Most of you probably don’t know that I spent every summer of my childhood from ages 9-17 in a Branson-style stage show, singing, dancing, and playing the bass guitar. Yup, it’s true – while other kids my age were having sleepovers and going to summer camp, I was in the wings of the Elks Theater, changing costumes, checking to make sure I didn’t have lipstick on my teeth before I went out to sing, and using my whole body weight to jump on the ropes of the rigging to help raise and lower the theater curtains at the start or the end of the show.
It wasn’t until I got into showbiz, though, that I truly started to understand what it took to make a show run. Sure, a show is fun to watch from the audience, but what goes on behind the scenes to make that memorable performance happen for the guests – well, let’s just say it takes a LOT of people to pull it off. Sound. Lighting. Stage hands. Props. Everything perfectly timed and flawlessly executed. It’s a sight to behold, the magic behind the scenes.
So what’s this have to do with you?
Well, since I went on Sabbatical late last year, I have struggled a bit to re-find my place in my role at Cornerstone, for a number of reasons. Some of those reasons I bet you have felt, too – the dynamics of a changing team over the years as we have grown, the taking of much of our work online thanks to COVID (especially our Wed AM meetings), and the good and true yet complicated desire to stay connected to the people we work with and what’s going on at Cornerstone overall with limited time and interactions to do so. I feel that with you, friends. I really, truly do.
Enter “Behind the Scenes”: a weekly addition to our staff update that will give you that backstage look at the inner workings of Cornerstone. Why do we do what we do, as an organization? What’s guiding us as a company and perhaps specifically, Sean and I as the leaders of this incredible business we’ve been given to steward? What are we and other leaders on the team thinking about? Talking about? Planning for? Hoping for? Praying about? That’s what this space in the newsletter will be for – to give you a glimpse of all the work that goes on behind the scenes so you feel “in the know,” connected, and constantly reminded that you are a part of something that is so much bigger than any one of us as individuals.
I look forward to connecting with all of you in this way, and please, please know that my “door” if you will – and Sean’s – is always open. If anything written in this section ever leaves you wanting more information, send us a chat, an email, or give us a call. While we may not be able to always tell you everything (sometimes we simply may not have the answer yet, and sometimes we legally may not be able to say more), we will always answer as honestly and transparently as we can.
Looking forward to it,
Angie
