The Big Pause: Pivoting

Photo Credit: Lluis Barba

Right now is the time to pivot, right now.

Five years ago I created The Hell Yes Life with a signature program called The Hell Yes Academy. The intention of this 12-week program for women was to help them create, manage and elevate their heart work with the tools, resources and lived experience of my own life. There are now nearly 100 graduates of the Academy and many of them are still closely working with me in different but similar capacities.

This business was one of many pivots I’ve made in my life. I realized at the time that I had a gift for helping people with their ideas and projects, that I was one of the first entrenpeurs talking and teaching about “mindful work,” and “intentional living.” I was greatly inspired by Tim Ferriss and Jason Silva. When Gary Vee wasn’t triggering me, I watched him “day trade attention” and I valued his insight which I still use today to share trends and creative perspective.

At the time I was fantasizing about traveling the world and the only thing that could sustain this was a digital business. I began living the life Tim Ferriss wrote about as a “digital nomad,” and as long as I had my computer and WiFi I was able to conduct Academy classes no matter where I was. My students have traveled with me over these years and my business has not only sustained me, but it has thrived. Becoming a Luxury Travel Writer was one of the many blessings of this pivot.

I’m not new to pivoting, I’ve lived a life of resilance. My first career ended after eight years of teaching, I pivoted into a corporate career and was already running my first business on the side as a wedding planner at the time. When I decided to move to San Francisco, I pivoted again. When my corporate job wasn’t serving me anymore, I pivoted again, and again when I finished my yoga teacher training.

Scrappy. Necessity. The solo life of an over-achiever, lots of pivots.

So, pivoting comes second nature to me.

One of the first services I offered when the pandemic hit was free one-on-one calls to any woman in the world who needed help pivoting. I was watching women all over the world spin trying to figure out how they were going to: take their business online, create quick and new content, keep their business afloat, do something different and relevant, price and value their new online offerings, create abundance for themselves suddenly, manage this new freedom and business landscape we all just entered into…and the list goes on and on.

Many of the calls I’ve had in the last four weeks were with sisters in my community, women in my programs and graduates of the Academy. And if I had a dime for every time I heard, “Pat, I still haven’t done that (fill in the blank: podcast, online offering, content, e-book, project, idea…) that I started with you in the Academy years ago and now I’m thinking to myself, why didn’t I do that then…” I would have lots of dimes.

The first trick to pivoting well is to take a deep, deep breath. It’s never a good idea to pivot because you feel anxious, scarcity, fear, FOMO…etc.

Pivoting is thoughtful, it is strategic, it is easy and heart-based, it feels good and perfectly aligned and authentic.

Here are a few ideas I’ve mused on lately with women for ideas on how to pivot:

• A travel blogging nanny is “stuck at home” without work: first of all you know how I feel about being “stuck at home,” it’s a frame of mind. I suggested she get “unstuck” and create a group to support other global nannies which includes some shared content, programming, certification, classes/workshops. She could create a “Nanny Channel” of online content for children at home, and programming to support parents. She could create an e-book with various useful skills or think of other hobbies, skills or talents that she may have which can be useful, relevant and monetized right now.

• Several women who were supposed to host retreats around the world: I suggested that they pull out the content from their retreats and offer an online “virtual” retreat. When I suggested this several weeks ago I thought it was pretty unique, now I’ve seen several beautiful companies doing just this. Don’t feel comfortable doing it fully right away and charging? Okay, take a “beta” group of friends and try the concept out on them first. Create a private Facebook Group for your retreat guests, offer daily activities and Live broadcasts, breakout groups and creative circles. Make the menu of activities exciting so that guests can choose each day - do this for one week and offer one-on-one special sessions highlighting your talents medicine and/or gifts. Or, you don’t like the idea of a “virtual” retreat? Create your retreat content online in program form: take out the content of the retreat and write an e-book, a workbook, an 8-week program.

• A sound healer who wants to create additional sources of income who is currently offering virtual sound healing sessions: she is now creating an online music immersion where she will teach students how to sing and play instruments.

• A yoga teacher with a unique voice, style and approach to her classes who also shares her reiki healing: she is now creating an online program combining all of these skills into one signature experience.

• An author who has a love for meditation: she is now sharing her guided meditation live online daily on Instagram to build her list and community for a completely different purpose.

• A personal chef here in Paris who cannot cook for clients anymore: is now offering online classes complete with shopping lists and they are all cooking together, she has also started an IGTV channel with daily recipes for quarantine and she will be releasing additional online content and may even write a book.

• A local fashion designer and boutique owner here in Paris: is now making masks out of fabric, mine was 20 euros and it’s double-sided and pretty fashionable.

If your world as you know it stopped suddenly a month ago, and your business has changed or stopped being altogether, now is the time to consider a pivot.

The tools you have for pivoting right now are: time, internet, online platforms for creating, marketing, sharing and connecting, resources for many women newly out of work, resources for women-owned businesses experiencing hardship, resources for creatives out of work, a captive audience and a complete awareness and acceptance in the world for your next big idea.

Pivoting takes a mindset shift, shifting from what you’ve just lost or mourning the loss of something dear to you, to seeing this as an opportunity to create and share something new.

I realize not everyone has the privilege to pivot with their work, I think we are seeing now more than ever the help in the world coming from those of us who can help. If you know someone who can help you with a special skill and you have the resources right now, please help them pivot by hiring them to help you - or offer a trade.

Now is the time to pivot, right now.