Life Lessons From 2021

As 2021 comes to a close, it’s time for another installment – the sixth – in my “life lessons” blog series, where I reflect upon what all the life events I’ve experienced over the last year have taught me. I know I’ve said this before, but this year, above all others in my life, has been absolutely insane – full of ups and downs with plenty of curveballs along the way.

Lessons at Work

We'd never seen anything like the snowstorm in Texas this February. We knew it would be bad, but we had no idea the power grid would crumble and that cellular networks would be inoperable. Access to water, food, and heat became a major issue for some after a few days.

Nevertheless, the team sprang into action, emergency planning all weekend prior to the storm and then supporting our partners while DFW was incapacitated. Engineers hopped into the service queue between rolling power blackouts.

Did I mention I had COVID and had been in quarantine (with my wife + 3 toddlers) for two weeks prior to the storm?

What did this bad Black Mirror episode teach me? I’ve come to appreciate the value of planning. Pair that with the continued development of our leadership team, and we were able to attack this disaster strategically, as a team. We are a better organization because of this experience.

The entire world changed after 2020. However, at least in Texas, things seemed to be getting back to normal by the time spring rolled around. Warmer weather, lower case numbers, vaccines. It seemed like it was almost in the rear view. At least that is how I wanted to perceive it.

Tragedy struck this August when we abruptly lost a team member to COVID. Ryan was a rockstar and valued team member, often wracking up more positive client reviews than the rest of the team combined. But that's just a fraction of who this man was. Ryan was a true family man; his face lit up when he spoke about them. It was clear that Ryan was thankful for all his blessings. I try to remember and learn from his spirit: Happy and appreciative of everything life had bestowed upon him. Patient and cheerful. Hard working and loving. Truly gone too soon.

This experience was a brutal reminder of the fragility of life and COVID’s unrelenting impact.

A very impactful lesson I learned this year came from our merger and acquisition journey. After turning down an offer to be acquired in 2020, we then acquired a managed service provider ourselves . We spent the next two quarters integrating our helpdesk, leadership, and service delivery efforts.

This experience taught me the power of M&A and my passion for it. We in the IT industry all know about private equity gobbling up MSPs - they can do some financial engineering and crank up valuations at scale. But that’s not it. Add intelligent, passionate people to a working formula and you have rocket fuel. I was hooked. All I could think about was how to do more deals.

Speaking of that - in the time I’ve been writing these blogs, I’ve watched Electric’s founder, Ryan Denehy , take the business from a concept to an absolute juggernaut in the space. His vision is unlike anything that’s on the market today. When the opportunity presented itself to combine forces, I jumped on it. The deal went live this August. We’re part of the mothership now and I couldn’t be happier about it.

Seeing the team integrate into Electric and working with their leadership team have affirmed that this was the best move I could have made for not only the company, but for myself as well. Who says you can’t catch lightning in a bottle?! ?

Lessons at Home

The life lesson I learned this year at home – my wife is the most courageous person I know.

My wife always wanted to be a mother to four children. It was a number she’d had in her head for years. We found out she was pregnant in January. The shock set in, and we knew we had to get moving. We found a great area and started building a home to welcome our new one. Then I got COVID, then the snowstorm hit. During all this Jordan was having a hard pregnancy with extreme nausea, much worse than before. Only a few weeks later we found out there were two heart beats. Twins! We were stunned, but that quickly morphed to excitement and planning for our newest additions.

By this time, it was March. I met my wife as she was getting an ultrasound to reveal the gender of our twins. They could only identify the gender of one at that time which was a boy. We were so thrilled. Twin boys! Jordan got a call from her doctor’s office within the hour. The technician had seen something and wanted the doctor to review. Over the next 3 weeks my wife endured a series of horrific consultations with doctors and specialists…culminating in learning that our twins were conjoined and there was no longer a heartbeat. The specialists told us there were only nine documented instances of this situation occurring.

We were devastated. Never in our wildest dreams would I imagine us ending up here. I cannot begin to explain the kind of pain this caused our family. Despite that pain my wife got up each day and was a mother to our children. She moved forward. She endured. Only recently was she comfortable enough with this information to share it with others.

This journey is not over by any means, but we are getting better. Her bravery through this devastation is admirable. I am so lucky to have her as my wife. I love you, Jordan.

Aside from persevering through this tragedy this year, my wife and I also sold our first home, designed our new build, started 2 kids in school, and sold the company. Our kiddos just had the most wonderful (and unseasonably warm) Christmas. We’re moving into the new digs in 48 hours and looking forward to a calmer new year in our new home.

Final Thoughts

This year started with COVID and a 100-year snowstorm. It ended with me having a new level of appreciation for my wife and family, thankfulness for the journey, and even a bit more self-awareness.

To my friends, mentors, and peer group that helped me get through this year I want to thank you all. What a crazy year. I even leave 2021 with a few new titles - as an angel investor and poker vlogger . I can't wait to see where 2022 takes me.

Wishing you and yours a happy and healthy new year!

RO