Running (no pun intended) a Small Business in the Age of COVID-19
They say when you are stressed, pet a cat. Also, quarantine hair.
As a business owner, I have spent the last three months riding a roller coaster I never thought I would board. It started with putting on the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon and Half Marathon, racing the clock against an invisible competitor, COVID-19. In the lead up to the race, the virus was not yet known to be in the United States. I followed the news closely and there was no clear threat to this country, and certainly no imminent threat to the Napa Valley. As race week arrived, the tide quickly turned and each passing day grew with anxiety and worry. Is the virus on its way here? Can someone bring it to town? Can people be infected and pass it back and forth to each other on race weekend? Are we safer because we are hosting an outdoor event? The list goes on an on. A long series of questions with no real answers. In the end, we hosted the event in the safest way we could, in conjunction with doctors and healthcare partners that we trusted in aiding us to make the best decisions resulting in the overall safety of everyone’s health. I do believe we were successful.
Things unraveled quickly after the event on March 1st. The Los Angeles Marathon took place on March 8th under some scrutiny and with even more questions than the week prior. By March 11th, the NBA cancelled the remaining season. Around the same time, large-scale races like the New York City Half Marathon and the Bank of America Shamrock Shuffle cancelled. Just days later, the entire spring season of races in the running industry fell like dominos. It was unfortunate. It was sad. It was hard to digest. But more than all of that, I was personally overwhelmed by how scary it was. Could I go to the grocery store safely? I remember coming home from trips to the grocery store (with 10 day gaps) and would immediately strip down to my underwear and wash all my clothes, freakishly wash my hands and forearms, take a few breaths, and attempt to start my day (I would go to the store right at 6am when they opened). Could I get gas (not that I was going anywhere to need gas … in fact, I didn’t drive my car more than .5 miles to the grocery store for over 30 days) without getting COVID-19 from the pump? Not to mention, two of my race industry colleagues passed away from coronavirus. I personally worked side by side with these men over the last few years. Incredibly devastating. What was happening? I was trying to scoop up as much information I could about the virus while also trying to understand my personal risks, and as it became more clear, the risks to my business, my livelihood, and the running industry as a whole.
Almost three months exactly have passed since the Kaiser Permanente Napa Valley Marathon and Half Marathon took place. Within the last week, fall running events have begun to announce their cancellation or the cancellation of their postponement. Races are grappling with refunds, deferments, and some unhappy customers. Industry vendors have scrapped an entire year’s worth of business. The hits just keep coming. As of today, BPRM assumes that as a business, the rest of 2020 is a wrap. I have had time to digest this. I understand how COVID-19 works and in a numbers game, I understand the ramifications of putting on a mass participation event. It is a tough pill to swallow, but the sun still rises and sets every day.
I built Blistering Pace Race Management on literal blood, sweat, and tears. I was a one (wo)man band for the first year we existed. I slept about 4 hours a night working tirelessly (actually, I was tired) on every last detail it takes to start a company. I researched starting my LLC, built a website, was the secretary, taught myself quickbooks, became the marketing manager, the operations manager, the customer service representative, and acted as the race director. I did all of those things knowing that starting your own business is the ultimate risk. And while I accepted that risk from the start, I never planned for a global pandemic to take away all that I have built in the blink of an eye. While it is hard to get out of bed these days with a positive attitude, I can’t be mad. This is the life I chose. And I love it. And I would choose it again and again. Every time.
As my work currently dwindles, I have had a lot of time to think about my career and my role in this industry. At the end of 2019, I celebrated my 15th year of working in running. I am fortunate to know some of the best people in the business, I have had the opportunity to learn from some of them, and I am honored to call many of them my friends. As a female in a male-dominated space, I have never had much to say publicly about the inner workings of our industry. I wasn’t sure what I could contribute that someone else with a more recognizable name or face couldn’t address on the industry’s behalf, especially as a young (I mean, humor me here) woman. This “staying in my lane” behavior has now given me pause. I realize that I haven’t been valuing my experience, knowledge, and opinions of the industry compared to those I have watched and learned from. Maybe people want to hear my perspective? I am a female working as a small minority in race management. I am a small business owner. My industry has been decimated by a global pandemic. I am going to weather this storm. And I am ready to participate in revolutionizing this industry. If I can’t find something about these facts to talk about with first-hand knowledge and confidence and to provide insight to people in our industry and our running communities, then the time to have a voice will pass me by. The events of the last three months have compelled me to speak up.
Time to shake things up a bit!
I have been saying a bit more recently. I have been participating within my industry much more. I have been speaking from my 15 years of experience when asked. I have been hanging myself out there to be judged (sometimes it feels that way). But through this, I’ve committed myself to be a strong female representative in our industry. I pledge to anyone who has a small business in this industry to offer guidance on anything I’ve learned over the last four years. I also want to dedicate time to educate our running communities and those signing up for our races on what the running industry looks like behind the scenes and how that plays into our decision making and intricate problem solving. In a “normal” world, this seems like it would maybe be enough to tackle for now. But not in 2020.
Like so many of you, I am angered by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery (killed by two white men while out for a run), three of the latest of many lives that have been taken because they were black. Right at the intersection of this global pandemic, these and other recent demonstrations of police violence, racism, and inequality in this country illustrate that we have a long way to go on the road to equality. It is hard to imagine that this is 2020 in America, but here we are.
So what else can I do? What can I do as a person to help bridge the gap toward equality? What can I do as a female? What can I do as a small business? What can I do as a female business owner in the running industry to ensure events and running communities move toward equal inclusion of all people? I have begun reading Me and White Supremacy by Layla Saad. I am hopeful it will enable me to think critically on how the words “white supremacy” apply to me, but also how it applies to running and creative ways in which that can be changed. I also want to research more about being an ally. I have found the website https://guidetoallyship.com/ to be a helpful start. Last but not least (for now), I have lots of ideas on things I can do better in the future and how I can help the BIPOC community (and other minority communities as well) and help amplify their voices, especially within the running community. I need to get myself organized so that I can mobilize with the proper tools. I hope you all will join me on the journey. We must do better.
XOXO