To say that no one saw the events of 2020 coming would be an understatement. It has been an incredibly trying time for all of us, for some much more so than others. My heart goes out to all who have experienced loss this year – whether that be the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job or business, or a way of life that may not ever be quite the same. Yet, the beauty of this year is that those same people are carrying on, finding strength they never knew they had, and building resilience that will serve them well into the future.

My hope is that everyone will harness that strength, and all that we have learned this year, to become even more resilient in the years to come. That’s exactly what we are focusing on right now at Just Drive Media.

This morning we announced the acquisition of Table Public Relations, a team that shares our values, including an intense focus on client success and the notion that by working together as a team – collaborating, but also looking out for each other – we can become better together.

We’re thrilled to be bringing on several new team members this year – some from the acquisition – Shelby Corradino, Jenna Fischer and Aisha Woodruff – joining several additions from earlier this year (Heather Fulton, Glenn Jones and Travis Coggin). While each of these people brings new areas of expertise to our team, they’ve also already proven to be fantastic team members – jumping in and helping out where needed, and bringing fresh ideas to our clients. To top it off, they’re fun to work with, and fit right in to our highly creative and collaborative team.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been doing this for almost 14 years! Thankfully, being an entirely distributed team from day one gave us an advantage in navigating the changes and complexities of 2020. We’re used to juggling the demands of work, family, and home, all from our home offices. Like everyone else, we miss the in-person client and team interaction that we were able to celebrate throughout the year, but we’re thankful that we were well positioned to support our clients while they navigated some of these challenges for the first time.

It’s hard to be optimistic in times of such uncertainty. But seeing the way our team has stepped up to support each other and our clients as their needs have changed makes me believe that if anyone can handle the type of disruption this year has delivered, this team can. A huge shout out to everyone on this team, new and old, for getting us to where we are today: It is something you should all be proud of!

One day we hope to look back on this year and be thankful for the adversity that made us stronger, our expanded comfort zones, and the new and different types of connections we’ve made with each other. In the meantime, this quote from Seneca the Younger, a Stoic philosopher who lived roughly 2000 years before us, seems particularly relevant today:

“The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.”

I hope the remainder of this year takes a turn for the better for all of you, and if there is anything at all we can do to support you during this time, please don’t hesitate to get in touch!