Happy New Year Friends!

It is a joy to call you a friend after a year like 2020! We are a little beat down and plumped up but we have an ignited spirit to throw down and pump up some inspiration for 2021. Are you in?

We will share what we are grateful for, skip the incredible sucky parts, and spread positivity about what we look forward to in 2021...with the condition that you do the same back to us. Deal? Let’s make mutual inspiration via gratitude the new pandemic.  Positivity is contagious!

January - We moved into a home down by the river. It slopes a little to the left, but that just adds to its character and we bought it for the beautiful view anyway. We call it Bella Riviera so more people will come to visit us. Oh and PLEASE make sure you have updated our address, we have FOMO, bad!

February – Scott* traveled to Sacramento every week to work at a dear friend’s dental practice as he went through severe cancer treatment. This huge sacrifice paid off when his friend gave us the news, he was cancer-free.  OH and we celebrated the palindrome on 02-20-2020 just because we love them so much.

March – We are so grateful our employees were taken care of as our dental office abruptly shut down for COVID.  We will spare you the stress meter and share how we were able to paint the house, unpack boxes and consume too many calories via carbs, chocolate, and wine. We started on the 2021 revision of Clarity: Focusing on What Matters. It is a lot of work, so we shall see.

April – On Easter Sunday, our little home church (for our beloved single mama and her 5 kids) was birthed. We have 9 adults and 10 kids. It is one amazing community of people. Another amazing group is our DDS staff that stuck together via weekly zoom calls and hysterical group text chats during the shutdown.

May – Grateful for the PPP, the PPE, and our team that came back eager to work on 5/11. Not to mention the patience of our patients with over 770 on the waitlist. Our Shandel Group Seattle partner, Alan Andersen, and his family came to visit the Bella Riviera as we did our quarterly strategic planning. He is crushing it in Seattle! So grateful for all of our partners.

June – Super grateful for clients taking their executive offsites to Zoom and the many who hired us to do communication training as well as positive mindset talks at their virtual retreats. We love our innovative clients and super grateful for technology!

July – Traditional camping trip to Bucks Lake was such a COVID relief.  You might be impressed that we did an 18-mile hike, but really it was Bella, our little miniature schnauzer, that was impressive (she hasn’t been the same since, but we are only talking gratitude’s.) We were able to facilitate a family retreat in Lake Tahoe with a CEO Shandel has worked with for over 10 years. It was a fun gig and we hope to add that to our July traditions! We love all things water & mountain!

August – Shandel Group** turns 20 years old! We are so grateful for the incredible privilege of serving so many clients through their stages of growth.  We continue to evolve as well from more coaches to more offerings. Shandel got certified in the Enneagram instrument and it is already deeply changing lives. On another note, Mama Shawnee’s Distant Learning Academy was in full swing on top of everything else going on. We had 4 kids attending 3 different schools at the Bella Riviera. Shandel was able to help our single mom of 5 keep working & get our Shandel Group Daily Quotes automated for the next 7 years. 

September – Final paperwork completed for a non-profit we founded called J FACTOR KIDS. Our mission is to equip and encourage single parents and kids from hard places for next-generation leadership.  Quick back story, we had 2 little foster girls in 2017 that we were hoping to adopt. Six weeks later, we were told we would not be adopting as bio mom was out of jail, and in an addiction recovery program. Shandel and “Tara” started a friendship during “visits,” we instantly saw something different in her, to the point of supporting her to be reunited with her girls by Christmas. The magic is what has happened since then...we have become Mama Shawnee and Daddy Scott to all 5 of her kids (now ages 4-14) all with J first names. We like to say they adopted us! Tara has become like a daughter and we joined forces with her this Summer to start J Factor Kids to help more moms (and dads) receive the help they need to start a new way of life. 100% of the foster babies we had were being rescued from 3rd generational addiction at the least. Our goal is to reverse that cycle, so that all 3rd generation J Factor Kids are future world leaders! We do invite you to donate your time, resources, money, and prayers!!!

October – Our Little Bella turns 10! She brings us great joy in all this madness. Grateful for the shutdown in the sense that our nieces had a few chances to visit this year as they could do distance learning, poolside. Shandel Group did a few Zoom retreats, launched our Satchel site (check it out and subscribe), Alan is using his Prioritized Leader certification, and we freshened up our brand/logo look and feel.

November – Thanks to COVID, Scott decided to sell the Dental practice to his associate and join Shandel Group as my associate. He works two days a week at Sutherland DDS, but out from under the stress of ownership. Working together, we doubled the business and had the most incredible team of A players, just by executing the principles we use for all Shandel Group businesses. It is super exciting, and we know we can help dentists all over the country do the same.

December – We are always grateful for this time of year!  We always celebrate 12-13-14 by re-reading our vows and updating our anniversary book. We look back to record all of our memories from the year and this one has some pretty funny stuff. We noted our gratitude for the extra Costco size Toilet Paper in the garage and other random “doomsday” items. We admitted our COVID 19 gain and our new year’s resolve to accumulate health. We shook our head at the stress endured, smiled at the amazing blessings disguised in hardship, and resolved for an amazing 2021.

2021 will bring Shandel Group to its next level with Scott joining the team and the rest of our partners more profitable than ever. Check out our leadership challenge via our monthly newsletter just published today. J Factor Kids will be an incredible asset to our community and society as a whole. The Sutherlands will be healthy and fit by Summer. Who knows what will happen to our country, the pandemic, etc but that is not in our control. What is in our control is our mindset, our outlook, our attitude and we choose a joy-filled, thankful, and positive heart. All we need is a community of people around us who feel the same way. So please join us! Oh and please don’t forget to note the week of palindromes, starting 1-20-21,  it is just one of those things.

Now it is your turn, please share what you are grateful for and what you look forward to in 2021 – let’s be in this together!

Love,

Scott and Shandel Sutherland

Keep in touch via Shandel.com by subscribing to our daily quote, newsletter & soon podcast.

*Scott (formerly known as John who was formerly known as Scott his whole life until 27 yrs old – try to keep up.)

** Shandel Group (formerly known as True Life Coaching for 12 years and Chandelle Group for 2 weeks)