When The Going Gets Tough, Go To Your Tribe
Last week I posted this on LinkedIn, a social media platform for leaders in business and industry:
"I reached a “what’s the point?” moment this morning.
Someone I’ve never seen before posted two walk-through videos of our town mall, mocking and insulting every business, restaurant, and closed storefront along the way. It was painful to watch, knowing that man didn’t have a clue.
* He saw a bakery with no one at the counter. I know they’re in the back, working feverishly on dozens of special occasion cakes every week so they can keep their local business afloat. They have a camera to see when people walk up and a bell so they can hear when they’re ready to order. They’re doing what they have to do to survive.
* He saw an arcade that was closed and assumed they had no business. I know they’ve just opened a wildly successful second location with pizza, a pub, and a multi-day pinball competition on Main Street. Their current business model just isn’t what that man expected.
The list goes on, but that’s where I stop. I looked at his profile, saw he had barely 1,000 followers, and his about sentence included “touring dying malls.” I guess we were just next on the list…sad.
It’s easy to be part of the tourism industry and question the role you play, especially when the claws come out. Which they do. All the time. When you’re deeply immersed in a community, promoting and telling its stories day in and day out, criticism and lack of understanding become incredibly personal.
It’s my job to be the expert storyteller of the community, the way it is right now in this moment. That takes a lot of time, energy, and resources, whether there’s support from anyone else or not. If someone posts a video showcasing their shallowness, does it negate everything I’ve been building up for the past seven years in our DMO?
It’s not my job to whitewash it, see it through rose-colored glasses, or finagle things to make us look better than we are. It’s not about me doing more, doing better, doing something new, different, and exciting. That sounds exhausting, doesn’t it?
Negativity is going to come - from inside the community as well as from outside - regardless of what we do. But our tourism office isn’t here to win consensus. We’re here to cultivate an experience.
What is your go-to battle plan to fight negativity from outside your sphere, particularly in the tourism industry?"
I received some of the best responses from my colleagues. Here are just three of them, to give you a taste of what the people around you are thinking, too.
"There is a very old saying, 'Those who know don't speak. Those who speak don't know.' The rise of social media has made it much easier for those who speak to reach much bigger audiences."
"Laura, I felt this so deeply. This work is incredibly personal. We give so much of ourselves to our communities, our visitors, and our local businesses and organizations. And some days, it really does feel like a solo venture. Like you, I’ve found that dissent and criticism can echo louder than support. But it’s the small, everyday interactions we have with visitors, business owners, and colleagues that remind me why we do this. Every kind word, every "thank you for what you do," every moment someone feels seen because we helped share their story is what fuels me. You nailed it when you said we’re here to cultivate experiences, and that means telling the real, honest, evolving stories of our towns. Not the drive-by judgments of people who never step beyond the surface. Thank you for saying what so many of us in the tourism world feel but don’t always have the words (or energy) to say. I’m proud to be in this work alongside you."
"Listen to it, sort out the usable and flush the rest. That part will not be worth a second thought!"
When the going gets tough, go to your tribe - the people who know you, support you, can actually do something to help you. They're the ones who can hold you up when you need it most.
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