In the wake of Hurricane Helene, many businesses in the southeastern United States had to pivot to survive. We reoriented ourselves and our businesses in new and surprising ways. This is the gift inside the curse of trauma; we became resilient in the face of tragedy.
Hurricane Helene devastated my small community of 300 people in western North Carolina. Our roads, homes and infrastructure were destroyed. Most of us didn’t have power, internet, cell phone coverage or water for a month or more. It was impossible to run my business of mentoring leaders and business owners, so I shut it down for three months.
Meanwhile, I got a nudge to start posting daily on Facebook about my boots-on-the ground experience, and I also started volunteering as a trauma chaplain (my background training) in our small community. Thousands of people began following my story, both as a trauma chaplain and also as someone who experienced personal trauma: Two of my brothers died by suicide, one right before Helene and the other two weeks after. People were fascinated by my resilience. But I became resilient because I had no choice. I couldn’t pause my mission to grieve my brothers and hide because we were in a state of emergency. Daily writing became how I made it through.
A month into posting, I put out an ask on social media for a connection to a publisher. Within 24 hours, one reached out about acquiring the book (i.e., to cover all the costs of publishing) as well as acquiring a memoir I was already writing about being raised by a mother with extreme mental illness.
For once, being traumatized was working in my favor.
I became relentless in pursuit of my mission to process trauma in real time. We got the book written, edited, designed and published in 45 days—a record for my publisher. Through book connections, I was invited to speak at national conferences about trauma recovery and creating trauma-informed workplaces.
Every bookstore, library and college I contacted wanted to carry my book, “The Deep End of Hope in the Wake of Hurricane Helene: 40 Days and Nights of Survival and Transformation.” I was interviewed on podcasts and mentioned in newspaper articles. Many of these opportunities I invited myself into, but some I did not. This book and cause had its own momentum.
Tending to my community showed me the importance of offering trauma recovery support to help people become mentally, emotionally and spiritually resilient. Post-Helene, I reoriented my work from messaging coaching to trauma recovery.
I created an online Trauma Recovery Certification program for coaches, small business owners, executives and HR professionals to help clients and employees become resilient. It is the only program I know of that teaches you how to help yourself and other people recover from trauma as you are going through it.
The rate of catastrophic world events is accelerating, and so is our need to process trauma in real time. That is what the pandemic, natural disasters, hurricanes, wildfires and flooding have shown us. Traumatic deaths, suicide, overdoses, addiction, school shootings, divorce, rape and disease impact us all. I saw the writing on the wall and decided to pivot my business to fill a significant need. I took the opportunity to step fully into my purpose.
Three things enabled my success: I followed my desire, I trusted myself, and I said yes to every opportunity that crossed my path after that decision.
All but one of my clients transitioned with me, celebrating my pivot. Many found ways to incorporate trauma recovery into their work as well. My audience is growing daily.
The world needs more of us to step into our purpose, even when it’s not logical.
Photo by OSORIOartist/Shutterstock.
