Hurricane Ian and The Importance of Community

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Never underestimate the power of community.  There is power in the questions, “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do to help you?”. And the power of those two questions became evident to me after we experienced the wrath of Hurricane Ian. The importance of community is so evident after something like this. But to be truthful, having a community is important every single day.

 

Anytime something worldly happens, you feel the power of community.

First and foremost, I want to just say thank you to everybody who reached out to us and checked in on us to see how we are doing. We are doing okay physically. Our home was undamaged. We fared fairly well. 

It’s the emotional side of it that really was a bit unexpected. This was truly a traumatic experience. It has just been absolutely devastating. But it has shown us the power of community.

Whether it’s business or personal, relationships and community are what matter. Everybody has opinions, personal differences, and competition. But at the end of the day, none of that bullshit matters. Relationships do!

 

When a community comes together, things get done!

Our home didn’t have hurricane-impact windows and our landlord could not get them protected in time despite his best efforts. So we had to make a decision. We were able to call up a friend and just said, ”Hey, can we come to ride out this hurricane with you?” And, of course, she told us yes

When we got down there, her hurricane shutters weren’t up. She couldn’t help her boyfriend bring in all this stuff from outside because she has a broken ankle. So we immediately stepped in and got the hurricane shutters up and brought in the rest of the stuff from the patio.

There were other people helping all their neighbors get their shutters up. They were going from house to house helping neighbors they hadn’t even met. There is power in the questions, “Are you okay? Is there anything else you need?”

 

This community immediately came together to get prepared. 

It didn’t matter if you had never talked to a neighbor. You still pitched in and helped. Because community matters! Everyone was looking out for everyone else! 

Then, once the hurricane came through, you could see that community coming together even more. This storm lasted about 14 hours. Not only did we lose power, but we also lost cell service. We are so connected and have information at our fingertips at all times. In that moment, we were literally cut off from the world. There was nothing we could do about it. 

The next morning, we woke up, and we were able to go out and see the damage. The community came together again. I heard questions like:


We had one phone that had service through T Mobile/Sprint. So we were able to call one family member and tell them to get a post up and tell everybody that we were okay. Once we got service back, I was inundated with messages from everybody in the Alliance. 

Almost every single Alliance member reached out to see how we were doing. I saw where people shared that we were okay. My online community was checking in on us to see if we needed anything!

 

Whether it’s during a natural disaster, or whether you’re just having a shit day, in your journey of entrepreneurship, being able to lean on a community is crucial.

It’s been a week since Hurricane Ian and you’re still seeing people asking how they can help. In times like these, you do what you can to help with no questions asked. That’s why you build a community. This is why it is so important, whether you’re in business or in your personal life, to build and lean on your community. You never know when something is going to happen and you’ll need them.

Having a community means you know you have people that you can count on in your darkest times. It doesn’t mean you have to talk to them every single day or that you have to really know them. You’d be surprised at who comes out of the woodwork when something happens. 

 

This is why it is so important to find your community of people and love them hard.

Go make memories with them and experience life and business. This is why I am so passionate about the Accelerated Business Alliance. It is a community of amazing people. You need to find your people and go love them hard. When you need them, you have to be able to lean on them and vice versa.

 

Community is the one thing that every single person should be investing in. 

You should be investing time and you should be investing financially into some form of community. I am telling you…this is what is going to make or break the tough days. 

We could not have gotten through Hurricane Ian alone. I was scared out of my mind in her home. But we were all together. There were 7 of us. We were all leaning on each other, making each other laugh, and working through it together. And we have still continued to be able to help one another. 

 

There’s still so much that needs to be done. 

I know the Red Cross is taking donations. So I am trying to find actual organizations that are helping the recovery effort. There are still people that are literally sitting on their countertops waiting to be rescued because the water is so deep in their homes.

Trust me when I tell you on the outside, things might look like they’re getting better. But on the inside, they’re not. And they won’t for a lot of people. If I’m being perfectly honest, I am experiencing guilt because we made it through okay and others didn’t. 

 

Whether it’s a natural disaster or not, you never know what people are going through.

On the outside, everything might look fine. Everybody can usually put on a happy face, but you really don’t know what’s going on. You don’t know the heartache those people are experiencing or if they’re dealing with some level of post-traumatic stress or mental health issues. People could be dealing with a sense of loss and grieving something.  

It’s really important to give grace and look through a different lens. I know we all get frustrated. We’ve all done it. It’s human nature. But every once in a while, Mother Nature gives you a little bit of a wake-up call. And that wake-up call is to give grace and lean on the people that are there to help you.

 

Know that you always have a community.

If you don’t have a community, then find one. I would love to chat with you about the Alliance. It is full of people who genuinely care about other people. That has been proven! 

I am so grateful for my alliance and my team.  I have an incredible support team. Peg, Cassondra, and Elle stepped up and handled my business in the middle of this craziness.

My people were there, taking charge, dealing with my social media, and making sure your podcast episodes launched on time. No words can describe how that feels. Yesterday when I popped online, inside the Accelerated Business Alliance to let them know I was back, the comments touched my heart. 

 

This is why I am so passionate about having and building a community.

It can be such a lonely world. It’s so easy to think you’re alone and that nobody cares. I’m telling you that there are people out there that miss you, that want to see your face, and that wonder if you’re okay.  But you have to build that community. 

You have to be open to putting yourself into a community like that. I can promise you when you do, the benefits are not transactional. It’s such a deeper emotional return on your investment of time or money. 

 

I hate that it takes a natural disaster like this sometimes for all of us as humankind to wake up and realize what’s truly important. 

Nobody gives a shit whether or not you have a nicer car. Every single person down there is just helping out their neighbor. It doesn’t matter if they had a bigger house or nicer furniture. Right now all they care about is getting each other out of there. And that’s what matters. 

Stop worrying about what other people are thinking. Don’t be afraid to approach somebody because you think they’re further along than you. Stop being afraid to approach somebody because you feel like they’re not going to talk to you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. Not one person and this world is better than anybody else. There’s nobody that’s unapproachable.

 

Build your community.

Lead with your heart and show up. That’s all that matters. If you can make an impact on somebody’s life by helping them, then do it. We sent a meal to a family who is currently living in a car that got flooded. She said they cried because they hadn’t had a meal in almost 5 days. They didn’t know if they were ever going to get another meal. 

 

Stop being afraid to get out there and be who you are. 

When something like this happens, none of the other shit matters. But what does matter is knowing you have your community behind you. So find your community. Find those people that are going to text you and check on you. 

Go all in on your people because those are the ones that are going to pick you up on the tough days. Those are the ones that are going to carry you through the hard times. Whether it’s life or business, it’s the people, not the things, that make a difference.

 

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