A friend just asked me out of concern "Is it draining to close your business and liquidate assets with COVID going on?" The short answer is not at all!
As I shut down Grio, my restaurant, based on the concept of a West African storyteller and bard. I feel nothing but happiness and pride, even as it ends, I got to advocate for myself, share my culture and design a brand that excited me and gave me life.
What was draining was the Pom-Eats chapter, the first "business" I joined at the start of the year, I went from feeling completely happy and satisfied with my life as a successful freelance teacher to being trapped in a scam of a business if it wasn't for the honesty and kindness of my employees and my landlord I would have lost everything this year.
When you think no one is watching you, rest assured that they are, from the way you mop a floor or do the dishes, to what you do when it is a choice between holding onto your money or taking care of your people, it all gets filed away mentally by those on your team and they will either step up or remain silent.
The people around me had a choice to make based on their observations and luckily at my lowest point of 2021, when my faith in others and myself was at its weakest they came through in a huge way, they backed me and defended me even when it would be easier to "turn a blind eye" or "not get involved".
This is my story, one that is all too common as the pandemic creates opportunities for more people to try their hand at business. I lost enough to learn a lesson but not enough to destroy the life I currently have which makes me a very lucky man.