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.

Charlotte Russell

COVID provided an unexpected opportunity for me to finally realize my dream of opening a contemporary art gallery. During graduate school at San Francisco Art Institute where I pursued an MA in Exhibition and Museum Studies, I started to write a business plan for a contemporary art gallery. Two kids and a move from San Francisco to Raleigh later, I was still writing that same business plan without any real push to turn what was on paper into reality. When the pandemic hit, Read more>>

Matt Hazzard.

In today’s environment it’s even more difficult to survive as a small/family business in the wake of Covid. As we recover as a society from Covid and its lingering effects it feels like large corporations have a distinct advantage during the recovery process. The effects on my business, Athletika Sports and Fitness, feels like we had to start over even though we were entering our third year of existence prior to 2020. After being shut down for over 9 months straight and another 90 days later that year we lost so much of our momentum and customer base we created. Read more>>

Jennifer Fallon.

Boat Girl was well on her way to being successful before COVID-19, if anything once the pandemic struck my little company shift into the fast lane with no turning back! I acquired a lot of new first time boat owners Read more>>