Surviving Covid as a Small Business

I am on a flight to Ohio typing this out currently. I am on my way to a training for advocates in the early education/childcare space. I will spend two days learning how to SIT in my power and how to wield the voice I have with a purpose. 
But today I want to talk about what it was like surviving as a small business through a Pandemic and the impact it may have on those entering the field. 
I have been working in early education since I got out of the military in 2005. I started taking care of a fellow military members child while going to school and taking care of my own child. I moved over seasons and my career just kept expanding and getting better. I moved from Germany to Maryland and my business went BOOM! I mean it was amazing, people were seeing that I was in this for the long haul, that I CARED and it impacted the clients and their children in such a positive way, that I could not see EVER doing anything other than this job. 
We have been in California since 2016. Not San Diego where I am from originally from, now the DESERT! 

This meant that my job was not guaranteed to be around when the world shut down in 2020. I could have lost my entire business in 2020 with no way to really recover. Mostly because I am a preschool/PreK/Kindergarten program and the reason my business does so well is because of my past clients and current clients. 

I was extremely Lucky at the end of the day. My clients from the military community kept me full of the start until the end. I was exhausted with the extra cleaning, the extra research, and hyper-vigilance. I just needed a break! But taking a break could mean disaster for growing my brand-new Private school Program. What do I do? How do I survive?
 
I took the break. I kept my hours the same 9am-3pm. I made myself a priority. I kept thinking that the only way to make it was to be always everything to everyone. That was the road to burn out. So, I took the summer off like was the initial idea for my business.
IT. WAS. GREAT!!
I survived Covid, by taking care of myself. It sounds simple and its not. Because in this field we are not encouraged to take care of ourselves. We are encouraged to be martyrs, to think of others before ourselves. To always be available.
We are not taking care of the children if we are not taking care of the people who are educating our children. 

Leave your stories below and please 

Live Long and Keep Teaching 
Ms. Tessie  

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