It's been two years since a Winter Garden CrossFit gym owner was murdered in the middle of a class at his gym leaving a widow and toddler son behind. Now his widow is speaking out, and using her loss to help get results for other widows and widowers in similar situations.
[WEB EXTRA: Widows at work ]
In 2013, Richard Millsap was in the middle of a class when police said a man wearing a black hat and black sunglasses entered a fitness room at the gym and shot the instructor, who died at the scene. His killer has never been caught.
"As soon as I heard the word shot, which was the only word I could hear from all the screams, my body just started convulsing," said Karen Millsap, Richard's widow. "Nerves just completely took over."
Millsap is still grieving, but can now smile while remembering her late husband.
"Richard was amazing," said Millsap. "He was an amazing father, he loved being a dad."
She said there was no way to prepare for what happened and there was no way to prepare for how it affected her.
"You are in a fog, a constant state of fog," said Millsap.
She said unfortunately, feeling incapable for a widow can happen anytime, even at work.
"I would sit there and I would try to respond to an email and if I couldn't think of a word, or if couldn't get the sentence together like I wanted to, I would just break down and cry," said Millsap. "I could sit there for 30 or 45 minutes just crying because I felt like I wasn't the professional I used to be."
While she said she was lucky to have six weeks paid time off through donated time from other coworkers, she said each year most of the 800,000 widows and widowers in the country may only get three to five paid days off from work.
"Which doesn't even give you time to prepare for the funeral," said Millsap. "Grief doesn't have an expiration date, I'm still grieving."
So that's why, two years--and lots of ideas later-- Widows at Work was born.
"I realized there's a need for this company," said Millsap.
Her company's major goal is to help employers help employees who are suffering losses, whether it be the loss of a spouse, child, or even divorce. Millsap said the company provides training services for employers on dealing with grief in the workplace. It will also help businesses put out campaigns for time donations from other employees and provide weekly mentorship for the widow as well as supervisor coaching.
"My company will offer temporary services which will allow the widow to come back gradually, because when you're forced back, you don't have your focus," said Millsap.
This way, Millsap said, widows have support from people who understand what they're going through when they need it most and don't have to worry about losing their jobs if they lose it at work.
"It's one one breath at a time," said Millsap. "It's not one day, not one step, it's literally one breath."