Worcester Business Journal

We don't have a plan for key employees' extended absences F L AS H P O L L Does your company have a plan if a key employee needs to take an unexpected leave of absence? With coronavirus cases at an all-time high, managing the pandemic in the workplace is likely to get more difficult as we head into the winter months. Sudden illnesses or injuries among senior management and key employees, whether related to the pandemic or not, can be disruptive to businesses' ability to maintain its revenue and operations. When polled online, more than half of WBJ readers said their businesses could handle such an absence, but nearly 8 out of 10 don't have a formal plan. H E A L T H C A R E F O C U S From New Jersey to Massachusetts Becker Collins grew up in New Jersey, in what she describes as a wealthy white suburb of Manhattan, in a home originally built as low-income housing. Hers was the only Jewish family in a very Christian town, which she said she was very eager to get away from by the end of high school. "I literally had swastikas drawn on my locker," she said. Both of Becker Collins's grandparents on her mother's side had escaped the Holocaust, and that grandmother played a key role in raising her, she said. Named Beatrice, or B, for short, Becker Collins has a tattoo of honey bees on her arm, commemorating her grandmother; her cousin has the same one. When it came time to apply for college, Becker Collins made it a priority to get as far away as possible, initially matriculating at Sonoma State University in California. She lived there for two years, first studying studio art, largely because art class was the only one she could stand to sit through growing up. Traditional academia did not come easy to her. "I must have thought I'd be an art major, because it's the only thing I could do in high school," Becker Collins said. en, she said, she took her first women's studies class and fell in love with it. But Sonoma State didn't offer that major at the time, she said, so she began looking for schools to transfer to. She landed at UMass Amherst. "I remember driving on campus and my little '91 Geo Prizm and being like, 'What have I got myself into?'" she said. UMass Amherst's sprawling campus had stoplights; Sonoma State, in turn, only had 5,000 students. Working her way through what would become a major in women's studies and a minor in art history, Becker Collins threw herself into her new community, joining student organizations le and right. e only marketing experience she gained in college came by way of student clubs. It wasn't until she graduated and took a job at an apartment complex near Mount Holyoke – riding her experience as a residential assistant – that Becker Collins, tasked in part with attracting prospective renters, began to work in the field that would eventually become her career. "I thought I was gonna work at a Planned Parenthood, for some kind of large nonprofit doing fundraising for a few years," Becker Collins. "I was very focused on women's issues." Although she would eventually leave the organization for a stint in law school, Becker Collins thrived in her new environment, which gave her the first inkling she might be a natural marketer. Finding MetroWest As Becker Collins navigated the next wbjournal.com | November 23, 2020 | Worcester Business Journal 17 few years of her life, ultimately landing in the nonprofit sector in Boston and earning her master's degree in public administration from Framingham State University, she continued to build on those marketing skills she'd somewhat unwittingly begun cultivating while in school, and as a recent graduate. It was at an event tech seminar in Boston that she first brushed up against Vision Advertising. "I met a woman who was starting her own event planning firm, and we just became friendly and we started chatting," Becker Collins said. at woman had just le Vision – on good terms – and, as networking sometimes works, one thing led to another and she was introduced to Laura DiBenedetto, Vision Advertising's founder. Although nothing happened at first, the two stayed in touch. "At the time, I was trying to figure out my next professional move, and I didn't want to be working in Boston anymore, because the commute was really killing me," Becker Collins said. In chasing that goal, Becker Collins eventually co-founded the MetroWest Women's Network, which not only helped her meet more women professionals near her home in Marlborough, but kept her in touch with DiBenedetto. "Julia is somebody who I've always admired for her tenacity and her hard work, and her ability to rise above the noise and actually execute on leading a group of people no matter what was put in her way," said Michelle Mercier, a business strategy coach, consultant Continued on page 18 Yes, we have a formal plan. 21% No, we do not have a plan, but I think we'll be fine. 21% Yes, we know what we'd do, but it's not in writing. 32% No, that would be a serious challenge. 25% An avid runner and cross-trainer, Julia Becker Collins has focused on training for a marathon in December.

• Cover