"Nothing about this keeps me up at night." A lesson from our Chief Operating Officer.

This morning, I was surprised to see a meeting invitation from Mark Hohmann, our chief financial officer, on my calendar. I called out to our open-concept marketing wing, “Hey, is this 9:00 meeting for everyone?” The response I got was, “I hope not. I have nothing on my calendar.”

Hmm, weird.

When the CFO sends you a meeting invitation, you accept, and you go. So, I went.

I walked in, and I swiftly noticed that I was the only non-director (or above!) or non-facilities person in the room. I suspected that I was invited by accident, and I was immediately grateful that I decided to wear my glasses – a sufficient disguise for my imposter syndrome. They were a nice adult touch to my pink, childlike skirt.

My suspicion was nearly confirmed when Mark looked up, surprised to see me (of all the people in the room), and said, “Oh, good morning, Lauren! … Good morning, everyone.”

For a little bit of context, we just relocated our headquarters into a $50 million Opportunity Center in West Louisville, and in the upcoming weeks, we are moving in a handful of community partners that will be housed in our building. This meeting was about that – the logistical challenges of non-Goodwill entities cohabitating with us.

Mark began the meeting by asking everyone to go around the room, one-by-one, and express what is keeping them up at night regarding the largest project in the 100-year history of our organization.

So, that is what we did. Some people had concerns about access and security, while others had concerns about operating costs and impact data. One person said, “A lot of things about this are keeping me up at night.”

Rena, our chief operating officer, was probably eighth to speak, based on how we were sitting. Rena is a firecracker of a leader, and no one who knows her can doubt her passion. I expected her list to be a long one.

Instead, she said, “Nothing about this keeps me up at night. As long as I know my family is okay, I sleep soundly." She continued, "But as soon as I come in in the morning ... "

I don’t know if Rena understood the profoundness of her comment – especially on me, a person who likely wasn’t even meant to be in the room. Rena is second-in-command, her guns are always blazing. But at the end of the day, work is just that … work. Even when the work you are doing is changing lives.

It’s nothing to lose sleep over.