Welcome to Pivots, a podcast about navigating transitions, negotiating change, and reimagine our world. This project created and produced by the A.J. Fletcher Fellow, Kenneth Brown, examines the ways people, programs, and organizations have pivoted. This mini-episode explains what we are trying to do.
(sound effect: This is the BBC News Beep)
Kenneth Brown Jr: Hi, I’m Kenneth Brown Jr.
(music: "Milkwood" by Blue Dot Sessions)
Kenneth Brown Jr: Wild. Hectic. Unprecedented. Crazy. Weird. [Insert extreme adjective here] but nonetheless 2020 has been quite a year
This pandemic and its effects have shaken many of us to our core has we have learned to adjust quickly to a truly new situation in a safe and healthy way. I remember when the virus first arrived to the U.S. I was hoping that officials in Washington State and New York would keep their outbreaks under control. I was hoping that these “postponements” and “delays” were temporary. Then the NBA shutdown and I realized this is bigger than what I [00:01:00]thought it was.
I didn’t imagine life as we knew it would be turned upside down. That students would be attending school from various rooms across the country. That grocery store and fast-food workers would be considered essential. That restaurant dining would exclusively happen outdoors or that waiting in line would be different.
Combine this with increasing social unrest and heightened political tensions, we all have been on edge. It has been a lot to handle at times, our productivity levels have ebbed and flowed, and it seems like that for every turn we make a new challenge or issue pops up.
But isn’t this what a pivot is: when a new challenge comes in front of you, you stop, move around with lifting your one foot off its foundation and look for new options, openings, something different. [00:02:00] And bit by bit, you have a series of moves that is somehow moving you forward.
Sometimes these are planned. Sometimes they come out of the blue and we may not be able to change the thing that caused us to pivot but we can change how we handle it.
(music: "Milkwood" increases volume and fades out)
(music: "Palms Down" by Blue Dot Sessions)
So, welcome to Pivots
A podcast about navigating transitions, negotiating change, and reimagining our world
Over the past few months, I have talked with members of our community about the way them and their organizations have pivoted, what they’ve been learning, and what they hope sticks around in a post-pandemic world.
We’ll go to a café.
Maggie Kane: My name is Maggie Kane and I am the founder and executive director of A Place at The Table.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Take a trip to a museum.
Eric Dorfman: I’m Eric Dorfman. I’m the director and CEO of the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Listen to a symphony.
Sandi Macdonald: My name is Sandi Macdonald and I am honored to be the President and CEO of the North Carolina Symphony.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Volunteer a bit.
Amber Smith: My name is Amber Smith, and I am the founder and executive director of Activate Good.
Kenneth Brown Jr: Sit in a classroom.
Paul Atkinson: My name is Paul Atkinson and I am the head of school at The Fletcher Academy here in Raleigh, North Carolina
And dream with a conference.
Maddy Starr: My name is Maddy, I use she/her pronouns, and [4:00] I was the student director of Intersect on behalf of the Center for Leadership.
Gaby Jimenez: My name is Gaby Jimenez. I use she/her pronouns. I was the student director for the CREDE.
Paige Wilson: My name is Paige Wilson. I use she/her pronouns and I was the co-director from the GLC
Kenneth Brown Jr: Most importantly, I hope this gives you some ways to reflect on how you have pivoted and what you hope begins to change for the better in your life and the moves you can make.
And this podcast is a pivot in and of itself as I tried to figure out what can I do to share the mic and help uplift the voices of others. I am not podcasting or audio professional at all, but we learn by doing. I am grateful to work for an organization that is supportive of giving this the old college try.
That being said…here we go.
Kenneth Brown Jr: You’ve been listening to Pivots…[5:00] a podcast about navigating transitions, negotiating change, and reimagining our world.
Pivots is a project of the A.J. Fletcher Foundation produced and hosted by me…Kenneth Brown Jr. Our music is composed by blue dot sessions. Sound effects from freesound.org.
You can hear this episode and more wherever you listen to podcasts or go to our show page at www dot pivots a-j-f- dot simplecast dot com