Managing Your Business During a Personal Crisis with Julia Becker Collins

The Sassy Strategist: Build a Profitable Business and a Lifestyle You Love

Julia received the call of her cancer diagnosis at 5pm on Friday, March 13, 2020, just as businesses throughout the country began shutting down from the COVID-19 pandemic. Julia Becker Collins, COO of Vision Advertising, was met with the challenge of dealing with a life changing medical diagnosis, with offices closing and the world in chaos, all while continuing to run a company where staff and clients were depending on her to navigate the way.

In this special episode of the Sassy Strategist Podcast, Julia shares her story of how she was able to manage her diagnosis and treatment while also managing her company staff, now all working remotely, dealing with clients, and implementing new operations as a company due to COVID-19, all while reminding herself that from now on, her health needed to be top priority.

KEY POINTS

• Having a strong support system in place can be extremely helpful to you during a crisis.
• Set boundaries with staff and clients regarding your time - this includes letting them know you may not be available at certain times.
• Delegating and trusting others to get things done is critical to success when you need to step away from your business.
• Before saying “yes” to a request, first ask yourself, “how does this serve me?” If the answer isn’t compelling enough to say “yes”, then say “NO.”
• You can’t really be good at running a business if you’re not living a fulfilling life outside of your business.

ABOUT THE GUEST

Julia has more than 16 years experience in marketing and business. She is the Chief Operating Officer of Vision Advertising and leads all aspects of the company, from managing day-today operations to talking marketing and business strategy with clients. Julia's the Founding President (emeritus) & Co-Founder of the MetroWest Women’s Network, a group of more than 3,500 ambitious women that work together to meet their goals. Julia regularly speaks at business events, seminars, training sessions, and more. Julia holds an MPA from Framingham State University & a BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She was awarded the Distinguished Alum Award at UMass Amherst in 2016. In 2019, she won the 40 Under 40 Award from the Worcester Business Journal.

ABOUT THE HOST

Kim Dawson is a results-driven business strategist and an expert at turning a good business into a great one. Her clients have reached their current capacity and need to scale to the next level to increase their bottom line. With over 20+ years of entrepreneurship and accounting experience, Kim helps small businesses optimize their pricing and procedures while navigating niche markets and building a team without cutting into their profitability. After working with Kim, her clients end up doubling, tripling, or even quadrupling their revenue, all while gaining their free time back.⠀