{"id":81982,"date":"2021-01-05T14:03:14","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T14:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flytographedev.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/how-flytographer-navigated-the-pandemic-a-story-in-gifs\/"},"modified":"2026-01-27T23:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T07:26:23","slug":"how-flytographer-navigated-the-pandemic-a-story-in-gifs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flyphotoprod.wpenginepowered.com\/blog\/how-flytographer-navigated-the-pandemic-a-story-in-gifs\/","title":{"rendered":"How Flytographer Navigated the Pandemic: A Story in GIFs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

2020 \u2014 what a year.<\/strong> <\/span><\/h2>\n

So many people have suffered deeply due to COVID-19 and its many ripple effects. From healthcare and frontline workers\u2019 tireless efforts to entrepreneurs and small business owners struggling to hold on, and to the far too many who have lost loved ones, it has touched everyone. It has been a year of dichotomy \u2014 while there are millions of heartbreaking stories out there, there are also the ones that warm our hearts. Sharing these stories can make us feel less alone as we document the events of one very, very strange year.<\/span><\/p>\n

In light of this, I wanted to share my story as the founder of a travel industry startup, and what it was like to navigate the pandemic and run a travel-dependent business when the entire world stopped travelling.  <\/span><\/p>\n

A lot of this is still pretty raw for me, so to lighten the mood, I\u2019ll use GIFs to help tell my story.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\nJANUARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

2020 started off on a reallyyyyy good vibe. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\nSales were up 40% year over year, we had a fantastic team of 20, a gorgeous office downtown, and exciting work trips were on the horizon. Riding the momentum of our successful fall <\/span>Global Flytographer Meetup in Santorini<\/span><\/a>, we were busy planning our next big community meetup in Sicily, by far my favourite event each year. We\u2019d captured over 3 million memories for customers since launching in 2013, and 2020 was the year in which we were finally hitting our stride.<\/span><\/p>\n

On a personal note, I had finally returned to playing squash after a multi-year break<\/span> (too distracted growing the business and raising my sons)<\/span><\/i>. I was finally going to prioritize myself and get in shape again doing a sport I loved.<\/span><\/p>\n

Life was good. Things were on track!<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\nFEBRUARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had been loosely watching the evolving situation in Wuhan since early January. The virologists I was now obsessively following on Twitter made me realize it was less and less likely this mystery \u201cflu\u201d was going to be contained \u2026 and that big trouble was brewing for the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

I bought a deep freezer and stocked up my house slowly over 6 weeks like a bonafide prepper. I remember telling my team and friends to prep for this too. I am sure I got a lot of eye rolls \u2026 but I had a veeeeery bad feeling deep in my gut.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was scheduled to speak at two travel conferences in March. One in NYC and one near Dubai. I had done <\/span>Shine\u2019s Keynote Speaker Bootcamp<\/span> in 2019 and was excited to flex my emerging speaker muscles. I was bringing my 15-yr-old son to Dubai with me and meeting my best friend who lives in Europe there too. I was so looking forward to exploring the Middle East for the first time with two of my favourite people.<\/span><\/p>\n

By late February, when our new bookings had slid for a week straight and cancellations had started rolling in due to the situation brewing in Lombardo, Italy, I knew I had to make a decision. I did not feel comfortable travelling far away from home with so many unknowns looming so I cancelled those trips. I also knew I needed to be at HQ with my team if we had a few bumpy days ahead. <\/span><\/p>\n

Welp \u2026 that was an understatement.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\nMARCH<\/strong><\/p>\n

We. Got. Hit. <\/span><\/p>\n

Our sales literally ground to a halt around mid-March. <\/span>On a day where we should have had 50+ new bookings, we had ZERO. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

\nTravel is a seasonal industry; March is when sales start to climb again after low-season, so the timing could not have been worse. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it wasn\u2019t just the complete halting of revenue. What shocked us more was the tsunami of refund requests that came flooding in. Customers typically book months in advance. We suddenly had no money coming in, but even worse, we also had money flying out the door. Despite the hardship to our business, we honoured all requests for refunds as we knew our customers were also in difficult positions. <\/span><\/p>\n

I knew I had to act swiftly to ensure our business could survive the uncertainties ahead. Every line item in our operating expenses was scrutinized, non-mission-critical software was cut, and I made the heartbreaking decision to downsize our team. <\/span><\/p>\n

I felt scared and very, very alone. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

\nAPRIL<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire world will stop travelling\u201d was not in any of my business contingency plans (shocking, right?), and so I needed to figure out what was next, what we could control amidst so much of what we could not. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n\"\"<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

I knew that worrying would not serve me. I needed to get battle-ready and pivot. <\/span>(Note: Daily walks really helped with my mental health during this time \u2014 and still do, to this day.)<\/em><\/p>\n

With our smaller crew now working from home, we gathered over Zoom to plot what was next. It was time to shift gears to new opportunities. How could we still be of valuable service to our customers while travel was on pause? How could we provide work for our photographers around the world? We brainstormed a few areas to test: <\/span><\/p>\n