My 2021 Vision

I remember so vividly counting down the minutes and seconds to see the arrival of 2021 only to be reminded by a good friend that 2021 would be a year that held some good and still plenty of bad….it’s just the stage of life I am in, and we are in the middle of a global pandemic.  It was a good reminder that although I wanted 2021 to be so much better than 2020, it was going to be the small moments and how I lived my life that really mattered.  This was also the year I turned 50 and marked my 10 year Faceversary.  These were truly significant milestones in my life.

On the personal front, yoga continued to ground me every morning.  In 2021, I added the practice of transcendental meditation at the suggestion of three close friends.  After committing some time to train on it, this form of meditation has truly made a world of difference in giving me time to center myself each day.  I ran more in the spring/summer/fall but that was totally fine.  I didn’t beat myself up over not running every day.  And although I had grand visions of running my first marathon the year I turned 50, I completed a half marathon which was a huge accomplishment!  

I continued my commitment to sleep and averaged 7-8 hours a night and made sure I used my eye pillow which definitely helps.  Intermittently, I used my Calm app at night to calm me down but, with the new transcendental meditation practice, I found going to sleep easier, and better yet, my mind was not racing all the time.

As someone who craves interaction with friends and loves to host parties, I found happiness in much simpler ways in 2021—whether that was having a couple of friends over outside by the firepit or pool, or just being totally ok being by myself in front of a fire with the dogs watching a great series.  My family used to joke that I didn’t know how to just sit and relax—but I got good at that in 2021.

The biggest change this year was becoming “empty nesters” as Taylor and Kennedy went off to college.  People with children warn you about this milestone - and after 18+ years, it was suddenly real for us.  We embraced the role of college parents full on—getting involved in Duke’s Parent Advisory Board, starting to learn our way of involvement at Yale, and, of course, visited the girls to watch them play fall lacrosse as much as we could.  I found myself looking forward even more to our time together (I didn’t think that was even possible!).  The girls had as normal of a first freshman semester as possible and they are thriving.  Doug and I made the best of our time together—and we are truly happy as we settle into this new phase of life’s journey.

2021 was a challenging year with our dogs but I am happy to report that we are celebrating New Year’s Eve with Fred who a year ago was diagnosed with brain cancer.  And while Prancer and Harper are getting much older, they are still doing well healthwise.  And Handsome Happy Henry was as playful as ever having fully recovered from his ACL/Meniscus injury.

As we just passed the 2 year anniversary of my dad aka Pa’s passing, I am starting to see my mom adjust to life without her partner.  It has been a long, hard journey for her and for all of us but she knows she has so much to live for.  She is smiling again and doesn’t feel as lonely.

On the business front, 2021 was another breakout year for performance.  But that really wasn’t my main focus as crazy as that may sound.  Focusing on our teams health and safety was my main priority.  The impact of COVID-19 on our ability to be with clients meant that we reinvented how I spend time with the team.  

With the support of my team, I was able to lead a global conversation about employee happiness, working to inspire a new era of the way businesses operate and fueling my legacy to have leaders appreciate what is possible when you invest in employee happiness. I continue to work with Bloomberg to identify a way to value companies based on employee’s happiness as an official metric, ensuring it is seen as a business imperative. The metric will eventually appear on the Bloomberg Terminals akin to the gender equality measurement. I am confident that this will change the workplace for the better.

For the last three years, I have been talking about the Ys of leadership: Authenticity, Bravery, Curiosity, Diversity, Empathy, Generosity, Humility, Resiliency, Responsibility (Unconditional) Transparency, Vulnerability and in 2021, I was asked to speak on major virtual stages to share my perspective.

From a community standpoint, The Gun Safety Alliance was able to make substantial progress thanks to a new administration. I led the efforts to connect business leaders with President Biden’s administration, which not only allowed us to make faster progress but it also allowed me to build stronger connections in government. 2021 was also the year that I prioritized and participated in more events with the Council on Foreign Relations. This helped broaden my aperture for how I want to focus my time later in life on key societal issues.

I was a key industry leader in bringing together the D&I efforts and as a result, we have made much faster progress in the 3 main objectives: 1) Accurately portray all people in advertising and media; 2) Achieve diverse representation in all aspects of our industry ecosystem; and 3) Develop an inclusive and engaged community.

Although far from “normal,” it turned out to be a really good year.  My recharge in July was exactly what I needed—the time spent with the girls before they went off to college was time I will always treasure. My family worked on a long range plan to buy property to be used for rescue dogs in Colorado.

As we get ready to watch the New Year’s Eve ball drop again, I am truly optimistic that 2022 will be an even better year for society.  I am even more grateful to be with my family--their health and happiness means everything to me.