I learned long ago to make regular, weekly meetings with other business owners in the community a priority. It’s hard to believe that this has been a discipline of mine for over 20 years! A lot has changed over the years. Groups have come and gone, members have come and gone, we have had to plan around election years, natural disaster induced supply shortages, strikes within supply chains, tariffs, trade agreements, and of course worldwide pandemics. Experiencing community often leads to a deep level of understanding, support and acceptance that is difficult to find elsewhere.
I think it happens to all of us in some way, but I think we are all familiar with the feeling of “waking up” one day to what seems like an overnight change. Maybe that’s looking at your children or grandchildren and wondering exactly when they got to be so wonderful, or that project that you thought would never be done that is now coming to a close (and you realize that you might even miss it). That’s what I feel like today when I see this photo. I’ve been a part of this group, Conduit, for long enough to just stop counting the years. This year, I “woke up” to just how big and amazing the group had become. The size of the group has grown to be certain, but the impact we all have the privilege of sharing has been far greater. There were plenty of years where we needed every ounce of support the group could offer, and now Chase and I are still learning every day, but we are in a position to give back and it is a reward beyond measure to give back what was given to us.
