My 2020 Recap - Onwards 2021

Can’t believe that a year has elapsed since the 2019 Recap. 2020 has been trying for many of us and the global pandemic overshadows most aspects of our daily lives. With all said and done I am very grateful that my family has been pretty healthy and we all stayed employed. Reflecting back on the year there were a lot of challenging times but looking forward to what is ahead. Will break up the recap into four pieces, family, work, travel, and just me.

The Fam Jam

My sister moved in with me from Florida last year as she is an empty-nester and got back on her feet post her injury. She entered the workforce back in mid-2019 and got a better job in late 2019 so she was able to get squared away and get her own place. Though she was looking to move out around March 2020 which was the start of the lockdown. She was able to snag a cool place in Brookhaven and slowly get furniture, etc. Took about three months to get furniture and a TV.

My sister also started blogging this year which she is getting good at. Building your brand is key and with her aspirations will be important. On the nephew front, my younger nephew continues on at FSU for his sophomore year as a professional sales major [sell, sell sell!]. We recently celebrated my older nephew’s acceptance to some great law schools [UVA and Northwestern]. He’s been plugging away with his dual majors at UF to get into a good law school and all the hard work is paying off.

On the parental front, they are getting old. My father for years should have been retired. He turned 69 this year and next year will be 70 and is still working. He looks up to Dr. Fauci who is 80 and still is working. I think my dad would just be bored at home. In late 2019 and this year, his firm has been searching for his replacement [he is the CFO of a manufacturing company]. As someone deeply committed to responsibility most likely would not leave them until a replacement is hired and brought up to speed. Part of him sticking on was the pandemic since the global shut down he had to lead the business continuity planning and strategy making sure the company could function. As the ebbs and flows started to even out, in his own words “it’s all gravy now” just banking all the cash.

On my mother’s side of the house, 2020 has been a mixed blessing. My mother suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder. One of the manifestations of her BPD she would constantly feel left out when she would see friends and family on social media going places and start to boil over blaming her friends and family for not taking her places. Because of COVID, travel and outings have been fairly restricted there has been a lot less opportunity for her to see folks out and about. As a family, we are working to set more boundaries around her BPD and just continue to encourage therapy and consoling for her. My sister and now I realize a lot of her BPD shaped us growing up and our coping skills as adults. There has been a stigma in the Guyanese [what we are] Community around mental health and we are working way past that stigma to continue to get my mother the help she needs.

The Werk

2020 started off with constant week-to-week work travel and that all evaporated in mid-March. My job as an Evangelist is sort of a Chief Field Architect role where you are out and about at events, clients, and other parts of the business evangelizing the solution and ecosystem. In-person field events stopped in mid-March. With the unknowns, there was a contraction in size at my firm. My department got hit the worst in terms of % of folks who got let go. Very fortunate that myself and my direct report got to keep our jobs; 2020 was the first year I am a people manager. We had to re-swizzle a lot and take up additional responsibilities to fill the gaps in the pipeline that the lack of field events produced.

We were able to push past and come up with creative solutions and campaigns. We launched two additional products which were most of our first time doing so which was a challenging but great experience in one’s career. Rounding out the end of the year I even had a headcount to hire two more folks, bringing my team to four now.

Being in a fast-paced start-up is difficult not being around everyone to bounce ideas off of, etc. We certainly made the most of it making sure we meet regularly as a team virtually and are able to have a little fun. Grateful that our firm has a monthly TGIF program that gives everyone a free Friday off a month. Super helpful if everyone is off to relax. Pretty excited as my career expands and the team expands on what we can accomplish in 2021.

Travel Life

All business-related travel halted the second week of March this year. Since October 2010, I have been a field facing job and used to almost weekly work travel. My longest period of not being on an airplane was 2020. Even as a kid my family would take a few trips a year that would require us to get on a plane e.g to visit family in NYC and Toronto.

My one travel goal when I started traveling in 2010 was to hit Delta’s Million Miler Status. I was just a little shy in March 2020 and thanks to my credit card put me over that magic number. Delta extended status for folks all the way until Jan 2022. Get to enjoy another year of being a Diamond.

Been slowly easing back into personal travel. The first two places I went to visit [Nashville and Charlotte] were driving distance for a night. I took a trip later to Washington DC [which is one of my favorite cities] to get my wings back. Later took at winter trip to Scottsdale and Orlando for Christmas.

Trip Highlights:

Jan-March

Los Angeles
San Francisco
Seattle
London
Amsterdam
Oslo
Denver
Boston
New York

Pandemic - Now

Nashville
Charlotte
Washington DC
Scottsdale
Orlando

2020 Travel Montage:

Hopefully with the vaccination efforts going on, we can return more to the friendly skies. We do have a family vacation in May 2021 to Australia. Will see if that is feasible / safe as the time comes closer. Luckily the airlines will let us get our money and/or points back no issue.

All about 2020 Ravi

Spotify can re-cap your year better than you can…

Like every year, always been learning and growing. Our normal semblance of life has been turned upside and down. Still very grateful for how the year has shaped up given all of the challenges.

I have been saving up for a while for a Porsche. For the longest time wanted a Porsche, I am a big fan of VW Group products; I have had two Audi S4s. Finally got me a 2020 Porsche Macan Turbo. Traded in my 2018 Audi S4. Buying a car during the pandemic was a little interesting. I had my Porsche on order since 2019 and because of the supply chain issues and EPA certification, the build date kept getting pushed back. Was able to swap my allotment and get a better discount. I did not get as much as I wanted for my 2018 S4 but got a great interest rate and a bigger discount. Though later in the year after I bought my Porsche car prices shot up, especially used car prices.

Kofi has had a lot more time at home with my sister and I since we are for the most part virtual now. Kofi continues to be a blessing and teach us daily. This year finally my mother after four years accepts Kofi more. She has been very afraid of dogs. Kofi is able to attend family functions / holidays and be at any one of our houses. Took some forced visits by Kofi to show he is not a bad dog and loves very much.

Still continuing to make sure I exercise regularly. Especially being virtual you can sit all day and not get up so still making sure I get 30+ minutes of cardio at least three times a week. In 2020, I oddly started to enjoy Sashimi a lot more. Partially always looking for better more protein filled ways to eat to keep my blood sugar in check. I’ve been more on point making sure my CGM [constant glucose meter] is attached and reporting so I can adjust my diet as needed.

Oku ATL, my favorite sushi spot in 2020.

After taking a hiatus a while from gaming, I geared up for Flight Simulator 2020. Since being at home a lot more, decided to get new office furniture for the basement office and get the goodies needed for FS 2020. I am still waiting for my Flight Yoke which at this time I bought on Black Friday and shipped before Christmas which has still not shown up. I have faith it will show up eventually.

This year being an election year since June voted three times in the Primary, General, and Run-Off elections. Special shout out to Fulton County for making the process seamless and safe. If you followed the 2020 General / Presidential election and not from Georgia, you might have a few words for Fulton County but as a resident, I am proud of how they handled the election.

Looking forward to 2021 as we round out 2020. Can’t predict the future, if I could I would buy a lottery ticket. Optimistic about all fronts for 2021. Onwards!