In this week’s episode, Bret speaks with Brad Hilliard.

Being a sports fan, Brad realized the pandemic was a concern when professional sports play was canceled on television, and stations began playing older games from the 90s for entertainment.

When regular closings began to happen, and working from home became the new norm, Brad realized the mindset shift he needed to take during the transition. Now family became the priority, along with a shift into a more service focused solution with a changed pipeline and the fear of losing business.

Listen now as Brad talks about his ability to focus more easily on family, and the transition to mainly working from home.  How the changes have turned into mostly positive outcomes, and has allowed him to spend more time doing things he loves.  He leaves one great piece of advice, “Be ready for what comes next”.

In this week’s episode, Bret speaks with Kevin Mangum.

When the pandemic hit, traveling to pitch clients, and commuting to work and school ended.  There was so much more time than before.

Kevin wanted to know how to make this extra time more purposeful and intentional with family and work.

Listen now as we talk about how this extra time puts into perspective the importance of work life balance, and how the changes occurring during the pandemic are still in action today and making a positive impact in the workplace.

In this week’s episode, Bret speaks with Tony Spangler.

With the pandemic in full swing, working from home was the new norm.  With kids home as well, splitting the responsibilities between the two was a new experience in itself.  

This lead Tony to ask, “What is my role in work and life, and how do we do those things together?”.     

Sound familiar?

Listen now as we talk about the all encompassing work life balance during the pandemic, and how the experience has made Tony appreciate the valuable relationships in his life even more than before.

In this week’s episode, Bret speaks with Nancy Crabb.  

Listen now as they discuss the realization that covid was a serious disease affecting people locally, moving across the country to Maine from Texas, and how shifting to a remote work environment during the pandemic came with its own perks and adjustments and is now the new norm.

In this week’s episode, Bret speaks with Zohaib Waliany.  

Listen now as they discuss working through the pandemic, the difficulty of losing normal privileges, trying to figure out how to live and work being at high risk during the peak time of disease, and navigating the inability to be around family and coworkers.

Alexandra came back to the Starr Conspiracy during the pandemic and realized the amazing amount of teamwork and camaraderie within the team even though everyone is remote.  

Alexandra realized everything changed during the pandemic when she was working as a bartender, and heard the President address the nation on the television about all of the changes in the country and limitations that were put into place.   

After contracting Covid in September of 2020, she realized exactly how lonely and isolating the disease was and how it made her feel.  The conflicting stories of mask wearing, and the news added to the frustration of the pandemic.  With differing opinions abound, she found herself having hard conversations with friends, and even losing some of those friendships along the way. 

Fear, frustration, confusion, and the unknown.

Listen now as Bret and Alexandra discuss working through the pandemic, how Alexandra takes time to discover herself,, and what the experience working at The Starr Conspiracy is like for her. 

Ashley realized the pandemic was going to change everything when her son had to have dental surgery.  Due to the pandemic, she couldn’t be with her son during the surgery.  Afterwards, with working from home and caring for her son during his recovery, her mental health was struggling, and after talking to her therapist she realized she needed to adjust to her “new way of life” that the pandemic forced her into. 

Coming to work at The Starr Conspiracy during the pandemic, Ashley experienced “a breath of fresh air”.  Ashley talks about how she was able to focus on purposeful work and values with her clients during the pandemic, and how those relationships paired with the perks of working at The Starr Conspiracy helped her feel like her work was significant and important, and has improved her mental health.

In August 2020 in the midst of the pandemic, Lou was being treated at a cancer center in Houston.  He was in a radiation trial that required him to have treatment daily.  This required him to be away from home, in an unfamiliar setting, alone.  Looking around, during his treatment in the cancer center, he saw patients that were entirely alone, by themselves, and were not okay.  It was eerily quiet.  In this experience, Lou realized the impact of loneliness, and the change the pandemic was forcing on everyone’s lives.

Listen as Bret and Lou reflect over the past two years, and how the pandemic has changed company culture, inclusivity, and if they think the  pandemic REALLY will make the world a better place.