Gratitude Friday III: The First Week of the Year
Will Oseroff transcribed by Danielle Schoen
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We love to start off each week by setting new intentions and new goals, and this week was no exception. Starting off 2018 on a Monday was an awesome way to ring in the new week and the new year. I started off the week by reflecting on this last year, while also taking the opportunity to look forward with intention.
My personal New Year’s resolutions for this year are:
- Be selflessly selfish.
- Document my life and the business every single day this year and create 365 vlogs.
- To not let my false sense of perfection get in my way and hold me back. This is the most important resolution for me and overarcs both of my previous resolutions. There was so much of that false perfectionism in 2017.
Even when it comes to something as arbitrary as Instagram, I would take a whole hour editing a post that people might only see on the page for 3 or 4 hours when I could have spent some of that hour focusing on other aspects of the business or on self care. Then there are bigger things, like not starting the product subscription service that I’ve been thinking about because I want a thousand people to subscribe in order to feel like its a success. When, in reality, even having 10 people sign up would be amazing.
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On Tuesday, I gathered everyone together for a team meeting. I was super stoked and grateful to be back with the team. Monday was great because it was the start of a new week and a new year, but I spent a lot of the day hanging out at my house. Come Tuesday I was thankful to have the team back together and see everyone get right back to work, into their flows.
Starting off this year with a team meeting was a great way to set my intentions for the company going into this year. I’m grateful that I took the chance to do that. During the meeting, I asked each member of the team to make lists of what they are currently doing in their work and what they want to do be doing at work.
I’m really excited to see what we can do with this exercise. The reason why we’re doing this is that for the coming year we really want to streamline our operations and make sure that everyone who is working for us is fulfilled in this work environment. By making these lists as a team, I can look at what everyone is already doing, which is most likely what I’ve asked them to do, and then compare that with what everyone wants to do. Then we can try to put those lists together in order to make them look like the same list.
In the past, I felt like some of our meetings were a little unproductive, but not Tuesday’s meeting. I felt like I was able to step up as a leader, own the room, say what I wanted to say, and open up the conversation to allow everyone else to express their needs. It was a great way to start the year off on the right foot and say, hey, I’m taking charge. People don’t want to be told what to do but they do want to know that they are supported in doing what they’re doing. I want people to know that as a leader I have their back, but I’m not on their back. It is so important to have that trust there, that’s when our best work gets done.
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Wednesday was another amazing and really productive day. I’m super grateful for Wednesday. We really solidified our partnership with the people that are working with us on customer service and answering our phones here in Asheville. I’m really grateful for them and for that experience, not only because it’s been super helpful and stress-free, but also because it is opening my eyes to change and opening us up to trusting other people to help us make our business even better.
With that in mind, we also talked to them about fulfillment services, so that we can be a more sustainable business. Yes, we get products shipped out on time right now, but we’re sending 50 to 200 packages out a day and hoping to see that double in time. We work hard to get our products out in 2–3 days, which is especially important for people who are using the products for pain. To continue to provide that service moving forward, be sustainable, and continue to grow we need the help of others. I’m excited for the opportunity to grow with the help of a local company. So far it has been a really positive experience.
We also met with Joe Lizz this week.
Can we contact Merriam Webster, or whoever is in charge of the way that words are spelled, and change the spelling of grateful to J-O-E-L-I-Z-Z?
But seriously, everything Joe Lizz has done for our business and for my own wellbeing has been amazing. I’m so grateful to be able to delegate such a big part of the business to someone I trust and have really bonded with.
This was our second meeting in person, which is crazy to think about. The first time I met her we were able to build a relationship and rapport that gave me the confidence to ask her to take on our entire CBD Yoga program. When I handed that program over to Joe Lizz, I had about 10 to 15 classes that were in the works, and now she’s organizing that many CBD Yoga classes each month.
Alone, I was able to take the program to a certain level, but I’m not a yoga instructor or a yogi. As a yoga instructor and influencer, Joe Lizz was able to legitimize the CBD Yoga program and professionalize it so that people could view it as a real program and an opportunity that they might want to be a part of. Working with Joe Lizz we have been able to expand our CBD Yoga program and our wholesale program because of yoga studios and instructors that end up offering our products.
It is amazing how one person coming in can create such a change in the business.
I’m really grateful to work with Joe Lizz and really grateful for our friendship. So much of the work that I do is serious business, but as anyone who watches our Vlog knows, I’m also a really playful person. I’ll go from playing around to then opening up a message from someone who has really hit rock bottom and talking with them about where they’re at and helping them in moving forward. Joe Lizz is really similar in that regard. She’s built this following on Instagram and is really there to support people and listen to them when they need it. Knowing that she’s going through these serious, hard times but is also able to be goofy and silly is awesome. It’s really great to have a relationship with somebody like that.
