Gratitude for Another Year: Thanksgiving 2021

In my opinion, realizing you enjoy Thanksgiving more than Christmas is one of the first real signs you’ve reached adulthood. Thanksgiving has all of the food, family, and tradition without the stress of decorating and gift giving. But the importance of Thanksgiving goes beyond what we do to celebrate the day. Setting aside an annual day to give thanks for all our blessings – big and small – is both rewarding and humbling.

Every year I pause and give thanks for all of the people and projects in my work life that I can’t imagine doing without. What an embarrassment of riches!!

I have to start my gratitude with Art of Procurement – we’ve reached a point in 2021 where we can safely look back at some of the really tough days with something close to nostalgia (don’t worry Phil… I’m knocking on wood as I type this!). Not only that, but we’ve doubled the team. Adding Brittany Reilly and Helen Mackenzie has been amazing – and we haven’t slowed down a bit. We are only limited by our imaginations (and the need to sleep on occasion). 2022 promises to be the best year yet.

From best years to first years… I’m getting ready to wrap up a whole calendar year of Dial P for Procurement at Supply Chain Now. I managed to overcome my anxiety about being on camera (although truth be told, I still have to close my eyes when the livestream countdown clock starts to blink out the last 10 seconds before go live) and have FUN with Scott Luton and a fabulous panel of guests. Even though I haven’t been in the same room with any of them (yet), the whole SCN team has become like family – another team that is building on their successes year over year and positioning themselves to grow.

Some of the best opportunities I’ve had this year were around new content projects:

• The team at Una has given me the opportunity to host The Sourcing Hero podcast… 21 episodes have already published with me as the host. I just never know what someone is going to say when I ask them for their definition of business heroism. Every answer has been different and amazing in its own way.
• I love co-hosting This Week in Business History with Scott Luton, dusting off old inventions and entrepreneurs and bringing their stories back to life. I’ve always enjoyed history, and nothing pleases me more than discovering a powerful or quirky set of circumstances that we all still benefit from today.

But gratitude can’t just be about giving thanks, it has to be about giving back. I was proud to sponsor four episodes of Veteran Voices, another of Scott Luton’s podcast projects. Every day is a new opportunity to succeed, but not without the freedom to chart our own path. That is a gift given freely, and sometimes at a great cost, by the men and women serving in the military around the world. We should want to hear their stories and support them once their service is done – especially if they are transitioning back into private industry.

Entrepreneurship brings good days and bad days, but having a strong professional community means not having to face any of it alone. Whether we’ve spoken on the phone, sat in a video meeting together, or just engaged in discussions on social media, please know that I am thankful for YOU! I consider every set of eyes, share, and comment (even the constructive ones!) a gift.

I wish you and your family a safe and healthy Thanksgiving, and the time to reflect on the ‘gifts’ you received this year.

Happy Thanksgiving!