In March of 2020 there was a moment of widespread panic – it wasn’t just about public health, it was also economic. Would our economy survive a prolonged pandemic? A few years in the answer is clear – it did survive and it was able to because of the spirit and the resolve of our people. Hard working mom and pops working overtime to implement new revenue streams for the businesses, artists and creators finding new ways to collaborate and share their art with their fans and folks from every neighborhood in the country finding ways to adapt and carry on. We wanted to honor those stories by creating a space to share those stories and you’ll find some of the below.

Kristina Perez Thomas

I began working on launching Soul Good Coffee in 2018 and the original plan was to open a small brick and mortar in our town. I was working in the hospitality industry for over 15yrs – managing a catering team and planning special events/weddings – but was ready for a change! I’d always wanted to eventually open my own business – specifically a coffee shop – that could promote volunteerism and giving back. Read more>>

Season Moore

Covid times were very interesting in a service industry! I didn’t have the option to work remotely so being face to face with clients was just how it had to be. This came with so many hurdles that shifted as the years went on (hard to believe it was years!). In the early days it mean big expenses for small businesses (that had already been shuttered for some time) changing policies and taking less clients, adding air purifiers and cleaning stations, sanitizing more hours of the day than I can count. Read more>>

Masiely Abreu

COVID-19 definitely changed our business model for the better, I’d say. Prior to COVID-19 we used to only service Private Physician Offices, Assisted Living Facilities and Medical Centers around our community; during and after the pandemic our shift went more in home-based patients that did not want to go to a doctor’s office due to fear of getting infected the then “deadly disease” — Fast forward to 2022, we are now equally serving both in-house patients and private physician office settings, ALF’s and medical centers combined. Read more>>

Sacha Walton

Ironically, the changes made within my business model due to the Covid-19 pandemic have been phenomenal. I have successfully created an ecosystem between my personal brand and company, SWI Management Group. It is flourishing and sustainable. Read more>>

LaKisha Mosley

Covid forced my company totally online. There were no in-person events allowed at that time but clients still wanted to have events. We had to pivot quickly to meet the clients’ needs. We went to online meetings and had to learn all of the tech stuff for the online platforms. Read more>>