A baby and a wedding
I’m back from Break Week . . . and what a Break Week it was!
The week kicked off last Monday morning with the most special team news: Monique, our Chief of Growth, gave birth to a baby boy! Please meet Atlas Leo McHugh, who was born bright and early at 6 a.m. after 79 hours of labor!
We are so proud of Monique for her immense strength in bringing Atlas into the world, and we are so thankful for her husband, Tim, who has been such an incredible partner to her in this journey.
And, as if Atlas’ birth wasn’t already a huge, emotional moment, there was another one only two days later: Spiros and I applied for our marriage license in preparation for our upcoming wedding on October 30th! It feels real. Here we are on the steps of the Harris County Courthouse:
My Break Week was filled with lots of relaxing and recharging, of course, and plenty of long walks, but most of my time was spent thinking about these two big moments and the significance of each.
In particular, I thought about how I first met Monique nearly ten years ago. She was a student, and Tim (then her boyfriend, now her husband) was interning for us. Monique was looking for a job, Tim told her about an opportunity we had cleaning empty apartments, she was interested, and we hired her. I watched Monique turn down a job in interior design to stick with us. I watched her grow as a leader as she wore nearly every hat in the company. I watched her take our company to a level that I never thought was possible, and I watched her create her current role as my right-hand person and thought partner. I’ve seen Monqiue go from a college student to our Chief of Growth, carrying the biggest responsibility of all: Bringing our vision as a company to life.
When Monique first met me, I was in my early 20s. I had recently graduated, was in the early phases of learning how to lead (a.k.a. screwing up a ton), and had so many big dreams for my company. When Monique started, we had one location. That location grew to two. Then we sold the second and went back to one. Then we launched a leadership company. Then I started speaking on stages and working with teams around the world teaching what we had learned. Then we published a book. Then we survived a pandemic. Then we transitioned our company. Monique has seen me go from a recent college grad who barely had a clue how to lead or grow a company to someone who is the clearest that she’s ever been on the vision she has for herself, for her company, and for the future. Monique was there for all of that.
That’s a lot that we’ve both witnessed of one another in nearly ten years. But even more special than that, we’ve witnessed big, personal moments.
I’ve been lucky enough to see Monique’s engagement to Tim, her wedding, the purchase of her first home, her first pregnancy, and now, the birth of Atlas. Monique has also seen the most meaningful moments in my own life so far: Meeting Spiros, meeting Spiros’ daughter, Evie, moving to Houston, getting engaged, and now, getting married.
How special is it that not only have we been able to watch our company grow over the last decade and watch ourselves grow as leaders, but we’ve also been able to witness such huge moments in one another’s lives?
And then that got me thinking about the rest of the team. The moves. The houses purchased. The engagements. The weddings. The births. The dreams pursued. The dreams reached. And not only the happy times, but the hard times too. All of the moments. All of the seasons
This Break Week was an emotional one for me. I got to reflect on how special it is to work on a team. How special it is to grow with people. How incredible it is to walk alongside one another in our work and in our lives.
Think about it. Think about the people you work with every day. Where were they when you first started working together? Where were you when you first started working together? What seasons have you been through together? How have you supported one another? Reflect on it. Reminisce about it together. How beautiful.
I also got to think deeply about my responsibility as a leader. When I look out at our team, I don’t only see those who are employed by Kristen Hadeed, LLC. I see their partners. Their children. Their pets. Their homes. Their rent. Their mortgages. Their livelihoods. Their dreams. I see 8-day-old Atlas Leo McHugh.
This is why I’m a leader. To build something that takes care of others. To be there for all the ups and downs that come with life. To grow together and become better humans, leaders, partners, parents, and friends. To better enable people to design the lives of their dreams. So that one day down the road, the people I am lucky enough to work alongside will look back on their lives and have immense gratitude for our company and how their job didn’t take them away from life—it made life brighter.
I know I’ve had a good Break Week when I feel more connected to my purpose, and I do, more than I ever have before. I’m so thankful for this week of pause. All of it . . . the big moments, the reflections, the reminders of what leadership means to me and why I wake up every day.
And also, I can’t end this blog post about my Break Week without announcing some big news.
I’m so excited to share that we’ve created a virtual retreat—inspired by my Break Weeks—to help you pause, too. The R&R Retreat will take place on Thursday, December 9th, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET (U.S.) on Zoom. It’s designed to help you take a break from the day-to-day to reset, reflect, recharge, recalibrate, re-center, realign, reenergize . . . all of the things. I’ll guide you through the same reflections I use myself so that you’ll leave with tremendous clarity and focus as you embark on 2022. Tickets are $149, group discounts are available, and you can secure your seat here. I sincerely hope you’ll take some R&R with us!
Big hugs! It feels good to be back.
Kristen
PS: Hope you’ll join us for this week’s LIVE! I’m interviewing my former coach, Paul, who I worked with for one year on personal and professional development. We are talking about the methods he used to help me become more self-aware and grow as a human and leader. Join us this Wednesday, 10/6 at 11 a.m. ET! You can register here: https://bit.ly/3kWe2kT
