Can you believe we have made it to 2020!?! Twenty-Twenty! I must admit, it looks a bit different than I thought it would as a kid, but then again, so does life in general – fortunately, most of it for the better! I feel accomplished and energized by the path I’ve been able to create for myself and my company, as well as for both of my families – my work family and the one I get to be with once I finally make it home!
As I look back at 2019, I’m happy to celebrate our most successful year to date, and exceedingly proud of the team that brought it to fruition! I recognize that this past year wouldn’t have been possible without the previous decade of growth behind us. We met and conquered multiple challenges throughout the year, including safely navigating the execution of an outdoor event in the midst of a severe thunderstorm, as well as executing 50% of our business within a 4-month timeframe. This past year made us hunker down and pushed our limits, but we’ve come out on the other side so much stronger, capable and knowing there is no task we can’t tackle if we put our minds to it.
As we begin this new decade, I’m eager to begin another year of engaging client partnerships and inspiring projects and getting to do it day-in/day-out alongside my talented teammates that are the foundation of this company. During our recent retreat, we discussed the team’s priorities for the year to come, and I’m inspired that our collective top priorities include putting greater importance on sustainability whenever possible, a continued emphasis on inclusion and diversity, and recognizing the importance of work/life balance. Of course, there is also an interest in seeing how the growing trend of legalization of cannabis will play a part in food and beverage, as well as emergency action plans and conversations with HR, but I digress!
Each year, as many people do, I select one word to use for inspiration or as a guiding principle throughout the year. This year, I was struggling with selecting just one word. Top contenders which were motivating me were “breathe”, “refresh”, and “engage”, so much so that I’ve created my own word – “bre-fresh-age”! It’ll be my mantra as we progress through 2020 and beyond.
Finally, and most importantly, I want to thank the clients who challenge and entrust us with their events, our amazing vendor partners who help make all of the crazy ideas come to fruition (and don’t hang up on us when we tell them we have only 5 weeks for a project that should have taken 12 months), and the incredible Next Level team who show up every day ready to work and push themselves to execute every project with excellence.
Cheers!
Cathy
