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What Business Owners Must Know About Leadership When Life Changes in an Instant
Every business owner expects seasons of overwhelm. Tight deadlines, tough decisions, shifting markets — that’s all part of the entrepreneurial life.
But nothing prepares you for the moment when everything changes because of a single phone call.
On July 14, 2022, my world — and my businesses — were forced into a level of leadership I never imagined. What started as a perfectly normal Thursday ended as the day I stepped fully into crisis command, running multiple companies while my husband fought for his life.
This isn’t a story about tragedy.
This is a story about leadership under pressure, decision-making in chaos, and the systems and mindset that kept me afloat when everything else was breaking apart.
A Regular Thursday… Until It Wasn’t
That morning looked like any other.
I was preparing contracts, talking with clients, and planning our grandson’s first birthday party. My husband, Erech, and I worked side by side — knocking out projects, sharing lunch, discussing schedules.
Nothing felt unusual.
He had two appointments that afternoon: a final walk-through with a painting client and a meeting with his Freemason motorcycle association.
He didn’t want to go.
He said it. I felt it.
We’ve all had that inner nudge:
“Maybe I should skip this meeting… I’m really not feeling it today.”
But he’s a man of follow-through and integrity.
So off he went.
Less than an hour later, my phone rang.
And everything changed.
The Scene I’ll Never Forget
On my way to return flower pots to my daughter, I got the call. I turned around immediately, jumped into the car, and drove straight toward the stretch of highway we had passed earlier — the same place we had seen a helicopter airlifting someone from a wreck.
Except this time, the helicopter was for my husband.
When I arrived, chaos was everywhere. Officers yelling, directing traffic, moving me back, not letting me near him — until the last possible moment.
Just long enough for him to see me as they loaded him into the air ambulance.
They told me he had “a broken ankle.”
Nothing more.
I looked at the totaled motorcycle, took his belongings from the ground, and then something inside me shifted.
Wife → Crisis Commander.
Leadership Lesson #1: Crisis Requires Immediate Re-Prioritization
Driving to the hospital, I started making calls:
• Contact his painting client
• Notify his motorcycle group
• Review his calendar
• Review my calendar
• Identify deadlines
• Reschedule everything non-essential
Not everything can matter.
But the right things matter more than ever.
I focused on:
✔ Active clients
✔ Deadlines that could not move
✔ Revenue-critical projects
✔ Obligations that required my presence
✔ Eliminating everything else
Leadership in crisis begins with swift, unapologetic prioritization.
Walking Into the Trauma Center Alone
Nothing prepares you for the feeling of entering a Level 5 trauma center without answers.
Erech was already being prepped for surgery. I waited an hour before they let me see him — a quick, medicated, confused conversation. I still believed the story about a “broken ankle.”
I would later learn the truth:
His condition was life-threatening.
Multiple surgeries.
Severe blood loss.
Touch-and-go stability.
And I was left to figure out everything on my own.
Leadership Lesson #2: In Crisis, No One Is Coming To Guide You
This was one of the hardest truths:
You don’t know what you don’t know.
And nobody is going to volunteer the information you need.
What I learned:
• Ask direct, specific questions
• Advocate loudly and repeatedly
• Escalate concerns without hesitation
• Don’t assume anyone is coordinating anything
• Find someone who has lived a similar crisis
Calm confidence gets results.
Emotion gets ignored.
Clarity gets answers.
While He Fought to Live… the Businesses Kept Moving
At the time, I was:
• A real estate broker one year into my own brokerage
• Running Gray Duck Marketing Group
• Leading and growing LEAD Network Professionals
• Supporting and advising 360 Painting Minneapolis
• Now managing 360 Painting entirely alone
Meanwhile:
• 12 surgeries
• Nearly 7 weeks in the hospital
• And I barely left his side
Business doesn’t pause because your life falls apart.
Clients still need updates.
Projects still exist.
Money still matters.
Leadership still lives on your shoulders.
How I Kept Four Businesses Alive During Crisis
1. Evaluate everything through a “must-do” lens
I reviewed every active project for:
✔ Revenue
✔ Deadlines
✔ Client expectations
✔ My emotional bandwidth
If it didn’t matter or didn’t fit, it got cut.
2. Delegate without ego
I leaned on:
• Contractors
• My team
• Peers
• Systems I had already built
3. Communicate transparently
People are gracious — if you communicate.
I shared:
• The truth (not all the details, but enough)
• The plan
• Honest timelines
• What I needed from them
• What they could expect from me
99% of people were wonderful.
Hardship brings out humanity.
4. Shed what no longer fits
This is the part no one talks about.
Crisis gives you clarity.
It forces you to release:
• Volunteer commitments
• Obligations you’ve outgrown
• Busywork
• Meetings without purpose
• Roles that no longer serve you
Not everything gets to come with you into the next chapter.
5. Allow people to help you
People want to support you if you guide them.
I created a running list:
• Meals
• Visits
• Transportation to PT
• Grocery pickups
• Errands
Those small acts gave me hours back — hours that saved my businesses.
The Hardest Decision: Closing 360 Painting
Because of his injuries, 360 Painting no longer aligned with:
• His physical capacity
• Our values
• Our future goals
• Our emotional bandwidth
We closed it at the end of 2022.
It was heartbreaking.
But necessary.
2023 Became My Best Business Year
Because I simplified.
I trimmed the fat.
I focused only on what moved the needle.
I stacked appointments into two days a week.
I worked virtually when possible.
I stopped stretching myself thin.
I honored my priorities — unapologetically.
Clients respected me more, not less.
Crisis didn’t break my business.
It clarified it.
Final Lessons for Business Owners Navigating Crisis
If you take anything from my story, take this:
• Build systems before you need them.
• Delegate before burnout begins.
• Communicate early, clearly, and often.
• Document everything (your brain won’t remember).
• Ask for help — and be specific.
• Cut what no longer aligns.
• Give yourself permission to choose what matters most.
Crisis didn’t make me a leader.
It revealed the leader I already was.
Strength isn’t doing everything.
Strength is knowing what to prioritize, what to release, and who to become when life demands you rebuild — again.
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