The Mosaic Life
Unleash Your Business Vision with The Mosaic Life!
Just like a mosaic is made up of many tiny tile pieces, your business is a collection of parts that must work together seamlessly to run smoothly and efficiently.
Join your host, Laura Wagenknecht, an experienced business consultant and executive coach, as she dives deep into the strategies, mindsets, and actionable steps you need to bring your vision to life. Get ready to transform your business, piece by piece, on The Mosaic Life!
Connect with Laura directly at https://www.mosaicbusinessconsulting.com
The Mosaic Life
Overcoming Nature's Fury: Community Resilience and Recovery in the Wake of Hurricane Helene
Brace yourself for a powerful episode of The Mosaic Life as we delve into the heart of Hurricane Helene's impact on Western North Carolina. Join us for a gripping conversation with EG Sebastian, a certified performance coach who faced the storm's fury head-on. Hear his harrowing tale of survival, the shocking lack of preparedness, and the inspiring wave of community support that emerged from the chaos.
But the story doesn't end there. We explore the raw, emotional aftermath, the struggle for recovery, and the unwavering spirit of local businesses determined to rebuild. This is a story of resilience, solidarity, and the incredible strength of the human spirit. Don't miss this poignant episode of The Mosaic Life.
As the storm subsides, the struggle for recovery begins. We share the emotional journey of Asheville's residents and businesses grappling with the aftermath of destruction. Experience the raw realities of more primitive living conditions, where cooking on firewood and enduring infrastructure collapse became a norm. Through heartfelt stories, we highlight the unwavering spirit of local businesses like Moe's Barbecue and Green River Bee Company, which are rallying to rebuild despite significant challenges and delays in governmental aid. This episode is a tribute to the solidarity and strength of a community determined to rise above the devastation, offering a poignant reminder of the human spirit's capacity to endure and thrive.
A Mosaic is a bunch of pieces, put together, to make up the whole in a beautiful way. Here at Mosaic Business Consulting we discuss the various pieces of a business throughout the course of its life, and throughout all industries, and how these pieces, when put together, can help develop a better, more efficient, and effective running of YOUR business.
Find our more or register for a course today: Mosaic Business Consulting
Be sure to visit BizRadio.US to discover hundreds more engaging conversations, local events and more.
Good morning. I'm your host, laura Boggenkandesch, owner of Mosaic Business Consulting, and you're listening to the Mosaic Life. A mosaic is a bunch of pieces that, when put together, make up the whole in a really beautiful way, and this show plans to discuss the various pieces of a business throughout different industries and how these pieces, when put together, can help develop a better, more efficient and effective running of your business. And so to reach me, please reach out and contact me at bizradious Today, my guest is none other than EG Sebastian, and EG is a certified performance coach, a certified disc trainer.
Speaker 1:He started as an international consultant in 1993 and supported organizations for the next 30 years, helping management and sales teams boost their performance. He is also an international keynote speaker, author and leadership development strategist. He is co-founder of Loical, which is loyal to local in Western North Carolina. His current company also is Sebastian and Field Advisory Group. It specializes in providing results-oriented solutions aimed at assisting businesses in cultivating fresh opportunities, enhancing business planning, refining strategies, optimizing operations I think you gave me that one just as a tickler, as a whatever, anyway. But you also foster personal growth, boosting sales performance and addressing other essential areas crucial for business expansion, improved management and heightened productivity. I really love all that you do there, eg. It's fantastic. Welcome to the show. It's so good to have you here.
Speaker 2:Thank you, it's an honor. Thank you for inviting me.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it and I know we've been trying to make this happen for I don't know how long, so it's great to finally have that opportunity. I am kind of curious. Let me check on one thing here. So I am kind of curious about the timing that we have going on right now with the Hurricane Helene and all the damage and destruction it's had in our area, and I'm wondering what has been your experience? What have you gone through and you know? Tell, please tell me what you're experiencing right now.
Speaker 2:Well, it's, first of all, it's absolutely surreal. I think this came as an absolute shock, and these words completely not describe what a shock it was for everybody in this area. Because we are in the mountains yeah, hurricanes don't come to mountains, yeah. So when I saw the warning that a storm is coming, I bought two boxes of water About what is that six? I bought two boxes of water about what is that Six? About 12 gallons of water, and that was it. I didn't even fill up my tank. I didn't think.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know like that was my only preparation I did. I didn't buy extra food, no, no extra gas.
