You may have noticed that it took me a while longer than usual to post my blog this month, and that it’s tone is a little bit different than previously.  For a while, I haven’t felt like celebrating anything.  In a move that turned out to be a masterstroke, I got some advice from my sister.

“Resiliency,” she said, firmly, assuredly, without hesitation.  “You need to write about resiliency.”  At first, I was resistant, a completely different r-word.

Why resist? I have a somewhat problematic relationship with the term.

“Kids are resilient.” “Companies are resilient.”  “The economy is resilient.”  “Whole communities devastated by war, loss, political and social upheaval are resilient.”  The R-word appears everywhere from classrooms to restaurants to TED Talk stages.  It’s used so ubiquitously to describe the spectrum of human experience that it’s kind of lost its meaning for me.

“Why resiliency?” I asked her.  “Well,” she said, “think about the origin story of the company.  Think about everything that’s happened in the last month.  How you all support each other – and your clients and partners.  You’re taking care of each other, the company, yourselves.  You’re still showing up, focusing on moving ahead, and that’s kind of amazing.”  And, though it’s never fun to admit, she is right.  (Frankly I can’t believe I am putting this in writing, on the internet, to live forever -!!)

The more I think about it, resiliency is, in fact, the origin story, modus operandi and a core part of the mission of Laurel Rock.  Ever wonder why our logo is a mountain, instead of a molehill?  Establishing a brand-new company is a monumental task (I still can’t resist a pun) and often an uphill climb.  You need to have “the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties, toughness.”  That’s how resiliency is defined in the Oxford Online dictionary Google and I consulted.

So, this month we are celebrating that R-word, resiliency.  We need resiliency for creating this company, to learn from mistakes made, and to continue drafting proposals and grants.  You need some mental toughness to prepare for marketing events, handle rejection, and continue the work daily.  Even weathering the discomfort of the unknown of this new venture requires a certain (cough) resiliency.

In addition, Laurel Rock has suffered losses, setbacks, and difficulties.  The biggest example of a recent loss: I lost my mom in early June. Valerie also came to know my mom enough to be affected by her loss.  She was there with me physically and emotionally though it all.

Though it’s a treacherous mountain, grief, we have one another to rely on for the tough parts of the climb.

How does that relate to Laurel Rock, who we are and what we do? If you need a reliable partner who has your best interest at heart and your back in a crisis, that’s us.  If you need someone who scrolls through opportunities and thinks of your capacity to win them, and sincerely wishes they could help you do so, that’s us.

We’ll show up and help you through the tough parts of the climb, because that’s who we are and what we do.