Kind Folks Finish First

Chapter 7Every Crisis Is an Opportunity

We're jumping ahead in the timeline of my revelations a bit, but I think this is the right opportunity to talk about operating on kind principles during a crisis—something there's no shortage of these days.

By early 2020, I was pouring all of my time and energy into Revenue Collective. And we surged. Dedicated chapters sprung up in London, Boston, Toronto. All focused on bringing people together, bonding over shared experiences, and offering support to those who needed it. This vision was taking hold.

I think you know where this is heading.

Or maybe not. The story of Revenue Collective, and then Pavilion, in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic has a different arc from some other organizations.

In February of 2020, we were in the midst of planning one of our most ambitious offsites to date. We had a space booked in San Francisco and anticipated 200 Members to be there in person.

Two weeks out, I canceled the event.

At this time, we primarily held in‐person events and dinners. We averaged about one virtual event a month. We were built for connection. Connections forged in rooms together. With the news of a deadly virus spreading across the world, I turned back to our values.

Our values have always steered us well. And our number one value is Members first. We needed to put their health and safety above all else. So before any U.S. lockdowns, before toilet paper ran out, before we knew where to buy surgical masks, we canceled our cornerstone ...