Mar 25, 2020
Kate Jaramillo & Ken Andrukow
In this episode, I have a conversation with Kate and Ken about what is currently happening in the world with COVID 19 and find out from them what we can do as entrepreneurs and leaders within our communities and businesses.
Kate is a top tier wellness professional and a loving wife and mother to 4 beautiful children. One of the most impactful lessons that one can learn both personally and professionally is whatever we wish to achieve; we can by taking massive action.
She strives to give people the avenue to go down to living the life that they truly deserve.
Ken is an experienced business owner and mentors with a demonstrated history of building businesses that scale.
What is going on in your area, and how are people responding to COVID 19 and all the measures to slow the spread down? (1:32)
- Ken says that the people in the city are slowing and systematically distancing themselves from each other.
- He officially shut down his gym the day before until further notice.
- The sad part is that there are people who are contracting the virus and passing away, so it's hard to be optimistic in times like these.
- Ken says that for him, the bottom line is that we’re all in the same boat. There isn’t one person in the world who isn’t, and we must all remain positive, this thing will eventually clear.
- According to him takes positivity to get through this, and everyone has to work together, do the right thing, and stay home even though there may be financial implications.
- Kate says she works from home, so it doesn’t have a direct impact on her schedule, but everyone is trying to be careful and limiting their activities.
- She also mentioned that her kids have joined online classes and that even their gymnastics teacher started giving online classes.
- Kate is focused on serving her community and helping mitigate their fears and anxiety. It's important for people to stay calm.
How does one step up in your local community and become a leader in times like these? How do you become a leader in your community and in your business? (5:07)
- Ken feels that people should see being optimistic as being opportunistic. In tough times being are being forced to be innovative, identify problems, and use what you can create to help other people.
- He feels that there are people who are opportunistic when they are inflating the prices of certain products.
- If you are out there leading people and helping others to feel better and see the positive, an opportunity may arise, and there is nothing opportunistic about that.
- He encourages people to give away their influence and create value instead of selling.
- He talks about a client who decided to give away a coaching course that would have been sold for $1000 and because the client did that more than 2000 people signed up so far. Even though the revenue was given up, people will come back because they saw the value.
How do you support local businesses in these times or relieve the financial stress on your clients? (9:04)
- Ken says they closed the gym because they had to, and whether they closed or not, everyone is stuck at home and can’t go to the gym.
- We have to realize there is a barrier put between us, and we have to ask ourselves how to overcome the barrier. How do we help our gym members and hold them accountable?
- His gym is doing virtual classes three times a day, and one of the classes will be recorded so that members can use it later.
- They are also doing a gear loan out to assist members and keep them active. They were also doing a nutrition challenge for their members and increased the level of communication with their members by texting them regularly and calling them.
What trends do you see in the health and wellness community? (10:58)
- Kate says that everyone is a little bit scared and feels that their clients rather want to sit and watch the news while eating Oreos; they are stress eating.
- The people in the health and wellness industry are concerned about their clients, and they are also worried about their business because they may have to refund their clients.
- She thinks that online entrepreneurs will be okay because they have little overheads.
- People should be there for their clients, empathize with them and let them know that you can understand where they are at reminding them that this will be a great time to practice mindfulness, mindfulness eating, and doing more face to face meetings over Facebook live or zoom meetings. People can still do live workouts together to foster community.
- We should give more access to their community.
While we can’t control any of what is happening with the virus, what can we do? (12:36)
- Kate feels that this is the perfect time for us to innovate and be creative.
- We can pour back into our business by watching the webinars are classes that we’ve been putting together and improving them.
- People should see what other people’s needs are right now and create challenges to bring people together.
- We should be the entrepreneurs we are and create what is currently missing in the marketplace.
- Ken says that we should focus on what we can change and how we respond.
Any final points on leadership in a crisis? (17:49)
- Ken encourages people to calm down if you're feeling down, get on Zoom or Facetime, and connect with your friends and the people you love.
- Let people know that you are thinking about them.
- Kates says we should take the time and step back; this is the perfect buffer opportunity.
- We should catch up on sleep and spend time with kids and family and then get back at it and see how you can serve other people.
Resources
Connect with Ken on LinkedIn
Connect with Kate on LinkedIn