In 2020 I became a manager, for the first time, and then two weeks later I was a manager in a global pandemic. As a mother with two young children and a new manager in a department in need of change, I found myself struggling to balance priorities and find my footing. I had been on the Idea Enthusiast mailing list for a while and quickly started combing through the articles as Greg highlighted survival strategies from other managers. What I needed most was someone to talk to and bounce ideas off of. Being new it was sometimes hard to know what the best strategies would be for me and my team. Greg agreed to work with me in hourly sessions each week, where he helped me analyze my workload and set priorities on my schedule so that I could feel more in control of my time. I was tasked with hiring new staff, and Greg and I worked through what kind of employees I was looking for and how to craft both my job posting and interview questions to make sure I was getting the right people in the door. Greg was a lifeboat for me, as transitioning to management is difficult in a normal year and having an objective coach with whom I could be completely honest about the challenges and my ideas really helped me make the most out of the last year. As a result of some of the work we did together, I manage a highly motivated team that is moving in a more balanced and productive direction.