“It’s not doing well.” “I put it up for sale.”, my mom told me about her location of Steamboat Bills in Houston, TX.
It’s been operating since before COVID and life’s been too hectic for me to get back out there since then.
I help my mom in other ways. I’m part of the round table filled with a few select people she trusts. We had to earn that trust and keep it. She says people are either liabilities or assets. Once you become an asset, you’re on the team. I don’t miss an important meeting.
When I left to take a break for a year to write my novel in Ocean Springs, I missed a lot. I didn’t mind either. I needed to be alone. My life out there was simple enough to give my mind relief.
I came back to be close to my family and rebuild Buffis. Boy have we rebuilt. It was a lot of work. When I returned it was ghost town inside the place. I’d sit outside with a chair and meditate during slow lunch hours, just praying for people to return, to trust me again. Do you know how hard it is to rebuild trust once it’s lost? Almost impossible. That’s why big brands rebrand when it happens.
Change the concept, not the owner. I didn’t want to do that. Buffis is good food and a great concept. I had many emotional breakdowns, but if any business owner is honest, we have all been there.
Now business is booming and I can fall back a little bit. I watch my cameras like a hawk when I’m away on business. “Off the phone.”, I’ll text an employee when I see them distracted just so they know I’m still in the building.
I have developed my people and I coach my managers. When my mom told me she needed help, I knew I needed to figure out how these executives own different operations that are all successful.
So I began studying and reorganizing things. First, I asked her for a list of assets. Then I tackled the first in Mississippi. It’s a project, but it gives me an excuse to go home to my little oasis on the coast.
Next was Houston. It’s a beautiful Steamboat Bills and the foundation is amazing. There’s a lot to work with. So I travel 2-3 days a week to introduce myself to the staff, make my lists and work on the issues at hand.
“You’re going to have a lot of problems at first!”, one of the round table members told me.
“If I could fix Buffis after all trust was lost, I can do this no questions asked. God was preparing me for the task.”, I told him.
That’s exactly why God didn’t allow me to shut down. I wanted to, but something deep within my spirit said “no”. I had to listen. I knew it was a calling.
The coaching I’ve been doing all this time refined me as a leader. My management is different because I’m different. I know how to call to their souls. I know how to express myself in their language. It’s love and they feel it. We are on a mission now.
“I was in Mississippi for a break from this.”, I told my mom.
“You were hiding!”, she said. “You were born for this and you were hiding from your calling.”
Yes and no. I was listening and sometimes walking into your calling requires you to hide a little.
When God deals with you in the belly of the whale, in the big city, on the coast, you can’t deny the calling once you return.
You needed the time. You needed to be away from it all to hear the voice of God.
I respect it.
I can see why David faces Goliath with such courage. It wasn’t because he simply trusted God. No.
God had taken him on a journey that refined him and his skills. When it was time to face the giant, David didn’t doubt that he could kill something so big with a sling shot. He had done it before by killing animals that threatened his flock. I bet at those moments he was screaming, shaking in his sandals, praying for help, hoping someone would be around the corner to save them. When no one showed up, he slang as many rocks as he could find until he gained his composure to kill what was in front of him.
Goliath didn’t stand a chance.
I am standing at the feet of Goliath and I have no fear.
That’s the power of God within all of us. When we endure great hardships and refine our character through the challenges presented before us, we call up the Holy Spirit within ourselves to do what we didn’t know was possible.
Little did you know, you were fit for the challenge.
May you always find that strength even when you’re screaming, struggling, hurting and praying for relief. That is where the refinement takes place.
The fire is burning away what isn’t meant for you on this calling.
With The Deepest Love,
Paige Elliott
PS: Yoga Fest is happening April 12-13, 2025 in Drew Park in Lake Charles, La. This is going to be such a grand finale to a world wind of a journey. What comes after is going to be amazing!
Please please please join us! Www.swlayogafest.com
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