Fight, flight, or freeze.

What a wild time we live in. So much heaviness all around. Right here where we live in Hawaii and far from us. And with that, and all the other uncertainty, whoever I speak to says in some form or another, that this year has been slow, weird, or outright scary. Business seems to have stalled wherever we look, even big corporations are holding tight to their budgets and so many companies are in a cautious, hesitant observer role. It’s getting harder and harder to get investors for start-ups, and incredible talent isn’t always able to land jobs. And don’t get me started on the very visible undercurrent of fear in the film world before this never-ending story of a strike finally came to an end.

All this to say, we see you, you are not alone. Please take care of yourself, and give yourself as much comfort, safety, and stability as you can elsewhere. For us, that looks like regular breaks in nature and more exercise to regulate our nervous system.

But here is another thought that keeps coming up for me.
While I see so many companies choose the flight or freeze approach, I don’t necessarily believe that you can simply wait out a crisis, or maybe you can, but is that really the best way? I don’t think it is.
And don’t get me wrong, I am fully aware of budgetary restraints and needing to use all of the marketing spend to make sure Angela in accounting gets to keep her job, I am all for that.
But I also believe that a crisis where everyone chooses to freeze all activities might be an incredible opportunity for your brand to stand out. And to get a lot more attention for a little well-placed brand action than you might usually get.
So what if you are brave here? What if you choose to believe that what you have to say or do matters and can support people in these weird times? And you find a way to fight for what you believe in, and for your company to exist in this world? Doesn’t that sound better than waiting until everyone else jumps back to action?

We are here for the quiet revolution. Reach out, if you are with us, and we can think about how to find creative ways to fight back without breaking the bank and having to fire Angela.

Much love,
Lisa & Tim