My brain in one word today: frustrated
Today I am: rain is finally here! I’m cozy inside at the dining table
Current CNN news headline: Trump tells govs 'you are going to call your own shots' and distributes new guidelines
(The intention of this post is to facilitate conversation as to how we, as a community, can improve our efforts in supporting our small businesses.)
‘This is a time for communities to come together’. As my husband and I took our daily late afternoon walk this saying plagued my mind. Do you find that you are getting numb to this saying? Just like the saying 'these uncertain times' - do we use them so much they are losing their value? Are we also getting numb to ’it’s important to support local right now’. And let me preface this with saying I am looking at these concepts as a larger whole. I could go in multiple directions with this but my main concern today is community.
Today I just couldn’t stop asking over and over again in my mind, are we (myself included) as New Smyrna Beach community leaders and small business owners becoming complacent with this new normal? Or more than likely - are we numb with uncertainty? I don’t know! Someone please tell me.
This post is going to be filled with mostly questions that I just couldn't stop asking today. And really these questions stem from recent experiences that have touched me. My other business has been working with surrounding towns on projects and we have just been blown away with the amount of support and efforts being taken to protect their small business community which naturally made me reflect - what are we doing here in New Smyrna Beach?
Are we fighting together as much as we can? What creative solutions have we come up with? In moments of weakness and turmoil people say (who these people are, I have no idea) it often shows how strong communities are and today I have to say I am a little uncertain about our strength. I don’t often doubt my beloved NSB community but today I am a bit. And I am not talking about the amazing citizens that we have and visitors who love our incredible town - I’m talking about our community leaders and organized business groups. And trust me, I am pointing my finger directly back at myself. As a small business owner I understand that with that I take on a roll as a leader whether I want it or not. I take this chosen position with great pride and responsibility. As community leaders we HAVE to be joining together to creatively problem solve for the biggest problem we hopefully will ever face. After all, two heads are better than one is a saying for a reason.
Anyway, my whole point is we have to realize that what makes our brand of New Smyrna Beach are our small businesses and our call to action has to be ‘how do we protect this invaluable asset?’. Let’s come together as community leaders and figure out how to preserve what we love so much about this town. What would we do without Breaker’s or Clancy’s Cantina (it’s clearly dinner time for me because all I can think of are restaurants) or obviously The Florida Local (I may be bias here). The reality that in 6 months these places won’t be there is WAY more real than ever - I’m telling you this as a business owner - it’s VERY real. I tried my best (pretty sure I failed) to not get too political about this since I do own two local businesses but I am so passionate about protecting the small businesses of our town.
If you want to chat about this or you have some great ideas to help out our small businesses - PLEASE shoot me an email jellypressnsb@gmail.com.
All of this was rattling on while I was working on the next page for ‘Can We Go Outside’. Community concerns were definitely my gator lurking in the water today.