Pandemic Evolution

2020 was quite a year.  Little did we know when celebrating in high style the evening of December 31, 2019 what was really in store for us in  2020.  Our interior design business was taking off with a banner year in sales.  Consulting services also provided a steady stream of work.  Then February 2020 hit and literally everything was shut down.  I can't say we were totally prepared for the 'virtual' world, but if anything good was to come out of 2020, it is that the technology met the moment.  

We quickly adapted to Zoom, WFH, televisits.  Unfortunately, the economy for everyone suffered and we were no exception.  Sales dropped, and we were faced with difficult choice to keep things going, or not.  

Instead of folding, we evolved.

Craig, in order to keep busy at home, started to paint fine art again.  He is an accomplished painter, but left his art dormant to pursue Mr. Mann's Design.  As he started to paint and create beautiful works of art, I start to think, why not show these pieces.  Word of mouth lead us to Stephen Baumbauch, a famed Palm Springs photographer, to photograph the paintings for the website as a way to showcase Craig's art.  We got to talking, and Stephen also has an art gallery . We were introduced to his art directors Chad and Tim.  They were about to have an exhibit 'Desert Landscapes' in about a week and had a wall available to show some pieces.  Craig happended to have desert landscapes in his repertoire and we struck at the chance.  We sold out the paintings within 2 weeks, with orders for more commissions!

In fact, the commisions lead to interior design jobs because the client needed help in arranging and updated their interiors to fit the art pieces.  This lead to to the knowledge that the business can infact thrive if we evolved into fine art and interior design.

And here we are, again the eve of the new year 2021, feeling hopeful once again for the future of our livelihoods and our passions.