Pulling The Trigger On Trauma

From Lanae Rivers-Woods, Consultant:

Over the years, I’ve witnessed many companies and lives destroyed by life’s inevitable traumas and the shock waves that continue through the years. Sole proprietors are especially at risk of “losing it all” from the after effects of extreme stress, however, this doesn’t have to happen.

With a little organization and self-analysis, you can manage your company around these issues in a way that takes care of both you and your clients. You start by addressing the trauma head-on, accepting that it has changed you, addressing how it affects others around you and planning for these issues in the future.

Here is a basic framework for identifying the and working with trauma over time.

Know your trauma anniversaries

• Step 1: Create a list significant dates associated with sever trauma such as accidents, deaths, divorces, abuse, trials, violence, etc. If you don’t know the exact date do the research to find out when it was. Your subconscious remembers when things happen even if you don’t, so bring the important dates out of the dark.

• Step 2: Rate these dates 1-5. 1 being the least stressful and 5 being the most stressful. Take your time doing this. Consider not just what happened at that moment, but what else stemmed from the situation. Maybe the you had a car accident that hurt your neck, but the time off work caused you to lose your house. Which date do you really tie the stress too?

• Step 3: Assess your behavior surrounding every date with a level 5 trauma value next too it. During that time of year do you have trouble returning phone calls? Are you more likely to make rash decisions? Do you over schedule your clients? Have you fired someone every year on that date like clockwork?

Now that you know what times of year you will most likely operate with compromised decision making skills, it is time to plan for the event rather then pretend nothing will happen.

Plan ahead for your behavior

• Step 1: Share the list of dates with a level 5 response with key members of your staff and be open about what behavior they might expect surrounding said dates. Examples: “Next month will be difficult for me. I may have trouble sleeping and issues with decision making. I may need to take time off to avoid poor performance or ineffective management habits. I want to do what’s best for my employees and my company, and trying to pretending that I’m okay is not what’s best.” Ask for their ideas on ways to lighten your workload without overwhelming the staff.

• Step 2: Keep your scheduling light during level 5 trauma anniversaries. This is not the time to schedule big sales meetings, staff reviews or a big product launch. Pushing through these trauma anniversaries will only lead to poor, reflex decision-making that will damage your bottom line, just don’t do it. Plan ahead, be responsible.

• Step 3: Have a back-up plan and support system in place. If you suspect you may react more strongly to the anniversary due to such things as media coverage, unrelated exterior stress, or because the trauma happened recently, then pull in outside help. Create a system for temporarily managing your clients so you can meet their needs, while still meeting your own. If you need to, hire a temp or bring in help for that week only. Be clear about the situation and accept help in planning the best way to get through it.

• Step 4: Get back on the horse. Once the date has passed move quickly to return all systems to normal. This is the most important part, don’t prolong the process. Practice a quick and effect return to normal company behavior. It is important you demonstrate to both your clients and your staff that stepping back was a momentary move and not a permanent desire to do less.

When you model this behavior for your staff you will build the trust necessary for them to share the issues they struggle with and build a framework for your company to deal effectively with life’s trauma’s as they unfold in the future.

Throughout this process it is important to remember there is no shame in trauma and there is no shame is addressing how it has affected your life. It is a basic fact of the human experience and if addressed, it can be managed and addressed in a healthy productive way over time. You will also find that identifying these dates and your responses associated with them will lead to smoother transitions through them and eventually they may have no negative impact at all.

To learn more about the effects of trauma on the brain during trauma anniversaries I recommend the following two links:

http://dartcenter.org/content/self-study-unit-3-photography-trauma-3

http://www.helpguide.org/mental/emotional_psychological_trauma.htm

Client Profile: Authors, Gloria Burke and Katherine Burk

Children's authors Gloria Burke and Katherine Burk are a mother-daughter writing team who have recently begun winning over the Northwest with Finding Mr. Ness, the premier book of their Tilania Travelers Series.


The Authors.

Like the characters in their book, Finding Mr. Ness, Katherine Burk and Gloria Burke have embarked on an exciting journey together. What began as a way for mother and daughter to connect despite the miles between them has turned into a successful cooperative writing practice, and it’s only just begun.

Katherine spent several years in the political arena and the cellular telecommunications industry before taking on a new career direction: raising a growing family. Now she’s active in her Pacific Northwest community, contributing time and energy to her children’s schools, extracurricular activities and other charitable organizations. Writing and illustration are Katherine’s way of passing on some of the magic of her childhood to her own children.

Gloria has always been involved with child development. A mother and a grandmother, she’s also a recently retired Child Psychiatrist and Psychoanalyst, and was the Medical Director at a charitable therapeutic nursery school. She’s been actively engaged with writing in the San Francisco Bay Area for over 20 years. Co-writing books with her daughter Katherine is a natural extension of her love for family, children and creative expression.

Finding Mr. Ness is Katherine and Gloria’s first publication together. With over 800 miles between them the process is sometimes challenging, but always rewarding. They are currently writing the next book in The Tilania Travelers Series, The Scrolls of Tilania.

