Life Support: Alison Delzell
By: Alison Delzell, SVP, Account Management
What started as a focus on cleaning up our beaches turned into so much more!
First off, I want to thank TMA for keeping this program going and allowing those of us with tenure to step away and reflect on life and things that are important.
This sabbatical was truly such an amazing experience from beginning to end and turned into three sabbaticals in one – sort of on accident.
Part One:
Every morning I would show up at the beach at 6:30am and clean the beaches from 6:30am-8:30am. Some days I was with a group, but most days I was by myself. I would watch the sun rise, clean up an exorbitant amount of trash (plastic straws, diapers, Styrofoam, needles, empty bottles, pieces of glass, the list goes on and on).
Each beach gets a rating and the two main beaches I cleaned both had A’s (which means they’re some of the cleanest beaches) and I was still able to pick up trash bags full of trash every single morning.
It’s a crisis that is polluting our water and killing our sea life at a rapid rate. I felt so great about starting each morning with this and it truly set the tone for the day.
Part Two:
Part two was ‘breautiful’ (brutal + beautiful). The timing of being in Los Angeles was unique in that it was two weeks after Kobe Bryant’s death and a week before his memorial.
The entire city appeared in mourning – signs, posters, billboards, clothing for sale, was everywhere. Unbelievably talented street artists have taken to what they do best to help memorialize him and as only LA could do, they created a ‘tour’ of LA to go visit the biggest and best of these murals.
Each day after my Heal the Bay work, I took the time to go to a different Kobe mural and pay my respects to someone I adored and admired.
Part Three:
Lastly, the rest of my time was spent re-falling in love with the city I was raised in and doing things I’ve either never done or haven’t done since I was a little girl (Horseback ride to the Hollywood sign, tour of the Getty museum, walk the Venice boardwalk, have a drink at the top of Spire 73 – tallest outdoor bar in the Western Hemisphere).
What a magical time it was to be there and reset and remember how small we are in this world and that every day we need to be doing something good for someone else – it’s the first message I brought back for my team and my children.
Thank you again, TMA for this once in a lifetime experience.
Forever grateful.
ABOUT LIFE SUPPORT
TMA wants to reward the people who have helped our success throughout the years. So, we developed Life Support. Life Support is a special perk for people who have been at TMA for seven and 15 years. The way we like to describe the program is a sabbatical with a purpose. We ask people to go do something interesting and fun, and come back with a knowledge, skill, or learning that will make you a better and happier person than when you left. Stay tuned for more TMA Life Support stories.
