Our lives have been disrupted, and for many among us it spelled an immediate collapse in their livelihood. People have had to cancel milestone events like weddings, graduations and birthday parties. Those who have lost loved ones are finding new ways to mourn and we are all collectively grieving a loss of our old way of life.
This week Gov. Cuomo quoted Winston Churchill in one of his well-watched briefings and declared that we have reached the end of the beginning. As springtime arrives it brings with it a new stage of this pandemic with religious holidays reminding us that with death comes new life and rebirth.
College graduations are going to look different this year, but never before have the types of messages we hear at these ceremonies been more applicable to all. And right now many among us are graduating from the school of hard knocks.
“How you live matters. You’re going to fall down, but the world doesn’t care how many times you fall down as long as it’s one fewer than the number of times you get back up.”
Aaron Sorkin, Syracuse University 2012
I recently “met” two women, Kiara Horwitz and Danielle Payton, who when faced with the complete collapse of their business banded together to start a new company. In speaking with them and hearing their story I was shocked and awed by their resilience during this time when so many are struggling.
Before the pandemic both women were handling marketing and PR for a bevy of beauty and wellness clients. However, once the reality of the outbreak set in their clients were forced to end their contracts and overnight the business disintegrated.
The two quickly rallied and drawing on all the connections they had made earlier in their career combined with a little creativity and innovation they founded a new platform called Kuudose, a virtual home fitness website that is preparing to launch in May 2020.
“It was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very very clear looking backwards 10-years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So, you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life karma, whatever, because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart even when it leads you off the well-worn path and that will make all the difference.”
Steve Jobs, Stanford University 2005
The platform they created is designed to create a sense of community. They wanted to develop a platform not only as a space to unite top trainers from big studios/gyms who once saw each other as competition, and also as a space where fitness and wellness enthusiasts could join in as well in a comfortable and welcoming environment.
The content is shot by each trainer in their apartments/homes – no fancy equipment, sound systems, no professional lighting, it is raw, real, genuine content. If you live in a studio apartment, you’ll be able to do our workouts without compromise. They believe this authentic experience will also help and inspire all those watching, to do you – whatever it may be – wherever it may be. And to commend yourself for the positive actions you do for yourself each day – big or small – hence the name, kuudose.
“Life is like one big mardi gras, but instead of showing people your boobs, show them your brain and if they like what they see you’ll have more beads than you know what to do with … and you’ll be drunk most of the time.”
Ellen Degeneris, Tulane University 2009
The world is in upheaval right now, but perhaps when we look back on this time in our lives we’ll understand why this had to happen and be grateful for the life lessons we learned during this time. It’s my hope that we can all be like Kiara and Danielle and find our own kuudose. For surely we can find a way to help our neighbors to stand up and find their passion so we can collectively look back together and connect the dots.