“Alexa, play ‘It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday’ by Boyz II Men….again”
You can convince yourself that your side hustle isn’t “for real, for real,” even after it becomes your main hustle, until you hire your first employee. Then, everything changes.
Louis Livingston-Garcia was Crafted For All’s first employee and everything changed for the better the moment I hired him. Louis has taught me more about leadership and kindness than I can possibly put into words. And though his time with Crafted For All has come to an end, his friendship is a gift I hope I get to keep always.
Looking back, I can’t help but chuckle when I think of just how ludicrous I was when I decided to hire Crafted For All’s first employee. Though it obviously panned out well, I was beyond high strung throughout the process. I put so much pressure on myself to “get it right.” From implementing every bias-countering policy I could think to apply to using a scaled down version of the DiSC Personality Assessment tool to ensure that I hired someone who wasn’t merely a carbon copy of me, I absolutely obsessed about this hire and how it would shape the trajectory of my fledgling business.
Though the near-constant anxiety that colors my memory of those weeks of reading resumes and anguishing over interviews gives me some hard cringe now, the process worked. Louis was unlike any job candidate I would have imagined. I can’t say he was the “perfect fit.” That’s an overly simplistic description that doesn’t do justice to the working relationship that we developed over the time we spent as coworkers. I’ll say, rather, that Louis was the fit I desperately needed.
“Lead Storyteller” doesn’t really begin to describe the role that Louis played in building and maintaining Crafted For All. Nearly from the beginning, he was an integral part of the way Crafted For All has shown up with clients, partners, social media followers, and other stakeholders. Louis produced articles and newsletters, crafted web copy and video segments, created beautiful photographs, and managed our social media platforms. He accompanied me to the Craft Brewers Conference to help execute THRIVE and other inititiatives on the ground, never failing to show up with cooler full of Spotted Dog, pastry stouts (which I gleefully don’t partake in because I am old and curmudgeonly), and cheese curds (which I regrettably don’t partake in as a plant-based eater).
In another tribute post to a former employee, I described Alana Koenig-Busey as “not just my right hand,” but also “my left hand and both of my feet too.” I’m sure no one is going to pop this blog for internal inconsistencies, but lovers of internal consistency will recognize that I have left no limbs for Louis. Does this mean that Louis didn’t make useful contributions to our small business?
Hardly.
Alana was perhaps my metaphorical hands and feet because in many ways we are cut from the same hyper-competent, Type A cloth. Louis, however was something entirely different as a team member. By being his authentic self–curious and creative, humble and vulnerable, honest and so incredibly kind–Louis was a mirror in which the work we did together was reflected back to me. He helped me see myself as strong and capable when I felt like I was coming apart at the seams. He helped me find compassion on days when I thought I had none left to find. He helped me learn that the privilege of leadership is a weighty responsibility that is made easier by the patience and love of others. He taught that the person holding a mirror for others is rarely truly seen, and that the value they bring–indescribably critical value–is tragically easy to overlook. Louis inspired me to be better in just about every way that matters.
“Alexa, turn up the volume….again”
Louis, I genuinely cannot imagine what I would have done without you for the past three years. Seeing the world through your eyes has made me a more careful and compassionate observer of our industry. Every day we worked together, I asked myself what I should be doing to ensure that I was worthy of being your boss. Some days that pushed me to ferocious spates of research and learning about leadership strategy and management practice. Some days, I failed spectacularly. Every day, you were constant, patiently rolling with whatever came your way as I attempted to be the leader you deserved–a gentle hand on my shoulder that seemed to whisper, “It’s okay, J. It’s all going to be okay.”
Your quiet care helped me to navigate some of the hardest times in my life both professionally and personally. It has been such an honor and blessing to be invited into your life, to trade weekend text messages about soccer, to be a delighted observer of your incredible nature photography, to laugh about snowblower mishaps and renegade house bats, and (most of all) to watch you become a father. You have been my chronicler and muse, a friend and comforter, and (though it feels grandiose to say it again) you too are the legacy I hope I am leaving in the industry.
I would say that I am going to miss you, but I have your phone number and the text messages from me won’t be slowing down anytime soon (well…maybe during Northwest Derbys). And soon enough, I will meet you in a hotel lobby or at some industry event, you’ll magically produce some superb Wisconsin beer from nowhere, and we will catch up on all the incredible stories that you will have to tell.
Until then,
#TeamHyphen4Ever