Message from the CEO - Human Time
Hello FinGym Family,
I don’t know about you, but after 17 months of pandemic living, lockdowns, social unrest, government transition, nonstop virtual meetings, and general feelings of isolation and depression, I’m exhausted. I’ve never struggled so hard, for so long; and just when I feel like the struggling may end, new struggles present themselves. In the past, my coping mechanisms were human interactions: hugs from my clients, lunch with my teammates, and laughing with friends; and for the most part, none of those have been available to me.
I consider myself a mentally tough human being, but I’ve cried more days than I’ve laughed through and I know I’m not alone. My personal struggles have given me tremendous empathy for everyone else living through these crazy times.
As a leadership team, we’ve known that our teammates are feeling their own levels of anxiety, stress, depression, isolation and fear; and many of them are without the comfort of close friends and family, especially their FinGym family. Like most companies, The Financial Gym is experiencing the pains of the “Great Resignation” and a common challenge amongst people departing is the lack of connection to the company culture and team that was such a special part of our secret sauce pre-pandemic.
Like most leaders, I want productive employees that are helping the business grow and hit it’s goals, but I also understand that I’ve built a business on human interaction and providing human support; and right now, my very human team is struggling like most humans are these days.
Through a series of internal conversations, we thought the best solution for the team was to bring humanity back to our business in a big way. So, we are hosting our first FinGym company retreat the week of August 29th. We will be following CDC guidelines and safely spending Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, reconnecting in person and sharing our first group team experience in over 17 months. We’ll be providing the team with sessions led by mental health experts, sessions around improving work-life management, and most of all, time blocked for fun like karaoke and game nights. On Thursday and Friday, the team will have paid time off days.
So, you may be wondering why I’m sharing this with you? The first reason I’m sharing it, is so you will know that essentially the week of August 29th, The Financial Gym will be closed. Trainers will not be available for new meetings, check-in meetings, quarterly reviews or email responses. The finance team will not be responding to billing or invoicing requests. The marketing team will not be actively responding to Instagram or Facebook messages; and the client experience team will not be responding to support requests.
I know this may cause challenges for some of you, but hopefully we’re giving enough notice for you to plan accordingly. Your needs are important to us, but this company is nothing without the amazing team that works here; and right now, their mental health and well-being is the highest priority to me.
If you have any formal complaints or issues with this, please feel free to email me at shannon@fingyms.com and I’m happy to hear your concerns; but if not, I hope that you’ll send positive thoughts and warm wishes to this FinGym team that’s worked tirelessly through a global pandemic to be present and supportive of their clients who are on amazing financial health journeys, to our support staff who provide much needed support to their teammates, and to our marketing team who has worked hard to make sure this company continues to grow so that we’re able to remain a trusted option for anyone looking for supportive and nonjudgmental financial guidance.
I’m looking forward to spending a few days with my amazing teammates who work so hard to change the financial health of thousands of people, and then maybe a few days of reading some trashy romance novels (my preferable escape from the craziness of these days). I thank you in advance for your support during this time and we will be ready and energized to hit the ground running with you in September!
Warmest Regards,
Shannon McLay
Founder & CEO
The Financial Gym, Inc.