The pandemic kicked off a period of time that was incredibly challenging for businesses of all sizes, and very few industries were spared from its impacts.
But in the midst of all the chaos, turmoil, uncertainty, and hardship, something else started emerging: stories of resiliency, adaptability, and overcoming the odds.
We wanted to spend some time focusing on these stories. So, we spoke with a few of our very own members to hear how the pandemic affected their businesses and lives, and how they overcame those challenges.
Juggling Family Time with Work Time
For Jessica Graves, Attorney at Law, the pandemic presented a unique set of challenges for her business and her new family—but ended up offering a silver lining.
“The biggest challenge that I’ve faced during the pandemic was navigating the balance of having a newborn with my spouse and I both working virtually,” says Jessica. “Being able to maintain a work-life-newborn balance was difficult at first. However, I quickly realized the silver lining that the pandemic ultimately afforded to my family: time together.”
She continues, “My spouse and I were both able to work from home while caring for and being with our newborn. Finding our groove and the schedule that worked for us in terms of balancing work and family life was challenging, but like all brand-new parents, we figured it out!”
Jessica even fine-tuned some important skills in the process.
“I think the most important skill I concentrated on was efficiency,” explains Jessica. “During my ‘work’ time, I completed as much as I could from my to-do list. Then, once ‘work’ time was done, I had to shut it down and make space for family time. It was difficult, but separating work from family time was essential, especially since my ‘job’ was just down the hall.”
She adds, “With the help of The Post, being able to work virtually fit into our lifestyle and we’ve found a schedule that works with both of us and our now one-year-old”
Finding Innovative Ways for Businesses and Customers to Stay Afloat Together
For Luke Januschka and Mike Coborn, the restaurant industry is quite literally the lifeblood of their business, Skytale Digital. And as the COVID-19 pandemic forced shutdowns and rocked the hospitality world to its core, the duo needed to find ways to adapt.
“The pandemic had a profound impact on our advertising business,” explains Luke. “Not only did we have to completely reshuffle our business model, we had to help our restaurant clients do the exact same thing. Their problems became our problems. If our clients went out of business, so would we. This created a very unique, irreversible relationship with our clients.”
He continues, “There was a paralyzing amount of fear and uncertainty in the midst of the pandemic. As restaurant owners had put a massive emphasis on the safety of their staff and customers, they simultaneously had to continue providing for their staff and families financially. And this is where our company came into play.”
Faced with incredibly tough odds, Luke and Mike rethought the way they work with their customers.
“We had to become much more than just an advertising company for restaurants,” says Luke. “So, we quickly started pivoting our clients towards becoming ‘e-commerce companies’ instead of just traditional restaurants. The pandemic forced everyone to stay in their homes for safety, and a record number of people were on their phones. We advised our clients to expand into a contracting situation.”
He elaborates, “Businesses weren’t advertising or spending money in the height of the pandemic, which drove advertising costs down by about 30 to 40%. Yet, a record amount of people were on their phones consuming social media. This, in combination with cheap ad costs, and an ‘e-commerce’ approach mixed with some creativity, created incredible results.”
But that wasn’t the most outside-the-box way they helped their customers.
“Restaurants also had something that most people needed badly: toilet paper,” shares Luke. We ran advertising campaigns for takeout orders where anyone who spent 30 dollars or more received a free roll of toilet paper. This went viral. Many of our clients started having record sales and profit numbers, even more than pre-pandemic. And given that our own business model is that our clients make money first, then we do, our company started seeing record numbers as well.”
He adds, “So, the biggest lesson we’ve learned is that sometimes it takes a massive event, like a pandemic, to expose many inefficiencies in a business. This includes our restaurant clients as well. We learned to pivot quickly and all of the challenges made us a better, more well-rounded company.”
If you’d like to learn more about Skytail Digital, check out the Member Spotlight article we wrote about them.
Learning That Adaptability and Flexibility Are Not The Same
When the pandemic took hold, Lacy Wolff Ewing, Marketing & Development Manager at 3rd Decade, quickly realized something counterintuitive: adaptability and flexibility are not the same things.
