from the desk of the coo – mar 2021

It is through strength of character, not luck, do we form the predictable path of our future.– Shannon Alder

Team,

First, thank you. For all that we see and all the unseen, we are grateful, humbled by, and proud of every one of you. We know the many of you pouring out your all right now – you’ve been and done and cared for more than we can ever begin to recount across any newsletter or Friday call – and I won’t diminish those efforts by doing a “hoo rah happy dance” here in a feeble effort to encompass it. 

Ramy and I have spent the last few weeks (well, months) digging in where it feels like we’re tilling soil, both new and long ignored patches of fertile ground. It’s been, and continues to be, some of our most important work to date. The rotted roots we’ve dug up, the new seeds we’ve planted, and the burgeoning crops we see poking through the surface are all inspiring – but I can’t tell you that we’ve cleared the woods yet. 

While there is so very much for which we are grateful – a team that has not shrunk, but grown, a full plate of returning clients and new ones as well, opportunities knocking at the door to leverage innovations we’d long fought to evangelize, sparkly new gear that makes us faster, stronger, better – we need to you know that these have all been educated risks. This is all for a future that we know rides on the daily decisions we make – the big and the small alike. The seemingly innocuous decisions of a day all add up. It’s our habits, our attitudes, how we care for one another and how we hold ourselves accountable to each of you that has and will continue to see us through this massive upheaval to our industry. 

We’ve had conversations with many of you as reviews begin to come in or occur over Zoom, during one on ones or with simple check ins. These moments – the time you’ve shared with us to communicate what is both important to you as an individual and in your hopes for our future as a team, is time we neither take for granted nor will soon forget. If anything, this is what we knew this year was truly meant to be about: You. 

We’re “in it” right now. This is it. This is a maddening, sleep stealing, nail biting, all hands on deck, numbers crunching, fine print reading, tight rope walking moment… 

It feels like Babe Ruth called the shot. 

We’ve stepped up to the plate and we’re ready for the pitches, but what a lot of folks forget is that The Babe took two strikes before he hit that home run. I can’t tell you that we won’t be the same, but I can tell you that we’ve been at batting practice every last damn day on the calendar. 

There’s a book and a phrase that I spend a lot of time going back to and referencing when so much feels like so much – “The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference” by Malcolm Gladwell. 

In the end, Tipping Points are a reaffirmation of the potential for change and the power of intelligent action. Look at the world around you. It may seem like an immovable, implacable place. It is not. With the slightest push—in just the right place—it can be tipped.– Malcolm Gladwell

We know how much we’ve asked – are asking of each of you. We know the burden and why so many of you are running this hard at a common goal. This uncommon time, our abnormal circumstances in the face of what can largely be defined as chaos – this is the content of character. This is the strength and fortitude of a people working together, working not just with, but for one another. 

It’s palpable. The fury by which we’ve all been running at the goal of not just surviving, but emerging from this global nightmare both healthy and whole, is one that keeps me up at night – it’s our hope and privilege to bear the weight of all you’ve given to get us here. We’ve weathered this together, and it’s together we’ll celebrate when the home run is called. We’re going to break the tipping point as a team. 

March and April are going to tell us a lot – so will you. Thank you for who you are; in the moments we share and in the hero moments we may never see. They matter more than you might think. We’re so very grateful that it’s you who makes us DFT. 

“Success is not a random act. It arises out of a predictable and powerful set of circumstances and opportunities… Success is a function of persistence and doggedness and the willingness to work hard for twenty-two minutes to make sense of something that most people would give up on after thirty seconds… The world we could have is so much richer than the world we have settled for.”

with gratitude,
nancy jundi, coo
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