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50 May | 2021 Event florists watched 2020's cash flow fold like a house of cards as the world froze and held its collective breath. Owners sought to unload overhead, bailing out the ship by reducing staff, closing retail spaces, canceling large orders and eliminating storage rentals. "I knew events had to come back," says Lillian Wright, owner of Mimosa Floral Design Studio in Brooklyn, N.Y. "I thought if I could just keep my overhead low, to control the bleeding, I could hibernate long enough to wait for weddings to return." In the interim, Wright, like others, turned to government loan programs and borrowed money, for the first time, to make ends meet. It was a novel and unwelcome adjustment. But the sting came with an upside. e sudden severity of change in 2020's business gave many owners pause, time to assess the psychological toll their businesses were taking on them. "It was heartbreaking to cut staff during the COVID quarantine. ese people were family. I felt responsible for them, for letting them down," Wright confides. "I needed less emotional risk." "e volume and pace of weddings were exhausting me, and I didn't really know it," shares Michelle Jones, owner of Flowers by Michelle in Las Vegas, Nev. " You get emotionally involved with couples. It's exhilarating but draining." UNEXPECTED OUTCOMES e magnitude of restrictions was a productivity sucker punch, knocking down many small businesses. But the time on the mat led to two unexpected outcomes: an outpouring of support from customers and introspective time for owners to reassess their businesses— and their lives. As businesses shuttered, communities flocked online and to phones, to check in on local businesses and offer their support. "ere was such increased demand for flowers, partly for gifting and partly just to support local businesses," reports Michaela Gosar, owner of Fleurelity in Alexandria, Va. Jones experienced the same. "We had customers calling to check on us and to make sure we were

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