The Fork in the Road - What 2020 Taught Me About What's Happening Right Now

Hey community, this week I'm getting personal.

Because the most useful thing I can share with you isn't a tool or a prompt. It's a story. And I think you'll recognise yourself in it.

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1. WHAT MARCH 2020 ACTUALLY FELT LIKE

If you were in hospitality or events in 2020, you don't need me to describe it.

But let me say it plainly anyway: Covid didn't slow my business down. It erased it. JTGrey Unlimited - the events work, the hotel contracts, the revenue, gone. Not gradually. Overnight.

I remember the specific feeling of looking at a calendar full of events that would never happen and wondering what came next. Whether there even was a "next."

I'm sharing this not for sympathy, but because I know many of you felt exactly the same thing. And because what happened after is the whole point.

2. THE CHOICE NOBODY TALKS ABOUT

When everything stops, there are really only two responses.

The first is to wait. To hold on, stay ready, and trust that the world will return to what it was. That's not weakness, it's completely human. Familiar is safe.

The second is to move. To look at the disruption not as an interruption to your career but as an unexpected opening to rebuild it differently.

In 2020 I chose to move. I added Bitcoin speaker management to my work. I built out podcast sponsorship through We Speak in Bitcoin. I deepened my hotel contracting relationships through HPN Global. None of it was part of the original plan. All of it made me stronger.

I'm not telling you 2020 was a gift. It wasn't. But the choice I made inside it was one of the best of my career.

3. WHY I'M TELLING YOU THIS NOW

Because AI is creating the exact same fork in the road.

Not as suddenly or as brutally as a global pandemic, but the dynamic is identical. A major disruption arrives. The industry hesitates. And two groups quietly form: those who wait, and those who adapt.

The people who adapted in 2020 didn't just survive. They came out of that period with new skills, new revenue streams, new relevance. The waiting strategy worked for some, but the adapters led.

I believe the same thing is about to happen with AI. And this time, I'm not waiting to see which group I'll be in.

4. WHAT "ADAPTING" ACTUALLY MEANS WITH AI

Here's the good news: adapting to AI in 2026 is significantly less painful than rebuilding a business from scratch in 2020.

You don't need to change industries. You don't need to learn to code. You don't need to become a tech person.

You just need to start applying AI tools to the work you already do; your client communications, your proposals, your event documentation, your team processes. One task at a time. One workflow at a time.

The goal isn't to become an AI expert in the abstract. It's to become the most AI-capable person in the room in the hospitality and events space. That bar is lower than you think, and it's available to anyone willing to start.

5. WHY THIS COMMUNITY EXISTS

I built this community because in 2020 I wish I'd had a place like it.

A space with people who understood my specific industry. Who were navigating the same disruption. Who could share what was working without the noise of advice that didn't apply to us.

That's what I'm building here. A community specifically for hospitality and events professionals who want to understand and use AI with content, prompts, templates, and frameworks built for our world, not the generic business world.

If you're already here: you made the right call being in this room. Welcome to the group that's choosing to adapt.

If someone shared this post with you from outside the community: the link to join is at the bottom. Come in. It's free to start, and the people in here are your people.

6. THE PARALLEL I WANT YOU TO HOLD ONTO

In 2020, the professionals who thrived weren't necessarily the most talented or the most experienced.

They were the most willing to move while others waited.

AI is the same. Early understanding creates compounding advantage. The person who has been using AI in their proposals for six months is already miles ahead of the person who starts six months from now, not because they're smarter, but because they started.

You're reading this post. You're in this community. You've already started.

7. THIS WEEK'S COMMUNITY QUESTION

I'd love to hear your 2020 story, because I know it shaped you:

What did you do during the pandemic shutdown that you're still proud of, or that changed how you work?

Drop it in the comments. I genuinely want to know. And if you're comfortable, share whether you're someone who waited or someone who moved, no wrong answer, and a lot we can all learn from both.

See you in the comments.

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