All Stories
Human Connection is a Necessity in Managing a Tribe
Working remotely certainly presents some challenges—our CMA team hasn’t been under one roof since Covid took the world by storm over two years ago. Our staff has been yo-yoing between home office and our Folsom office. I had no idea how fragmented we were until we scheduled a 2-day meeting in our Lake Tahoe/Truckee office. This meeting was three of us girls hanging out with no pressures from the outside world. Accidently on purpose I set no agenda. I imagined we would talk about each client and manifest the new clients we have been pursuing and just sit at a bar and chill, together, in person, under one roof.
The morning started with mimosas and went uphill from there. I am lucky enough to work with two Libra women who are very low-key and stay in gratitude most every day. As the mimosas evaporated, we jumped into the F-150 and headed to my favorite boutique, Tipsy Gypsy, located in Tahoe City. The girls had no problem finding numerous adorable items they put into their baskets. It was my treat to let them choose something for their birthday gifts. We all found our perfect piece and headed back to Gar Woods Grill & Pier, located on the North Shore in Carnelian Bay. The line was out the door, so we navigated a path to the bar and found a perfect table on the edge of the patio where we began drinking our Prosecco (Sara’s favorite), and noshing on the best Ahi tacos and sliders. We began discussing every client and making plans for 2023 when we looked at each other and said, “Wow, we really haven’t been in touch this year.” It was crazy how happy we were to just sit at that table and take our time to enjoy the human connection with one another. It had been far too long.
We made our way back to the Tahoe office, recapped our day and began getting ready for our dinner at Pianeta where we found a table off the main bar. This was the first time Kayla had left her 1-year old twins and 4-year-old toddler. I could see her face relax and her body language was open and happy. Sara, the professional drinker, committed to drinking her Prosecco and chatting about what we have done well this year. We all looked at each other and wondered how the hell we got through the last two years. Covid was devastating for the retail world, and we made it through it together. Thanks to some of the best clients in the world, we were given the opportunity to put our creative plans together and they simply signed off and said, “go for it.” The three of us looked at each other and said, “Ladies we are bad asses. We never give up.”
After dinner (and dessert), we nestled back into the cabin, adorned in matching PJs, where we stayed up and talked until 1am. We all opened our hearts and told stories of surviving some of the darkest places we have been the last two years. We were surprised how much each of us were hurting from the separation of not seeing each other and how much we have been missing the human connection. We humans all need more quality time together. The stories were all similar in how we are all a little less optimistic about the future after seeing the world get slayed, and we are still recovering daily from the devastation. We also were challenged with the changes in retail that were being updated day-to-day with store openings, closures, etc.
We were able to connect with each other and created some very awesome ideas for next year. We determined we need to meet like this at least once or twice yearly. We would never be able to get this deep and real in the office. We are too plugged into technology and problem solving. We got more done during those 2-days then we would be able to tackle in months of yo-yoing.
“Ladies we are bad asses. We never give up.”
We had the best time and I look forward to being a better listener and take notice of the subtle clues my staff and others around me are sending my way. Sometimes I need to get away and completely shut down to hear myself feel and think clearly. Thank you, Kayla and Sara, thank you for your open communication, clarity of what you need to get your job done, and your warm, sweet hugs that get me through the day. I love you two—we got this!