The pandemic may have broken many things, but it did not break the resolve of our people. We have been blown away by the countless stories of small business owners, artists, creatives and folks in every profession. The resilience and the ability to pivot to survive has been beyond inspiring and below we’ve shared stories of how folks have adapted their business models and ways of operating.

Shawn Irby

Covid has taken a toll on the entire restaurant business industry. Covid caught everyone off guard and sadly some of the most profound restaurants didn’t make it through the pandemic and some are still struggling to keep their doors open today. “Business is not the same as it use to be” are the words I hear far to often from many restaurant owners and in todays time it’s not just due to covid but also due to inflation as the price for food continues to grow causing many restaurants to increase on their prices. Read more>>

Michael Rosser

Covid is actually how the business came to be. As the majority of the performing artists quickly had their work dissipate during the beginning of the pandemic, I started to look into some sort of temporary solution for myself and the bands that I knew. Within a few months I set up a mixer and computer for what started as a few live streams, pod casts and practices. A few years prior I co-produced my band’s second album Wilder and a few other songs so I’d start recording other people’s music. That started an obsession for nearly three years of research, pdf files, forums, and any other information I could scratch to improve the sounds I was recording. Read more>>

Katie Gentry

Being a hands-on simulation with only in person events immediately halted the business when COVID hit. As we were starting to do more events and simulations as referrals were trickling in, the city shut down and as a result so did we. But COVID made us realize that we could pivot to offer our hands-on simulations in other formats including a technology forward solution. We are in the process of revamping with a technology component to allow not only online simulations, but in person simulations with a smoother technology component. Read more>>

Kelsey O’Brien Michelle Leatherman

We had to pivot our entire business model from a brick-and-mortar gallery to fully online. Covid stay-at-home orders and being deemed a “non-essential” business took a big toll on us. Michelle and I, like countless other small business owners, had to make the tough decision to shutter our doors in July 2021 after being open to the public for 5 years. Instead of gallery installations, planning and promoting Opening Receptions, and running the sales floor, we found ourselves pouring our time into building out our website, strategizing how to grow our online presence and establishing ourselves in brand new marketing channels like Pinterest. Read more>>

Kevin Sikorski

When covid first hit, I was living in New York, in Manhattan going to college. I ended up leaving the city as our school was shut down for in person classes and moved back home to Connecticut with my family for what I thought would be a short time. We all know how that ended up and I lived there for about a year. Covid took away many job opportunities for me and canceled my graduation. During this time however, I took the time to create some personal work. I also did lots of writing which is a first for me. I was able to really narrow down my portfolio and manifest the types of work I wanted to do. Read more>>

Nikita Fuss

As a body piercer covid has impacted my business tremendously in a very negative way all the way around! Less people have extra funds to spend on getting pierced and body modifications which impacts the supply order causing an influx in piercing cost just so I can still afford to provide for my family as well as maintaining quality products to pierce with as my income is 100% commission and tips!

Cindy Pennington

This might not necessarily be what you would expect to hear as an answer to this question. No we did not develop up a new service of delivering curbside kitty snuggles (though it was a brief thought for a minute there), but we did make a change I don’t think we would have been brave enough to do (or thought to do) without the pandemic. We are a very small business that has always run in the red but our mission to help save homeless cats’ lives and find them loving forever homes while also being a place of happiness and relaxation for the public is what has kept us going. Read more>>

Katherine Herron

In reaction to news from around the world in the early months of 2020, Hola HP proactively planned a virtual platform behind the scenes. When schools were released for Spring Break and told they would not return to in person learning. Hola HP moved 100% percent online. At the time, we were all hoping “flatten the curve” in two weeks and return to normalcy, but as a company we knew that our educational interface would be changed forever. Covid directly impacted my business model. What we have learned is that the virtual platform has a place in education. Read more>>