The First Book.

Finding Mr. Ness is the first book in the Tilania Traveler Series, a series of chapter books written for children ages 7-10. The book is a winning combination of excitement and adventure that will capture children’s attention and keep them planted in their chairs, fully entertained. It’s full of captivating places like the Reflective Reef, Nessen and the Isle of Hearts, scientific devices like puncture-proof wetsuits and weather machines, and not-quite-familiar creatures like Kalya who’s “a cross between a sea turtle and a crab.” (Page 44) Reminiscent of other memorable stories, Finding Mr. Ness transports the reader to another world that seems unreal yet almost possible.

The Storyline.

Clayton and Annie are best friends whose curiosity about an old microscope, a postage stamp, and an eccentric scientist named Mr. Ness soon leads them on a journey into the strange land of Tilania. Once there they are swept into a desperate attempt to save a doomed civilization. Their race against time depends on the completion of Mr. Ness' powerful invention and the destruction of his archenemy.

Client Julie Kramis Hearne to be on Martha Stewart Radio

Our latest client, author and chef Julie Kramis Hearne, is going to be on Martha Stewart radio this coming week. Right now we are helping her put her best foot forward for the national media by providing the help she needs with her brand. So far we have:

• Developed her new website www.whatsjuliecooking.com which will launch in a few days.
  
• Developed her new blog whatsjuliecooking.blogspot.com which we are adding content to later today.
  
• Developed and launched a twitter feed www.twitter.com/castironskillet which took off like right away.
  

Not bad for a weeks worth of work.

This type of project is what The Power of Basics is all about. We take wonderful artists and authors and package their talent into a simple to manage brand using tools they can easily maintain throughout the lifetime of their company. No need to spend huge amounts of money when true profit is found in the basics of consistancy.

Client Profile: Julie Kramis Hearne

Julie Kramis Hearne has always loved food. When she was young, she would pretend to be sick so she could stay home from school and watch her mother teach cooking classes, and she often accompanied her mother to her classes with James Beard.

Julie’s formal cooking education began when she decided to major in Food Science and Nutrition at Seattle Pacific University. She continued her education by taking classes at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone. Her education was then enhanced by working with chef Jerry Traunfeld at the world-renowned Herbfarm restaurant in Woodinville, Washington. Always open to new sources of information and inspiration, Julie continues learning to this day by taking classes with award-winning chefs such as David Tanis, Giuliano Hazan, Diana Kennedy, Susan Hermann-Loomis and many others.

As former owner of two successful Seattle restaurants and a revered restaurant consultant, Julie continues to share her love of food by teaching cooking classes to the public. Also, for over a decade she has donated her culinary talents to raise money for such causes as Heart Hope Institute and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and she seeks to empower women in the culinary arts through membership in organizations like Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, the International Association of Culinary Professionals, Women for WineSense and Les Dames d’Escoffier International. Julie was also a past board member of Slow Food International, an organization committed to the production of food that doesn’t harm the environment, animal welfare or our health.

Along the way, Julie has also managed to co-author two cookbooks with her mother, Sharon Kramis: The Cast-Iron Skillet Cookbook and The Dutch Oven Cookbook, which have received positive reviews in publications like the New York Times book review and the Seattle Times. Julie and her mother Sharon Kramis went on a 21 city tour and taught at all of the Sur La Table's across the country. They have also taught on board Holland America Cruise Lines and many other venues.

Julie has shared her recipes in Rachael Ray and Paula Deen's magazines as well as being a guest speaker on radio shows for NPR and Martha Stewart Living, Sirius Radio.

Julie lives with her husband Harker and their three sons, Reilly, Konrad, Andrew in Seattle.

Lanae featured speaker at GoBODA workshop in June

We are excited to announce that Power of Basics Consultant, Lanae Rivers-Woods will be a featured presenter at the GoBODA Photography Boot Camp in Seattle this June. Together with photography industry expert, Katarina Garner, Lanae will address how to foster an effective and lucrative photography company (without losing your mind) in her presentation, Work v. Profitability.

Good business is about the basics

Welcome to the Power of Basics, a blog focused on the simple necessities required to run a successful business. We keep it simple, we keep it refined and we keep it real.

Consultant Profile: Rebeqa Rivers

Hailing from Seattle, WA, Power of Basics' Efficiency and Processes Consultant, Rebeqa Rivers, is not only an expert in creating effective and rewarding process systems for companies small and large, but she is also an accomplished musician whose budding career is on the rise.

A trained opera singer, Rebeqa is active in many corners of the Northwest music scene. From appearances with world music group, Abrace - with whom she independently released an EP in 2008 - and as featured soloist for the NeoDandi Fashion House's seasonal runway shows, she continues to cross genres.

Her indie Steampunk band, Latitude x Longitude, co-founded with guitarist Spencer Smith is in the process of recording their first full length album, due to release in July of 2010. In addition, Rebeqa often shares the stage with musical great Mike McCready, the lead guitarist of Pearl Jam as well as many other legendary and rising musicians.