Gearing up for the rest of 2020 at The Home Front

I became involved with The Home Front right at the start of COVID. I felt lost about how I was going to handle childcare, running my marketing agency Schmooz Media and how I was going to digest all the new and scary information that was coming at me. I wanted to be healthy, mindful, and as positive as possible.

With a lot of people relying on me and a little girl who I wanted to be strong for, I decided to add more to my plate so that I didn’t have to spend the time I did have worrying. In those first months of covid-19, I co-authored a children’s book (ABC Stay Home with Me) and threw the rest of my fear-filled energy into the marketing around The Home Front.

I felt productive and motivated to make a positive difference. I felt my personal purpose was being fulfilled and I was surrounding myself with others who were choosing the same hope and intention as me. As time passed, throwing my energy into these endeavours no longer served me well. I was drained, burned out and showing frustration with my team at Schmooz. For the first time ever, I hung up on one of my team members in the middle of a call. That wasn’t a version of myself that I liked. The adrenaline that I had at first became exhaustion. The lack of control and clarity was no longer a fun adventure but a daily battle to show up as a radically candid and kind wife, mother and CEO. When George Floyd was murdered, I knew it was important for me to take a step back from The Home Front.

The broken systems of our society were coming to light and I required a period of reflection, learning and supporting people in my life. I spent hours on the phone and Zoom with CEOs talking about their values, messaging and opportunities to grow, all the while going through asking myself these questions. Acting in haste to fill my fear with productivity was no longer the answer and I knew it was time to dig deeper into the structures and systems of my own life and business.

The Home Front has been a little bit quiet in these summer months. As a team, we are focused on restoring our balance, creating space to provide true relief and support if or when COVID-19 strikes again in the fall and winter months. As an individual, I have invested in my own company’s organizational structure, giving myself more resources to delegate to so that I can be the best mom and CEO possible and make decisions that are deeply in line with the person I am and want to be.

When I reflect on the past few months, what remains true for me are two things: 

1)     So many people are in need and there are many helpers in the community. At The Home Front, we want to keep meeting needs as they evolve. Those needs may involve PPE, accommodations, food, childcare, ongoing care centres and much more.

2)     I believed then and now that creativity, hope, and opportunity are key to revitalizing the economy, to uplifting our most vulnerable community members and frontline workers. We can create creativity, hope, and opportunity together if we so choose and I am all here for it.

In these uncertain times, The Home Front team does not have answers or clarity we can offer around what is going to happen in the next couple of months, however, we are here and we are ready.  I am proud to be part of a team that has a mandate to continue showing up for the front-line workers and others who need support. I am proud of our commitment to ask questions, inform and learn continually.

Please join us in spreading the word as we learn more about how COVID-19 impacts Canadians in the fall of 2020 and beyond.