Remembering Kevin

There’s something to be said about having a group of people believe in you. I was lucky enough to get to experience this in my college years at Loyalist. Among other things, the faculty of TV & New Media taught me how to believe in myself by believing in me. I’ve never felt so supported in my life as I did in those 3 years.

While exploring the French Quarter in New Orleans last week I got news that one of the faculty, Kevin Sansom, had passed. I was and am still devastated and shocked that he has left our planet. My friends and I quickly stopped into an old bar and had a drink in his memory – how Irish of us, (none of us are Irish but it seemed like the right thing to do).

A few days later, while on a cruise, I woke up at 530am unable to fall back to sleep. I walked up to the upper deck and spent some time alone with the ocean reflecting on everything that I learned from Kevin.

Kevin taught me a lot – about editing, graphics, and all things video but more importantly about life. I compiled 3 life lessons that Kevin shared with me and wanted to share them with you. I’m sure there’s more but these are the sticky ones that have stuck with me over the years.

In my 3rd year at college, Kevin and Cathy Goddard worked on a movie that I was directing as my executive producers and staff advisors. I was not playing nice with some of the people that I was assigned to work with. I was frustrated that they weren’t meeting my expectations and was having difficulty with it. One day, Kevin and I were having a talk about it. I expected him to back me because of course I was right. That’s when he came at me with, “Amy, you’re lacking empathy.” What a brave man. 😉 That’s when I would have typically thrown a fit of some sort, but he said it in a way that got my guard (read: ego) down long enough for me to really hear the message.

We had a long talk about the importance of empathy that day that has stuck with me. Ever since, I’ve put into a place an “empathy check.” It’s pretty simple to do. I just check-in with myself every so often. “Am I being an asshole in this situation?” If yes, stop it. If no, carry on. As one of my mentors pointed out to me recently, “you lead people and you manage things” – not the other way around. What better life lesson is there than to have compassion and empathy for others?

After my 2nd year internship, I knew that working at a TV station wasn’t going to be my gig. I wanted to do something different. I decided that I wanted to start my own business as a 3rd year internship project and got some friends on board with the idea. When I brought the idea to Kevin who was my staff advisor I thought I was going to have to fight him for it since it hadn’t been done yet. Instead, he sat down with me and talked about the pros and cons of business and then gave me a pep talk about forging my own path. When it went to the dean for approval, I knew whatever the outcome, Kevin had my back. Reading through all the messages left from other students, I can see that with everyone that crossed his path he always had their best interest at heart and was a supportive player in their worlds too.

Which brings me to this quote. I don’t know where I got this quote from, but I found it years ago and wrote it down on the back of an old photo of my grandfather. I carry it with me in all of my travels and when I heard about Kevin I immediately thought of it – I think it suits him perfectly.

Kevin, thank you for all of the lessons in life that you have shared with me and for being an amazing leader and person. This planet is not going to be the same without you.