Tested by COVID: Positive Life Lessons in a Pandemic By Emily Ward "Life is a cruel teacher. She loves to give you the test first and the lesson later." - Daymond John Although my husband, Joey, and I were nearly the same age when we met and married, I was just two years into my career as a lawyer, while he had been a professional chef for over a decade. It thus came as no surprise when, a year or so later, he got serious about opening his own restaurant as the next step in his career. Because he knew he needed help on the business side of things, shortly after becoming partners in life, we became partners in business as well. Just getting the doors open took us nearly three years and the combined efforts of innumerable friends and family who supported our dream financially, emotionally and with their talents – from an old colleague handmaking ceramic plates to my mom making the curtains to my dad’s basement office becoming “world headquarters!” When the restaurant, Southern Belle, finally opened in November 2019, it seemed like Joey’s career was secure and progressing, and I was looking forward being able to return my full-time focus to my own career now that my work drafting our operating agreement, commercial lease, vendor contracts and employee workflows was complete.
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TRUST THE LEADERS 2.0 | Volume 6 | SGRLAW.com
Then COVID happened. We had been operating for only five months when the shutdown was ordered in March 2020. I remember watching Joey break down in the middle of the restaurant when my dad and I told him we had no choice but to temporarily close. He was devastated over what this would mean for his dream, his career, and how being without a job would affect the amazing team of employees who had helped him achieve one of the most talkedabout restaurant openings in Atlanta. In the days and weeks that followed, there were a lot of tears, frustration and hours spent learning how to file for unemployment for our employees as I turned my attention back to the restaurant. Like so many others, I was incredibly scared during this time because courts were closing and government investigations were put on pause – meaning my white collar practice was essentially stalled. With Joey despondent at home collecting unemployment and my workload incredibly light, I did not know if my job was secure enough to get us through the first COVID wave, so I legitimately started researching bankruptcy procedures as it seemed like a very real possibility.
© 2021 Smith Gambrell Russell