Speaker 1:No, yeah, nothing, nothing so so at yeah, nothing, nothing.
Speaker 2:So at night, when this and I was wondering, shouldn't have there been like a warning? Like when there's Amber Alert, it comes on your phone with the loud, annoying noise. Shouldn't have been like warning? Warning, I mean, you tell me that the wind is 100 miles, 200 miles, 600 miles an hour. I don't know what that means. You need to tell me, like the governor said in Florida, that if you don't leave you're going to die. Yeah, I wish there was a warning that serious storm evacuate or whatever. You know like. I lived in South Carolina for 23 years. I loved it. A hurricane was coming. I could comfortably pack up and leave evacuate.
Speaker 2:I would go take a trip, take a family vacation, come back a week later, and we had the family vacation once or twice a year. So I was wondering like wasn't we didn't know that this was coming? I don't think they did I mean?
Speaker 1:I think that was the whole thing. You know, the last time we had a storm that big and that intense was 1916. And in fact it was less lower flooding than what we had in this storm. So in fact this was much worse than that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and not only that. Anytime a hurricane comes this way, it reduces in intensity by the time it gets to the mountain. We get like a little wind a little rain I mean never anything.
Speaker 2:So anyway that that was surreal. And at night the wind felt like it will rip off the siding of the house at any moment and I was wondering if I should go downstairs and get my family in the bathtub and get covered with a with a mattress. And other times the rain wind combination was hitting the side so badly that I thought it would like knock in my wall. Well, exactly where I sleep upstairs, I sleep with the c-pep. I have severe sleep apnea, so I sleep by myself. Exactly on that side side, the neighbor, the next door neighbor. The wind ripped off the entire siding, the insulation. He just has the framing of the house there.
Speaker 2:Oh my goodness, so yeah, but in our neighborhood I don't know about 50 homes, maybe they got five, six feet of water and right now all their furniture is outside and their dumpsters. And FEMA was down here and military trucks came with people and they're putting the furniture into dumpsters and every day 10, 15 helicopters flying above us.
Speaker 1:And that's just only what I see.
Speaker 2:So the support that we got was amazing. It was tremendous. I tried to volunteer a couple of places. They said that they have an abundance of volunteers, and here in the neighborhood also, it was amazing the neighbors, how they supported each other. We went and we cleared each other's yards. People came here, helped me put my fence back up. The wind knocked out my privacy fence, so now, so my dog at least can go out yeah, yeah it.
Speaker 2:It was surreal, and we were stuck in the neighborhood for about three or four days. I lost track of time. Oh yeah, somebody called me and said are you available to talk on Thursday? And I'm like, so, today, it's Friday. And the person said no, no, I'm like it's today, it's Friday. And the person said no, no, I'm like it's Saturday. He says no, it's Tuesday.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 2:Wow, I was so lost, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Because we didn't have power, we didn't have water, we didn't have internet, we didn't have cell service.
Speaker 2:Nothing.
Speaker 1:You were cut off from the world in communication too.
Speaker 1:Like I couldn't find out if my mother was okay and it took me two days to find that out. And then it very scary. It was very scary and we couldn't get out of the neighborhood. It took two days to chainsaw our way out of the neighborhood because of the amount of trees that went over our streets, um, and there were about 10 or 15 guys that had chainsaws that were through. You know, in two days to make it happen to get one car through, you know, it was crazy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a couple of days. So once the water went down a little bit, I was able to take my wife to work. She's a nurse and I had to take lots of shortcuts to Mission Health in Nashville and went through lots of mud and the 30 minute ride to hours, and so coming back I thought I will put gas.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly yeah, no, no driving, finding a gas station burned all my gas. Yeah, I don't pray, but I got home on a prayer and my prayer was very simple dear lord, please let me get at least less than five miles close to the house so I don't have to walk so much. So when I saw the flag near Fletcher I'm like, oh my God, anytime, if it stops now I'm fine. It's only about two or three miles and no, I made it home.
Speaker 2:But I was not able to call my wife that I cannot pick her up. It was very scary. Nobody had self-service. No, I'm like.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, it's very scary indeed. I'm so glad your wife was at the hospital. We needed all the care and support we could get there. So many people were injured and we my my understanding is the last count was 91 or 92 deaths in north carolina and most are in in western north carolina, our area, because it was the hardest.
