I have walked across the border, the Mexican/USA border so many times…I have lost count. Immigration is very personal to me. I have been called to bring my camera to remote areas outside of Nogales, Arizona…to have my camera ready as Border Patrol open the back of the Ryder trucks; to capture the scared faces of young children and families whose long ride has stopped for us to share with the world.
It has been almost a year and this is the first time in one year that I had the energy to sit-up after putting the twins to bed, watch a game and get a little work done. George and Henry turn one on June 10th…yes! OMG!
For the past year, I have been exhausted…extremely tired. This post-40 life has not only kicked my butt, but having twins has flipped everything upside down. Research shows that men take a huge dip after 40 and is more apparent around 44. No energy, mood swings, lack of drive, and just finding the energy to make it past 8pm is excruciating!
If you look around, Greenville is growing, the Upstate of SC is growing…and growing fast…with tremendous economic development.
With this growth comes the concern, how to fill jobs to meet the demand. Employers can’t find enough employees with a 3.5% unemployment rate and about 10,000 job openings in Greenville County.
In honor of Nurses Week, I thought I would share a list…you know your mom is a nurse when:
1) Your birthday presents are wrapped with surgical tape.
2) You have not gone to your PCP in over two years.
3) You have slept in a hospital bed as a child.
4) You open the refrigerator and their is always a stock of flu shots.
For over a year, I have been working on a project that has truly challenged and stretched my capabilities in new and exciting ways. I was part of a creative team who partnered with South Carolina Hospital Association (SCHA) to launch a national brand…and it was a lot of fun.
The for-profit arm of South Carolina Hospital Association previously known as Healthcare Staffing Services (HSS) was rebranded as Qualivis. This rebrand was necessary to further align the goals of HSS positioning the new Qualivis as a national provider of healthcare workforce solutions.
We have been there before, in a meeting preparing to create a great healthcare communication campaign. We write the strategy and determine the tactics including many visual elements: video, imagery, social media posts, digital billboards. etc. It is time to schedule the video and photo shoots requiring the need to hire and recruit individuals to be featured in the photo and video deliverables.
You can feel it coming, and you have this undercurrent of worry. The photo and video sessions go really well, capturing lots of great content for the campaign. Then the bomb drops, you are reviewing all the great content and a voice in the room silences everyone, “you did not capture enough people of color.”
Today was a great day…I spent time interviewing Dr. Hai Yao and Dr. Jeremy Gilbert both endowed chairs for Clemson Bioengineering. Both men carrying on the legacy of a life long family friend Dr. Larry Dooley.
This has to be one of the most powerful stories we have captured since I started working with Safe Harbor eight years ago. Each year, we have pushed the boundaries, getting to a place where real, raw emotion translated into such palatable words. Jenita is such an inspiring woman, with an amazing ability to share emotion in a way that we could truly see into her soul.
We are surrounded by noise, conversations, opinions, places where voicing and sharing our thoughts, feelings and opinions feel unsafe. Large group conversations are getting more overwhelming, more polarizing, and even volatile to a point forcing us to make tough choices….where is my safe space?
Today was a special day…I made a new friend! When I met Chris, I knew this guy was a rambunctious boy full of life and a love for sports. But what I did not realize, is how he can change your view of how a little boy with special ability can exceed all predispositions and expectations.