Hi {{first_name}},
As a business owner and a father, I am now learning and growing more than I ever have before.
I am writing to you from my “heart”. In inverted speech marks because this is coming from the part of my brain that controls emotion and not language (read: Simon Sinek – the golden circle; here's a link to it).
I am also writing to you because I truly value our relationship. Whether I have met you just once, been part of your business journey, or we are friends; I wanted to let you know that I am taking a 6 month sabbatical starting 1 June 2022. As defined on Wikipedia; A sabbatical is a rest or break from work.
Rest assured – your levels of service will not change (more below).
There are two main drivers that have landed me at the idea of a sabbatical;
1. Family. At MHCo one of our core values is “Family; Family first - join us, become MHCo family” And for me this value has become stronger most recently. For those that don’t know, I share 3 beautiful young children with my partner Jenna. At ages 7,4 and 3 with two working parents life is busy. Our middle child is about to start school and he is a special kid; a deep thinker who struggles to communicate and control his emotions. Like me, he is growing and learning heaps, and will continue to do so. I want to be around full time to support his transition into school life, (life that is less structured and less supportive than he is used to at daycare) and feel that I cant be there like I want to be if I am working fulltime. This is important to me.
2. 7 years in a business experiencing high levels of growth year on year is energizing but can take its toll. I bring energy to everything I do, and I wear my heart on my sleeve. These are the parts of me that have enabled us to build strong relationships both internally and externally. However, these are also the parts of me that need recharging and resetting; over the last while I have realised that a huge amount of my energy and focus has been used at work, and the people I love the most (I am not saying that I don’t value my friends, clients and workmates, but I am referring to my family) have not been getting the best version of me. Instead they get the impatient, low energy and unsupportive father & husband. I am looking forward to “recharging” my batteries. This is important to me.
We have a plan:
Our plan is detailed and we have worked through many variables. As a client reading this, I am sure you are thinking “what does this mean for me?”
My phone will be redirected to the office. My emails will not be monitored. This is the only way to ensure I truly 'switch off'. If you need support or have a question then you can always call the office on 0800 567 508 and someone will be there to assist you.
I look forward to catching up when I am recharged and raring to go in December 2022. No doubt there will be some learnings that I can share with you all, some of you may even take ideas from this and I will be happy to share my journey with you.