyo, are postponed until 2021.

April 2: Global coronavirus cases surpass one million.

April 8: Sen. Bernie Sanders dropped out of the 2020 race, making former Vice President Joe Biden the presumptive Democratic nominee in the race against President Donald Trump.

April 9: The state of New York alone has the highest number of coronavirus cases than any country in the world.

As I watched all of these changes happening around the world and in the US.  You can’t help but know that we are definitely in a time of “Reset”.   You are stuck at home because it is unsafe to come out of your house.  The job that were looked down on are now considered essential.  Really????  And they are essential for our very survival.

Listen, I have worked from home for the last 8 years and often times working from home is often frowned upon as if it doesn’t legitimize the validity of your business until you have major corporations adopting working from home as a new way of running their multimillion-dollar corporations.  Now you have major corporations really reconsidering renewing their office leases and continue to adapt this new way of working even after the pandemic.   Parents are now homeschooling their children.  Now you really have no choice but to really be involved in your children’s academics.   As if that wasn’t enough the world watched as George Floyd was murdered at the hands of police officers in Minnesota.  This story hit us all hard and is really causing all Americans to fully understand the effects of racism in this country and why Black Lives really Matters.

The purpose of this episode is not to really get into the movement or to go into detail about any of the specific events.  Though it is all-important and it is very important to understand what is going on around the world, country, and in your own community.  However, there is enough information out here about it. The purpose of this episode is to really consider what you can do and how you can play a part in this change.  Life as we have to know it will never be the same.  At first, we thought it was only because of this pandemic but now it is so much bigger than that.  We all had to take a seat for a moment and really reflect on our lives, what was important, and what we can do without.  Ultimately, we had to really take self-inventory and adjust some things in our personal and business lives.

5 Tips to Prepare Your Business For a New Normal

1. Be a producer and less of a consumer. With what is going on right now there are going to be companies that are looking for your product or service.  They are going to be looking for the uniqueness that you bring to the table.
2. Embrace the unique abilities that set you apart from others in your industry. What makes your business stand out from others.  Share about my business and graphic design industry.
3. Don’t go for the masses to focus on your audience. Understand the needs of your audience and become the solution.  Many times we think that if we are working with the masses we are making the biggest impact and sometimes that is not true all.
4. Work in collaboration with others. Now is the time to really partner and collaborate with others.  Here is the goal…..it’s to make a significant impact.  Again, solve a problem help the world around you.
5. Don’t be silent. Figure out what you want and ask for it unapologetically.