How To Support Small Business During The Craziness That Is COVID-19
image via Alice and Wonder
Hi friends! Happy Tuesday! I hope you’re all keeping busy, staying calm, still smiling and most importantly, STAYING HOME! This is such an uncertain time but this is your daily reminder that we are all in this together. It’s extra important while we are all social distancing to stay busy, keep moving and be in touch virtually for both our mental and physical health. Incase you missed it, I published a post with 50 fun and productive things to do while social distancing incase you want some help brainstorming new ideas! It’s also extremely important for us to do what we can to support small business and the self employed during this time as well. I wanted to share a list of ways we can all help support small business during this frightening time. I’m sharing a few of my favorite small businesses + self employed people + some cool things they are doing right now. But these ideas apply to ALL small businesses. Please think of small business owners you know and I hope you will all do whatever you can to support them! If there's any way I can help to support you better during this time, please never hesitate to reach out! I am here for each and every one of y’all! NOW! Let’s support some small BIZ!
IDEAS TO SUPPORT ANY SMALL BUSINESS
Buy gift cards from your favorite local bars, restaurants, stores and gyms to use at a later date
Prepare for upcoming b-days! Stock up on birthday gifts for the year for your family and best friends! Buy from small, local business instead of the big box stores! (Ie: Limitless or Collectivo coffee vs. Starbucks) More of my favorite small businesses below!
Continue to train with your personal trainer via facetime trainings!
Continue you or your childrens tutoring or music/language lessons via facetime
Support artists and musicians by tuning into their live performances and sending them a little $$ on venmo! Same way you would pay to attend their show!
Order takeout from your favorite locally owned restaurants vs. big food chains!
Tip more than usual
Write a google, yelp or product review
Share your favorite small businesses, stores and items you’ve purchased from them with family and friends! Start a text chain or share on your IG story!
Continue to pay people (if you’re able) whose services you use regularly even if you aren’t using them right now. ie: cleaning crews, nannies, manicurists, dog walkers etc.
Engage on social media! Support bloggers and influencers by liking and commenting on their posts. Share posts with family and friends that you think they will love! Share the content that’s resonating with you on your IG story and tag the source! Purchase items through bloggers affiliate links (this is an amazing way to kill two birds with one stone). Ie: If you purchase an item from Alice and Wonder below, I make a very small commission on that sale AND the small business makes a sale. You’re supporting two small businesses in one purchase! Sharing some accounts I’ve been loving following during this time below! Make sure you’re also following me on instagram as I’m sharing a ton of daily content! Live closet sales, live workouts, workouts to do at any time and SO much more! FIND ME ON INSTAGRAM HERE!
SOME OF MY FAVORITE SMALL BUSINESSES THAT I SHOP & LOVE
Alice and Wonder
My FAVORITE local boutique! Female owned small business! The owner, Ali (yes another Ali) has become a very close friend of mine! We met through social media while her store was only online. She is the best human, ya’ll. Not only that but she carry’s the cutest pieces at amazing prices! Almost EVERYTHING is under $100! They also have incredible gifty items and the greatest cards! I have a styling video AND blog post of new pieces of theirs coming in the next few days as well! Now more than ever it’s more important to shop small and shop online! First time customers get 15% off too! SHOP HERE! & below are my recent buys from A&W!
Neval
My Mom and I met the designer of this gorgeous, sustainable line about 3 years ago. She was so kind and we ended up buying one of her jackets! Now, she’s expanding her line to dresses as well (remember that mini dress I teased on Instagram stories last week? It’s hers! They are doing pre-orders right now for this amazing piece! FIND IT HERE! Tons more info coming on her line and this dress with ANOTHER styling video + blog post!
Zac Clark
Don’t forget about our entertainers! Touring musicians are amazing people to continue to support right now! My friend, Zac Clark is one of my favorite people to listen to. He has the voice of an angel and the heart of one too. Some of you may recognize him from THIS video when he came to sing to my brother in the hospital 2 years ago. Zac, along with many other musicians are live streaming performances. Make sure to follow him HERE to tune in! If you have the means, please send some $$ via venmo for the entertainment! It’s an amazing way you can support these self employed artists right now! Zac is also offering to write custom songs! You can hire him to write a song to a loved one. Maybe someone you can’t see during this time, someone going through a tough time or someone coming up on an awesome life milestone! MORE INFO ON HAVING A CUSTOM SONG WRITTEN HERE.