Speaker 2:Yeah at the. They made nurses sleep there for many nights. Some nurses couldn't go home anyway, but some other nurses couldn't come to work, so they were encouraging them strongly to stay in no water. So imagine those bathrooms. Yeah, Zilla Looney, she sent me a picture. I'm like, oh my gosh, I could have lived a lifetime without seeing that picture.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, Well it's surreal.
Speaker 2:It's surreal yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and we're not out of it. I think that's the biggest thing that I'm taking away from it is, you know, this is only well, nearly three weeks, and there are people still without power, still without water. Some of the water that's come back is only for flushing toilets. You know, there's a boil water advisory for anybody who does have water, and they're saying don't even take showers with it, Don't? You know? Don't take any consume anything into your mouth or anything into your eyes or anything. You know, just don't clean your laundry with it, Just flush your toilets.
Speaker 2:And so it's kind of third world country living in, and I know that's not true, but it does feel like I know that's not true but it does feel like For many days, many of us, we had to revert to I know you gave the example of third world country, but let's say just primitive times, right, because you had to cook on fire wood. I'm lucky that I had two full gas tanks for for my grill, so I was boiling stuff on the side. I was cooking with my frying pan on the on the tree, so that that was amazing.
Speaker 2:but but yeah, we were eating outside the candlelight and yeah and so, yeah, we had to revert to to primitive ways of living, and somebody mentioned in one of the presentations, one of the webinars I attended, that they camped a lot as a kid and as a teenager and now that came handy because they knew how to do what to do, because they had to live like when you are camping, but just circling back for just one second, that it's not over. It will not be over for years.
Speaker 1:Correct.
Speaker 2:Because we have main areas of Asheville still locked down and teams are out there cleaning out buildings that collapsed entire building in Biltmore Village, Entire buildings were washed away were well and the river arts district. It's completely not completely gone, but most of it is gone. Yeah, lots of buildings are collapsed. I mean it will take years and years to just clean, don't know.
Speaker 1:There are still people missing, like we still don't know if there are more potential deaths and my wife asked yesterday and she's like is it possible that they will find people under mudslides?
Speaker 2:I mean, there's so much mud and yeah there's a very good chance that, yes, so yeah yes well, and you know you have highways that were washed out.
Speaker 1:There could have been a car on the highway for all we know, and you know.
Speaker 1:So, that being said, I know it's all scary, but we are talking about businesses, too, that can't operate, that have been completely wiped out, et cetera, and it you know, my understanding is I just got a notification from I'm assisting with Mountain BizWorks and such, and that Small Business Administration is no longer providing funding at the moment and will be delayed until Congress passes more legislation. Well, they're not going to do that until the after the election. So now we're stuck, and so small businesses are really reeling because out of 37,000 applications, they funded 700 so far. Wow, wow. And so that just gives you a sense of what the challenges are. And so, with that said, I know you and I were chatting briefly about some businesses that were struggling that you've thought about, and so I'm curious what those businesses are, and do we want to highlight them and maybe bring some attention to them and maybe we can get some assistance for them Let me just circle back just for one second that while you are in, while it's happening, you don't even know.
Speaker 2:But most of us we just brave, brave and we just go through the motions. But three or four or five days later again I don't know Cause I was lost in time. Some again, I'm not religious, but somebody approached us and said can I pray for you guys and we? I mean I don't know why, but I just started sobbing.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah yeah, and other people in that group. We were talking and we were standing in line for water and they were mentioning stories of what happened to them and their house got washed away and I broke down and sobbed again those days. For those two, three days I sobbed a lot, yeah. But so now, as I'm mentioning some of these businesses, I hope I will not break down. But if I break down, just understand that my brain is still a little bit frail.
Speaker 1:Oh, aren't we all? And I appreciate you, I appreciate your honesty and your vulnerability and your willingness to share that, because I think we all feel like we shouldn't, and you know it's normal it's okay, so please feel free, you know yeah, we were at the networking event.
