When Disruption Creates Alignment

The Day After Christmas, the Ceiling Fell Out — and My World Came Together

The day after Christmas, our living room ceiling turned into a waterfall.

A cracked shower drain upstairs gave way. Water followed gravity. Drywall followed shortly after. What should have been a quiet pause after the holidays became buckets, towels, and a very visible mess on the floor.

But that wasn’t the part that mattered most.

Over time, after my husband’s traumatic accident three and a half years ago, I adapted—like most leaders do when circumstances change. I found ways to keep moving forward, to stay productive, and to make things work under less-than-ideal conditions. It was practical. It was necessary. And for a season, it worked.

But adaptations have a way of quietly becoming defaults.

What began as a repair forced a reset—a shake-up that created the opportunity to step back and ask better questions: What’s working—but no longer serving me? What systems are functional, but misaligned? What have I simply grown used to?

The result wasn’t just a fix—it was a structural overhaul. Space was reorganized. Routines were rebuilt. Intention replaced habit. And almost immediately, clarity and momentum followed.

That’s when the leadership lesson became unmistakable.

Normal should never be the goal. We should stive to feel activated, grounded, and fulfilled in how we work and lead.

In business—and in life—I’ve learned that alignment matters more than familiarity. Strong foundations aren’t defined by how smoothly things run when conditions are ideal. They’re revealed when something fails and there’s a choice: restore what was, or rebuild for what’s next.

Leadership shows up in that moment: • Will I fix—or rethink? • Will I restore—or redesign? • Will I rebuild for convenience—or for strength?

The living room will be livable again—and better than it was before. Disruption, when approached intentionally, can create forward momentum.

Sometimes things fall apart not to derail us— but to give us the rare opportunity to rebuild better, stronger, and more aligned than before.

That is where real progress begins.

If disruption has exposed gaps in your firm and you’re unsure how to reset with intention, we’d love to help you figure that out.

We understand accounting and bookkeeping firm pain points because we’ve lived them—and we’re passionate about helping firm owners rebuild in ways that create clarity, momentum, and sustainability.