Surviving The Pandemic With Design
During the week of March 9,2020, I was at our state floral convention. Earlier in the week we started to see the country shutting down to help control outbreak. As the weekend progressed, I started getting emails from clients that they were cancelling or postponing their events. This was the tip of the iceberg and it was becoming real fast. As the convention ended and we were on our way home Sunday it was announced that Illinois would go into shutdown to help control the number of positive cases and deaths. My business and future were to be changed forever.
There are moments in your life that will forever change you. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic was certainly to be one of those life altering events. Although we thought we knew what was coming none of us had any idea what the reality was to be.
When the world starts to change!
During the week of March 9,2020, I was at our state floral convention. Earlier in the week we started to see the country shutting down to help control outbreak. As the weekend progressed, I started getting emails from clients that they were cancelling or postponing their events. This was the tip of the iceberg and it was becoming real fast. As the convention ended and we were on our way home Sunday it was announced that Illinois would go into shutdown to help control the number of positive cases and deaths. My business and future were to be changed forever.
As the time started to progress, I could see everything I had built being destroyed. 2020 was going to be the best year of my career. No matter what was to happen I would not let go of creativity and my love of the floral industry.
How surviving a pandemic is like the stages of grief and how I combated it with design:
Stage 1: Denial
I would spend time telling myself “this can’t be happening”, “events will begin next month”, “summer events will happen for sure” to name a few. I could not and would not believe that our lives would be forever changed.
I started designing on Facebook live early on. I wanted to show beauty through all the chaos, and it was a great way to see my friends from around the world.
Stage 2: Anger
Now I became angry not only at the virus but also by the lack of help for small businesses. I was angry at the fact that a virus was responsible for the potential loss of not only my business but so many businesses. Business was going to change, and I knew in order to survive we must all change as well.
I worked with Dan from yes.I.said to finalize my website. Time was going to continue, and I wanted to be ready for the future.
Stage 3: Bargaining
How do you bargain with a pandemic? The answer is you can’t! Of course, I had the “what if we had not prebought event hardgoods for the year” and “if only we built our savings stronger to prepare for a pandemic”. Useless way of thinking and so not productive.
As I continued producing Facebook live videos, I continued to find strength in my floral community. The one thing we all had in common was that the pandemic was affecting us all. The beauty of floral design would give the strength to carry on.
Stage 4: Depression
I am thankful for my daughter, husband, and friends during this time. We helped each other navigate through this all the while trying to plan for our futures. There were many days in the beginning and honestly, I still have these days of hopelessness, but we must never give into the despair. The light will shine again.
Fighting against depression is not easy. One thing I know for sure is that we need to stay strong and look for the light. At this point I started working with JFConcepts to develop my YouTube channel. Let the filming begin.
Stage 5: Acceptance
This is a new reality for all of us and now is the time to act. At this point I had the time to focus on what I love and also what I have put off doing. I had revamped my website, started a YouTube channel, provided online classes for designers, finalized projects, did all the things I have been putting off in the design studio, and prepared as best as I could for an uncertain future.
We may not know what the future holds, but one thing I do know is that my love of the floral industry will be a constant part of my life. Designing and sharing my passion with all of you has provided me the strength to sustain my business. I thank all of you for standing strong and supporting each other during this horrific time. We will all bloom again!
Say yes to staying strong and developing a bright future for yourself.