Safe to say the last couple of months have been crazy for everybody; on my side, the last three weeks have been a combination of packing, booking flights at the last minute so I could enter Australia, quarantining on Lyss’ parents’ farm for two weeks before finally settling into Melbourne a couple of days ago. But in a way that summed up most of the quarter, things happening unexpectedly – fortunately COVID aside, most other things happened for the better.
The biggest change in life has been living with Lyss. It wasn’t something that either of us had planned or thought out but came up in a discussion organically and in January we decided to make it happen and three months in, I’m glad that we did. The end of 2019 wasn’t a good one for me personally but living together helped me reach a point of new equilibrium. One of the most underestimated aspects of a relationship is how much of a shared identity we create as a result of the relationship and I don’t think I realized the extent of that shared identity until after we moved in together. Fast forward a few months, where we’re 24/7 together, I’m both glad that we did move in earlier together to figure out the logistics behind it, but more importantly, grateful for having such a great partner in my life.
Beyond the new living arrangements though, most of Quarter 1 went better than I expected. While Cambodia remained a place I didn’t particularly like, accidentally finding a better coffee shop, gym and football team meant that I had things that I looked forward to more regularly, creating a sense of routine that I missed. Where most of the end of 2019 I couldn’t stop traveling, almost all of Quarter 1 was spent in Cambodia and that provided a sense of stability that allowed me to focus on a lot more on Video Husky.
It’s been a strange start to the year work-wise. Unlike last year where we were non-stop growing, this year has brought on a different set of challenges. While there were big external wins (like getting our new website up), most of quarter 1 was about a shift in focus. A company is only as good as its weakest chain and while our marketing did well, we were still lacking in other areas like customer success and financial management. In February we started focusing more on both of those areas and while neither effort has yet borne fruit, it’s relatively lucky that we started working on it before COVID really impacted us in March because at least we had some preparation. Personally, I’ve never worked through a recession before and so while March was tough with losing a good number of customers and needing to let go of staff, I’m also curious to see how a shift in market conditions can allow us to invest in other areas and potentially grow more sustainably in the long run.
Overall, while so many unexpected things happened this year, I’m glad that things have played out the way they have. It’ll be a bumpy ride in the foreseeable future, but between having a good roof over our heads, food on the table and a company to work with, there are many worse situations out there to be in. In the meantime, stay safe and we’ll make sure to come out of the other end stronger!