“The way to be happy is to help others.”
During what was most definitely a challenging year for everyone, that little saying became a sort of mantra for the MJ2 Marketing team. While there were certainly rocky moments during the early part of the pandemic, we feel very fortunate to have had a very successful year. Throughout 2020, we took time to check on one another, and extend grace and kindness within our office whenever possible. But, we also took on a few projects outside of our office throughout the year to try to show kindness and to help others rise, as well.
Shining A Light on Historic Dublin
In May, as a passion project of MJ2 owner, Megan James, our team worked with the Historic Dublin Business Association to install the “Historic Dublin Lives” banner in the heart of Historic Dublin. The installation was to highlight the wide variety of small businesses that make up the fabric of the Dublin community, many of which were struggling as a result of the statewide stay-at-home order in place at the time.
In true Megan fashion, once she got the idea she pushed the project forward – with the help of the HDBA, City of Dublin, and artist Polly Sellers – seeing it to fruition in just about two weeks. A resident of a nearby neighborhood and owner of a business in Historic Dublin, Megan was very aware of the impact that the statewide stay-at-home order was having on the area and looked for a way to help.
“It struck me that I would love to be able to shine a light on these businesses and build awareness among the residents who are walking around the Bridge and High intersection.”
“We rise by helping others.”
Networking for Good
Just as much of everyday life changed with the onset of the pandemic, so did digital marketing. And particularly in the real estate industry – which remained incredibly strong, and still is – and agents, brokers, and their industry partners were struggling to find a way to successfully navigate the unknown waters of “virtual” selling and buying.
Our team set about to find ways to help our real estate industry clients, and more importantly, decided to share our knowledge with whomever it might help. Megan teamed up with Wayne Henry from 43 Homes for a webinar on the topic to try to help as many people as she could.
During their conversation, they talked about trends in social media marketing, the value of going Live on Facebook and Instagram, how the impact of social media is increasing as virtual events become more prominent, and shared some trips and tricks on how to pivot in this new world.
“If you have knowledge, let others light their candle in it.”
Sharing Our Blessings
The culmination of what you might call our “kindness campaign” came in our efforts to adopt a family for the holidays. And while the family received a car load of toys for their kids, it was the MJ2 team that gained the most.
We became aware of a family who fostered three siblings – twin 5-year olds and a 3-year old – who started life under the most difficult circumstances. The parents, Eric and Jennifer, went on to adopt the children and it was just recently finalized. As a team, we decided that we wanted to help make this holiday one that would be super-special for the kids, and hopefully a help to Eric and Jennifer.
Let the shopping commence! Once all of the Christmas lists were checked off, we hosted Eric and Jennifer and the kids at the MJ2 offices for a socially-distanced pre-Christmas celebration. To say it was a magical day would be an understatement. Each of the kids got a few little gifts (the big stuff went home for Santa to share), we enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies, and Santa made a guest appearance. It was fun and a wonderful reminder that there is still a whole lot of kindness in the world.
Since the MJ2 team is a mix of what we proudly deem “moms and millennials,” everyone brought a little something different to the affair. For those of us whose kids are older and Christmas is not so magical anymore (at least not from the presents under the tree) this was a chance to remember what it is like to make a child’s day. For the younger part of our team, let’s just say this was probably a bit of an eye-opening experience! And then there is the MJ2 Santa, he was right in his element 🙂
“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”