Speaker 2:I thought maybe two or three people will show up, but more than 20 showed up on Thursday, tuesday nice and and at the buzz in Hendersonville. And yes, there was some crying, we shared. And yes, there was some crying, we shared our stories. And there was some crying Men and women Mostly men crying.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think there's an assumption that only women are going to cry.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's too funny. So I'm the co-founder of Loyal to Local and we have close to 100 members and Moe's Barbecue. We were so excited. They signed up with us while they were building the new Moe's in Hendersonville and and they just opened about two months ago or less and they got washed away.
Speaker 2:I mean not washed away but destroyed, completely destroyed oh my goodness, I mean, they took so much care to build that up. And last month we have monthly networking events and anybody can come anytime, no need to be member and it's free. But last month they catered our event and it was so delicious and I was so excited to take my wife uh later.
Speaker 1:I love most barbecue.
Speaker 2:Yeah and and no, now it's completely destroyed. We drove by yesterday and they are working on it and it was so sad. And one of the member is Jessica Gleeman. They are right across the overpass over 26 as you go towards Hendersonville. Her company name is Green River Bee Company and they sell honey they have like a proprietary.
Speaker 2:Yeah, beehives and jellies, homemade jellies and also some artwork. They house lots of artists' art in that building. It's a big building Got flooded really, really badly. Everything got destroyed but luckily most members members, they are fine. Those who we reached we reached reached about 60 out of the 100 and but jessica had it bad and most most had it bad and the networking event on tuesday everybody was fine with little smaller damages. They just mentioned that Samantha Spain she works for Kenmore. She's also an ambassador for the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce. Her apartment got flooded and she lost everything.
Speaker 1:Do you have GoFundMe pages or any other resources that people can donate to that might support or assist these people in need that we could announce?
Speaker 2:I do, I almost put one together, but I got so many emails from so many places I'm like I don't want to clog with more GoFundMe pages, so I just support others who have GoFundMe. I think you have one, so maybe you can share, tell us.
Speaker 1:I actually haven't finalized it, so, but yes, mine is going to be really supporting women and people of color. They're women owned and people of color owned businesses, or you know, because they are really tight on resources and services and funding in general. And now you get hit with this on top of that. It's crazy and I've literally I've lost my clients too because their businesses are gone.
Speaker 2:Same with us yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so we run into a situation where, okay, I was working with some clients and now they're gone. So now what do I do? Right, yeah?
Speaker 2:yeah, well, we lost. We lost prospective clients we were. We lost people who were talking to and now they cannot join us because they don't have a business to join with. Yeah, so, and I'm also so many clients who I'm consulting with they now they came to halt. So I lost. Lost in revenue for most of us is tremendous.
Speaker 1:Well, one thing I can say is Mountain BizWorks, I think, is providing some funding for folks. They are trying to not, you know, they're trying to build enough funding that they might be able to shift or at least build some grant funds. So that's free money instead of the loans that they're currently having to do, but that's, you know, they're trying to do whatever they can to build those funds. But I am kind of curious you've mentioned a lot about your own business, not your own business. You've mentioned a lot about everyone else's business, but you have so much going on and I think what I'd love to chat with you about next time, because I know where our time is running short. But I'd love to chat with you next time about your company, but also Loyal or local, Western local yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then I'd like to also talk to you about, positively, asheville and some other things that you're involved with, because I know that your your public speaking and your disc training, which I think are fantastic. I would love to chat with you about those. If people want to learn more about you and find out more about you and what you offer, how can they contact?
Speaker 2:you EG at EG, sebastiancom, that's.
Speaker 1:EG at EG Sebastiancom Okay.
Speaker 2:Yes, linkedin. If you look up EG Sebastian on LinkedIn, then that's or unalignable, those who are unalignable, the ambassador for the Greater Asheville Alignable Alliance. We have about a thousand local businesses in there and we're growing by about 30 to 50 every month. Nice, yeah, so you put in my name in Google. You'll get more ways to connect with me than you bargained for.
Speaker 1:Well, this has been fantastic. I'm so glad we got a chance to chat, however brief it is. I'm going to have to have you back on to talk about you, though, instead of talking about everything and everyone else, so I really appreciate you spending time and sharing your journey with us and what's going on. I think it's so critical what you're offering and what you're sharing, so thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for having me, yes.
Speaker 1:Yeah, whoops, and so I want to thank you the audience for listening to the Mosaic Life as well, and you can get this episode again and get this great content or listen to other great episodes and their hosts by going to bizradious and click on shows. Thanks so much for listening and have a great rest of your day.