“Flexibility is a willingness to meet others or situations halfway while adaptability is the quality of being able to adjust to different conditions,” explains Lacy.
“I started with 3rd Decade in the third quarter of 2020, about to graduate from college, with lofty ideas about what my new career and day-to-day would look like. I thought I’d get to sit at my desk with the warm cup of coffee from the little kitchen that my coworkers and I gathered in to chat throughout the day, hold calls in the conference room, park in the same spot, and just enjoy being in a social setting while I kicked butt at my job. Instead, my first day on the job consisted of going into the existing 3rd Decade office space, gathering my computer and supplies, and essentially clearing out an office that I never had the opportunity to inhabit.”
These sudden changes forced Lacy to reevaluate everything she thought her work life was going to be.
“I told myself that I could be flexible with this,” says Lacy. “I was ready to change my pre-existing notions for a time until things got back to normal. I believed my experiences in this job would meet my expectations at some point. But I was wrong. Eventually, 3rd Decade downsized their office space, the majority of staff became remote workers, myself included, and our program transitioned into a fully-online setting, solidifying the move to meet the changing needs of the world.”
She continues, “I knew then that, instead of being a season of flexibility, this was a season of jumping in headfirst, taking the current climate in stride, and adapting—which was exactly what the entire world was doing. Adaptability, not flexibility, is what has kept so many individuals and businesses going throughout the past year. We can’t meet the future halfway because we have no idea what the future holds. We need to be willing to fluidly adapt to whatever comes next.”
Going All In, Adapting, Finding a Niche, and Fulfilling Client Needs
For Deric Dicamillo and Allie Pastore, starting their real estate business, The Alder Group, in the middle of the pandemic was a nerve-wracking undertaking.
“We started The Alder Group during the pandemic and went all in,” says Deric.
“We began by finding homes for out-of-state investors. Being new agents, this was the time we really learned to write contracts, deal with investors, work with people we didn’t know, and be a silent partner.”
He adds, “But as the demand in homes skyrocketed, we reached a point where we were buying up to 15 homes every month between the two of us.”
But it wasn’t always easy: the process involved adapting and taking a lot of risks.
“We had to adapt a lot as we faced pandemic-related challenges,” says Allie. “We knew the housing demand in Tucson wouldn’t last forever. The market had been up and down and was not a buyer’s market. And being new agents, the bulk of commission goes to the brokerage you are licensed under. We knew that if the market shifted, we wanted a better split for our efforts and our brokerage refused to negotiate with us. So, we took a chance and risked our newly-found careers seeking out and joining another real estate agency to run our deals through. And although it was risky, it paid off. Now, not only can we help our clients find and buy homes, but we can also list and sell homes on their behalf as well.”
She adds, “Tucson and Arizona as a whole have experienced a lot of demand from out-of-state homebuyers relocating to smaller submarkets. But with the pandemic and the business shut-down, it was difficult to show or view homes in person. So, we also pivoted to focus more on fulfilling the needs of homebuyers and those wanting to sell their homes by differentiating and finding a niche.”
To carve out their niche, they took some important steps to differentiate themselves.
“We started working hard to make ourselves stand out from our competition,” explains Deric. “This included things like focusing on social media and content marketing, developing live virtual open houses, creating virtual walk-through tours, and a number of other initiatives.”
He adds, “Despite all of the challenges, we were able to adapt and end up in a great place despite the adversity. Last year, Allie was highlighted as one of the top 10 real estate agents with the most prominent social media platforms in southern Arizona. Additionally, The Alder Group was awarded the top 5% real estate sales in southern Arizona.”
There’s no doubt about it: the pandemic has made life and business difficult for many people. But it’s inspiring to hear so many stories of triumph and overcoming adversity, even from the people in our own professional community.
If you’d like to learn more about The Post and our professional community help support one another, get in touch with us today. Our team is available to speak with you.