- COVID-19 convinced some people to leave their full-time roles and go off on their own.
- Three new entrepreneurs told Insider how they got their start during the pandemic.
- Diego Diaz was a security guard and Amazon delivery worker before he got into web design.
As COVID-19 changed the American economy, workers' lives were also impacted in so many ways — by layoffs, furloughs, work from home, and the Great Resignation, to name a few factors.
Going off on your own is daunting during the best of times, but in a pandemic, it can be an even bigger risk. As part of a series on how the pandemic changed people's careers, Insider spoke with three up-and-coming business owners on how they took the leap into entrepreneurship and their biggest challenges along the way.
Truly Render went in search of a balance between work and life
Truly Render was working as a director of communications and marketing at the University of Michigan when the pandemic closed the campus down. While working remotely, she saw the delineations between her work life and her home life evaporate.
"There were expectations I felt I had to deliver on and requests coming at me 24/7 — evenings, weekends, all the time," Render said. "I was stuck in an 'all work, all the time' cycle."
After her child experienced a major depressive episode while she was spearheading an important project at work, Render realized she had to make a change. She and her husband gathered the materials they needed to make their dream of owning their own bookstore come true.
Despite the demands of entrepreneurship, like costs and dealing with COVID-19 restrictions, Render is glad she took the plunge. "I've never felt more optimistic about my career and my community," she said. "I can't wait to see what the future holds."
A pay cut for the same workload was the breaking point for Alyson Decker
Alyson Decker had always dreamt of being in-house counsel for a company — but when she got the job she had been working toward, she realized it wasn't what she thought it would be. She also had to take a pay cut during the pandemic.
Decker's friends and family had always urged her to start her own law firm, but she hadn't been ready to take that risk. In May 2021, Decker decided it was time.
"It's been scary to be out on my own, but it's also been so rewarding," she said.
Diego Diaz discovered web design could help him transition out of delivery
Diego Diaz started the pandemic working graveyard shifts as a security guard. Though he had dreams of landing a tech job, he wasn't sure how he could get there without a college degree.
Diaz would bring his computer with him and try to learn coding during his shifts as a security guard and dream of the day he would master the skill. He eventually landed a job doing social media for a startup, but the pay was so low that he had a second job as an Amazon delivery worker.
In February 2021, Diaz quit both jobs and started his own web-design agency. Though the first few months were slow, he built up a solid client base and a thriving business. "The pandemic helped me realize there are real opportunities out there, and these opportunities are especially available on the internet, even for people like me who didn't have money or a network growing up," Diaz said.