Paul says he wants Groundwork Promotions to be a force of goodness in the world. I agree. When I met Paul, he was an undergraduate student and facing some of the most stressful problems of his life. He was for the first time, seeing and experiencing what it feels like when you are working in a situation that does not fit who you are. When your choices are not yet in-line with your personality, your gifts, and your interests. He was experiencing what life can be like if you do not let passion guide your decisions because that is what he was was learning from the outside world. He was being taught to limit his creativity in school and work.
I’ve been in the workforce in some form or other, for over 30 years. I was either employed, interning or volunteering and the thing I have noticed everywhere, whether working for a nonprofit, for a business, for an individual, or internationally, is: People go through the motions of day-to-day life, get up and work, make a living and either don’t know why or forget why they are doing it. They lose touch with themselves and what brings them joy and gives them purpose. They do not know why they are here, and in turn, their jobs and businesses eat away at them and their self-confidence. They lose their vitality. They lose happiness. They lose meaning. They lose their mental and physical health. They lose fulfillment. They lose so much.
I have worked with people suffering from illnesses because their work is so demanding. I have worked with people who are addicted to drugs or alcohol because their work is so unfulfilling. I have worked with people who are suicidal and depressed because they do not know why they are here and they are not getting any excitement or satisfaction from what they do in life. I have worked with people who take advantage of those underneath them, I have worked with people who have explosive tempers, I have worked with people who cannot mentally rest or sit still. I have worked with people who ideally love what they do, just not how they do it. I have seen some horrible bosses, some horrible coworkers, and working environments that cause stress, anxiety, and constant worrying or where you daily feel in emotional danger. In all these experiences, people lose hope and give up their desire to be creative, and to invest in their jobs or their professions. They get to where they don’t care, they stop investing themselves or they give up all together.
These experiences motivate my daily life. They fuel me. They guide my work, no matter what I do. I do not believe a professional life should diminish us, but instead, vitalize us. We work with businesses, organizations and professionals of all kinds. Paul interviews them, we get to know them, we ask what their goals are. We pay attention and we are always listening for how to create a promotions process to meet their needs. But for me, I especially listen to their history and what they love about what they do. I listen to their meaning. I listen to their purpose and mission. I listen to their own personal messaging. I listen to things not being said. I want to know, at their core, what they want out of their professional lives and work. Because that is the information guiding me.
Because of our own history, we want our promotions process to help clients create themselves and their professional lives in the way they envision. We want them to be successful, we want them to be satisfied and happy. We want them to feel and maintain their passion, in everything they do. We want them to believe in themselves, down at their deepest core, and feel empowered to create the future they want and we want to help them make it happen. Our ideal outcome is that every person working with us, becomes a healthier version of themselves.
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Photo of Great South Dance Academy
