Virtual Training

1Just Like That, Everything Changed

An instant wave of panic came over me as I grasped the gravity of the situation. The Covid-19 pandemic had made its way around the world.

Two days earlier, I'd delivered a keynote to 6,000 people. I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I'd walk onto a physical stage or into a physical classroom for almost a year.

Before Covid, my training and consulting company, Sales Gravy, had been on a hyper-growth trajectory. Our master trainers were on the ground delivering training on every continent except Antarctica.

The year before, I'd spent 311 nights in hotel rooms, clocking over 200,000 air miles as I crisscrossed the globe delivering keynotes, workshops, and trainings to a who's who of the most prestigious organizations in the world.

With the economy on fire and our company growing at an ever-increasing pace, my trainers and I were road warriors. Our training calendar was packed, and my sales team was inundated with calls and emails from even more companies that wanted to hire us. I was getting regular inquiries from venture capital and private equity firms that wanted to discuss potential investments. It felt like we were unstoppable.

And then, just like that, everything changed. A global pandemic. Travel bans. Social distancing. Working from home. Panic. In a heartbeat, we were grounded.

Educators, instructors, and trainers were confronting a harsh reality. Classrooms were empty and livelihoods were on the line. It was chaos ...