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.

Mona Zargar

The impact of COVID-19 on our business model has been profound and transformative. Before the pandemic, our salon solely relied on in-person appointments. However, when COVID-19 hit, we faced the difficult decision of potentially closing our doors. Yet, we couldn’t turn our backs on our clients who relied on our wig services due to medical conditions, ongoing chemo treatments, or upcoming procedures. Their health issues persisted regardless of the pandemic, and we were determined to continue supporting them through their challenging journeys. Read more>>

Azari Alexander

At the peak of covid, I was unsure of how to properly rebrand. I didn’t receive a lot consumer traffic during my tenure in college and I wanted to expand my target audience (at this time it was mainly women between the ages of 30 and 50 years old). I discussed with my best friend the goals I wanted to achieve on restructuring my brand and business model. First, I decided to change the business name. In order for me to reach new target audiences, I believed the name change coupled with expanding my product line and services could yield increased revenue. Second, were the brand’s colors. I aimed to keep the colors simple: black, white, purple, and blue. Third, was to create content-friendly social media posts to boost viewer insights. Tik Tok was starting to become more popular in 2020 and my goal was to post more viral videos. Read more>>

Lisa Vandervalk

Before Covid we had a small indoor tasting room as well as a small outdoor patio area. When covid hit we soon realized that people were looking for a safe and relaxed outdoor area to enjoy time with friends and family. We quickly adapted and decided to expand our outdoor seating ten fold, hire servers and convert our tasting room into a server station. When people came to the winery they would now sit at an outdoor picnic table and be served by our waitstaff. Instead of offering wine tastings we pivoted to offer wine flights as well as a variety of other wine based drinks including, sangria, cocktails and slushees. People loved the service we offered and the laidback outdoor areas and our business actually grew a lot during Covid! Read more>>