Moving Back to London was a split-second decision

Moving Back to London was a split-second decision, a gut reaction to get up and go, challenge myself, shake it up, meet new people, be exposed to new experience’s, create additional businesses, live on the doorsteps of Europe and be based in London while maintaining my LA based office and fulfillment center. I wasn’t, after all, deserting the sunshine of LA for the damp of London, nor was I turning my back on the friends I’d made, successes I’d achieved and the home I’d built, I was purely adding London to the mix, creating a home away from home and seeing the world through different eyes.

New cities bring new business opportunities and an insight into niches not yet filled…a chance to create a business that goes hand in glove with Gillian Julius Inc. jewelry, interlinks with retailers’ wholesalers and private individuals and connects USA based businesses with UK startups and vice versa.

Then Covid_19 turned the world upside down and locked the door behind us. It turned a 10 day visit back to Los Angeles into an 8 month stay, leaving my possessions in London and my focus in the USA. It inserted a period/full stop into my life, slowing me down, making me realize that I’d been living between 2 continents, travelling none stop, with barely a comma/pause for air or reflection. Reality of COVID-19 literally put a stop sign in front of the world!

Never had I witnessed a crisis that restricted my personal freedom and left me feeling up in the air yet not able to fly… Anywhere. Suddenly, panic, bulk buying, shortage of toilet paper, everyone locked down and the world baking banana bread… a new reality lived in isolation, in the comfort of my home.

And then came Zoom, giving us a new focus, a new way of communicating and opening the door to not only online exercise but also marketing and selling directly into my clients living room .The Tupperware party for the Covid-19 generation.

This new reality put a focus on “out of the box thinking” and took the pressure off the continual need for new product and fresh deliveries. It gave me a chance to analyze and realize the 80% of sales came from 20% of product. It gave new structure to the business, making one re-examine the need for expensive office premises and allowing staff to work from home where email became our office co-worker …and it worked and continues to work.

This new normal enabled me to take my foot off the pedal, address the tasks continually placed on the back burner, find a new way to hire freelancers and tap into worldwide talent with just a click of a mouse.

For now, this is my new reality, my new horizon and I move forward, happy to protect my fellow countryman by wearing a mask and waiting for a return to some semblance of normal or just accepting that by pivoting this has become my new normal

Stay safe, support small business and stay healthy