Reflections in the Pandemic

Even at the start of 2020, when we started seeing reports of a virus spreading through Asia, I don’t anything expected things to turn out the way they did.

A New Job Landscape

It affected people in different ways, some were furloughed, key workers had to bravely carry on while others lost their jobs and businesses in the economic fallout. I had to close the headshot studio between April and June, and while i received the bare minimum in furlough payments from the government, we survived, although a lot of businesses weren’t so lucky. I joined a group called #forgottenltd on facebook and twitter, which is basically made up of ltd company owners who have been left out of government help – check it out if that applies to you.

Making The Most It

Not going to lie: shutting down my business was heartbreaking, but after the initial wave of depression, I decided to make the most of lockdown.

Spending the time with my 2 young daughters was incredible – building them a playhouse, baking with them, making fresh pasta for the first time. I’m sure many families up and down the country were able to reconnect and just hit pause on their lives. The unknown factors of whether my business would survive this weighed heavily on my mind, but I tried to push that to the back of my mind and live in the moment and enjoy this time with my family.

When I was able to open again in July, I was taken aback by how quickly I was able to get back on my feet. The conversations and stories from my clients gave me an interesting perspective on how things were going in the wider public…

Tales From The Headshot Studio

When I reopened, conversation with my clients was dominated by the pandemic, and more specifically lockdown. I found that my clients largely fell into two groups; People who had lost their jobs/been made redundant or people who used lockdown to evaluate their careers and, in turn, their lives, and realise that they wanted to do something else.

A recent client of mine is a commercial airline pilot for BA. He came to me as he was leaving the airline industry after 18 years and was about to have an interview with Google. Granted, the airline industry is an extreme example as they were one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, but many clients used lockdown to change their career paths and in turn, their daily lives.

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