Mount Pleasant Magazine Documenting Covid-19

75 www.CoronavirusMag.com | www.ReadMPM.com | www.ILoveMountPleasant.com feature BY ERIKA LYNN Comfort Clips Provide Both the Will and the Way I s it your business’ one-year anniversary and you have no one to celebrate it with? That was me on March 18 this year, having to make the tough decision to close my doors to the public. The day also happened to be one year from the grand opening of my boutique, Erika Lynn Studio and Boutique. Immediately, it felt like survival of the fittest! Every store and small business owner, including myself, was trying to think of all possibilities to make the next sale to survive. (Despite the quarantine, the rent payment doesn’t stop looming over your head.) The endless flow of ideas was creative and unique. One business would offer something, and I then would think to myself, “Do I need to offer that as well?” I continued searching and searching for what needed to be done. Three weeks into being quarantined, I said to myself, “Why am I spinning my wheels, trying to fight for those couple of sales per day, when nurses and doctors are on the front line, fighting for the lives of others—all while trying to remain healthy and keep their families healthy?” I watched how large companies stopped production to make masks. A friend of mine owns a large perfume company in Texas and she completely halted production to make hand sanitizer for the people in her community. God gave me a servant’s heart and I felt the need to do something, but had no clue what I could do since nurses and doctors don’t need handbags right now. That night I was scrolling through Facebook and saw