I need your stories! What happened in YOUR profession or industry

The book is with the printer (still). Ironically, paper supplies are backed up and the release date has slipped - again (Oct 18th)! You can still pre-order this on Amazon OR if you want a signed copy, sign up for an annual account here and I’ll shoot one off to you when if comes! (If you renew your annual account - I’ll send you one too!)

Today: I would love your help on a future project!

Comment on this post below and tell me about your area of expertise - your industry and how the lockdowns, the pandemic, the mandates impacted you, your business, your profession and the like.

We did this exercise before but we have THOUSANDS of new readers.

COMMENT BELOW ON YOUR EXPERIENCE and I may reuse your story (anonymously) in an upcoming project!

Here’s an excerpt (now in the footnotes) to give you a taste of the taste of what I uncovered about the paper industry:

The first signs that something was amiss surfaced in March 2020 when a run on toilet paper began in the days leading up the federal 2-week shutdown. My wife and I sped to Costco to get one of their infamous 30-roll Kirkland slabs to haul home. When we got there the line had already formed snakelike around the building and through the parking lot. Like anything at Costco — it was fairly organized and linear - sending us on a direct path to the back room, guided by a dozens of workers through the building with a constant reminder only to take 1 package. That was the beginning of the supply chain problems that persist even at the writing of this book.

The paucity of TP in those coming weeks became a running joke but the empty aisles spread like its own virus to other sections of the store: yogurt, ramen, flour, sugar, all with rotating signs limiting customers to one purchased item. This wasn’t just about demand — in many ways it was about shifting demands.

Take the TP (while you can!). After talking to a few people in the know I figured out the obvious: people do half of their “business” at their businesses. The distribution of toilet paper for commercial developments involves industrial production of the paper we’ve come to love. Not necessarily your soothing bear-mascot quality but rather efficient large quantities packages into large reams which janitorial staff then mount in stalls in massive dispensers or efficient gizmos holding multiple rolls. This happens every day in hotels, airports, theme parks, skyscrapers, stadiums, schools, dorms… you name.

When you stop the engine which tended to our nether regions the impacts are enough for anyone to reach for the Pepto Bismal.

Imagine this: you’re an executive down at the fictitious TP supplier “Wipe World.” The call comes in for the shutdown and you have some serious decisions to make. Production managers at the Big Roll Mill (your supplier for industrial reems of TP) have shut down and will eventually furlough most of the staff. Your shipping contracts will go into default, trucks with slabs of TP rolls tightly wrapped and ready to dispensed will be called back or mothballed for a bit. The proverbial target of your product is about to hit the fan.

On the plus side it turns out that profits on the consumer side of Wipe World are going to be just fine as demand outstrips supply. You stand to make a good profit if you can shift manufacturing to meet the new demand.

The marketing team is way ahead of you and pitching a product called “Wipe Forever” which comes with a freestanding mount promising you an entire month supply of TP in one massive roll. Essentially, you repackage the industrial into a consumer-friendly. Problems solved! (Google “Charmin Forever” if you think I’m kidding).

SO! What happened in YOUR particular industry? Did the lockdowns shift, morph or even destroy your way of life? I’d love some more examples to include!

Thanks

Justin