On Friday night, I posted on my Facebook page, with more than a little internal skepticism, that I would be taking the weekend off. I got “Likes” galore and loads of encouragement. It had been 9 weeks…all because of Covid-19.
The Cooking Schools that I worked so hard to build…came to a full on pause. My team at Jake’s Ice Creams were mostly school age and now sheltering in place. My dear GM took her family to her special slice of heaven in Martha’s Vineyard.
It was just me and George and Ed. These two who can make and build just about anything joined me in figuring out what needed to happen next. I kept saying to myself…people still have to eat…and I will feed as many as I can. It meant getting additional licensing from the Georgia Department of Agriculture for meal prep…and a fresh new work space in the kitchens at Irwin Street.
As that work began and then progressed, I focused every day of every week shopping for ingredients, making ice cream, pinting and quarting it, and delivering it. Every single day I was doing this or something related to hanging on for dear life…and getting our bills paid.
We have a GoFundMe and my friends have been very supportive….but we got nothing from the SBA even though I applied very early on. And I, like many others, still haven’t received my stimulus check. Have I worried? Of course. But not about the business…and not about myself. I’ve worried about the health and well being of my friends and family…and people I’ve never even met.
I worried (and still do) about the ever increasing divide among my fellow Americans. Wear a mask some would say? How dare you ask me/tell me to do that! Wait a little longer before we assemble? How dare you threaten to ruin the economy. And these messages are from people I truly respect. I just don’t agree with them. And well…that’s going to have to be okay. I am learning to choose my battles and understand what my true priorities must be.
During this extraordinary time, I’ve learned more about what I am made of. I believe I was made for a time like this because I have had to “pivot” (a word some of my friends loathe) my entire career. I am not saying any of this has been easy, but…and this is a big one…
I’ve never been more creative. And I’ve never been more prolific. Never. In the last nine weeks I finally developed and launched our own line of sherbets and they have sold extremely well. I developed and launched Haute Milk, our plant-based, crazy delicious answer to non dairy ice cream. We are about to full tilt launch BoozeScream…alcohol infused ice creams…and I’ve redesigned the shop so that when we reopen we will be more than ice cream and we will be called Jake’s Good Foods. Everything will be geared towards grab and go with choices we have asked and you have shared you want for prepared meals.
I’ve discovered that we can make our business run on pint sales when we barely gave them a serious thought before. I’ve also discovered how much folks want delivery and prove it by ordering on the regular. As for the Cooking School, I learned two weeks ago that we can deliver a great class online and now we’ve relaunched our concept as a virtual school with a twist…we deliver or ship the ingredients in advance so all you need to do is show up and get your mise en place on. Companies that we hoped would come back are…and are booking briskly…and soon we’ll be looking at what I hope will be a brighter future than perhaps we had prior.
I am not saying I am glad for Covid. Not in the least. What I am glad for is how I responded to it. Taking these last few days off, I’ve had a moment or two to take stock of who I’ve been being through all of this. I have worked harder than I’ve ever worked and with longer hours, but I’ve done it…and I see sunshine ahead on this rainy Sunday evening. I couldn’t have done this without daily chats with my dad nor without the help of my tiny team and countless friends and customers who believe in us (and can’t fight their need for a Jake’s fix).
The company is now growing bit by bit and we are getting wonderful help that will take us where we need to go. My biggest takeaway is that I can trust me to be willing to go down with the ship, but be willing to do what it takes to keep afloat instead. I will go to bed tonight saying my prayers for the health and well being of my friends, my family and you…as I have done every night since this craziness began.
I wish you all safety, health and peace of mind. And I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say…be mindful like never before and PLEASE VOTE in November.