Rainbow Symphony
Doesn’t it seem like the perfect time to add some COLOR to your life? Did you know my best friend makes rainbows? NOT KIDDING! My best friend from college, Sophie and her Dad make the COOLEST products to literally bring rainbows into your house! Sophie created her window decals that bend the sunlight to project rainbows into your home when the light hits it right! They’re inexpensive and PERFECT for everyone (we could all use some rainbows right now), & especially my gals with kiddos! They will LOVE these (hello baby animals). You can find all the sun catchers and decals on their site HERE & find their Amazon store HERE.
Glencoe
Fellow Chicago gals (and sisters) Maddison & Mercedes just launched the coolest online shop, Glencoe (named after the Chicago suburb) I found them because my good friend, Sam Grant was shooting images for their web store. One of the models was wearing THIS BLUE HAT & I knew I needed it. I also just got THIS $58 midi in the mail (OBSESSED) I reached out and they so graciously gave me a discount code for ya’ll to shop their site! Use code: Alistone for 15% off at checkout!
Luft Balloon
Who remembers the AMAZING balloon installation in my house for my holiday girls dinner!? My friend, Elaine of Luft Balloon did it! Her creations are absolutely incredible! With all events cancelled, not many people are ordering installations so she is doing something SO COOL. GALS WITH KIDDOS, LISTEN UP! They are offering balloon delivery in Chicago (only one person filling these orders with gloves and sanitized hands btw) where they bring a bag full of loose balloons in various sizes & they’re sharing DIYs on their Instagram stories of what ya’ll and all your kiddos can do with the balloons! Endless hours of entertainment right there!!!
FIND MORE INFO HERE!
Equilibria
If you’re not yet on the CBD train… now is absolutely the time to try. First of all, this is a local, female owned INCREDIBLE business. They strive to help all women be the best, calmest most collected version of ourselves and they do just that. I was SUPER skeptical of CBD but after doing my research on this company I decided to give it a try. I’ve now been using Equilibria every day for over 4 months. They have dosage experts (access to them comes free with any purchase) who will help you figure out how to tackle your specific needs. It’s pretty incredible. CBD will help to calm anxiety and stress, (HI WE ALL NEED THIS RIGHT NOW), will help you sleep more soundly and overall feel more even keeled. Results begin 3-4 weeks after taking regularly. Now is the perfect time to bring some CALM into our lives if you haven’t already. I also have a discount code for you!
CLICK HERE & Use code: alistone for 15% off your first order.
Flowers For Dreams
This is my go-to flower delivery service ALL THE TIME. They donate a portion of all proceeds to a charity that changes monthly. Right now, they are offering $20 small bouquets to be delivered to people in the healthcare industry to help brighten their day. What an incredible way to support local business and put a smile on the faces of those who are working tirelessly to help us get through this thing. FIND MORE INFO HERE!
Influencers and bloggers I’ve been loving following during this time (and always)
Morgan Raphael
For fitness, work from home tips & overall welness!
Taylor Wolfe
For those very necessary daily belly laughs & fun t-shirts!
Liz Adams
For fitness inspiration, meal ideas & fun loving authentic family content. Her and her boys always put a smile on my face!
Jess Keys
or extremely detailed shopping guides, her TJ’s cookbook, an authentic look into daily life with a positive attitude and lots of cocktail ideas!
Helen Berkun
For great live sales, family content, helpful tips for kids at home, meal inspo & more!
Kathleen Post
For tons of workout inspo (she has her own workout vids you can buy)! Styling & home decor ideas!
Alle Pierce
For travel inspo, extremely insightful and helpful captions and an amazing personality!
Emily Kammeyer
For health, wellness fitness & major home inspo!
Sam Cushing
For fitness, wellness, feel good content and some good piano playing!
DO WHAT YOU CAN! SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS ALWAYS AND ESPECIALLY NOW!
xx Ali