WASHINGTON — While people all over the D.C. area are feeling the economic impacts of the coronavirus crisis, two local businesses are doing their part to help millennials feel empowered and gain skills during stay-at-home orders.
“We were planning to do a lot of travel and to execute a lot of events in different markets. Well, all of that gets shut down with COVID,” Jason Kelly said.
Kelly and Greg Jackson with The Wave USA and Fiona Crystal with Digital Dash PR are the brains behind a social media project for millennials called "Quarantine and Build."
“There’s a lot of people that are struggling and suffering – whether they’ve lost their job, they’re on furlough, or just home alone,” Jackson explained.
“We’re trying to just basically answer the questions that a lot of millennials have as they’re sitting at home thinking of ways to disrupt the industry and potentially generate some revenue,” Crystal added.
Quarantine and Build is a series of workshops and discussions with professionals in their respective fields.
The topics covered range from lighthearted to serious.
“One week we’ll be talking about how gun violence is spiking during COVID-19,” Jason told WUSA9. “Then, we’ll transition, and someone will be learning how to do their nails.”
There have also been topics about brand building, parenting during COVID-19, breaking into Hollywood, and mastering how to cut your own hair.
The programs air live every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on The Wave USA’s Instagram page at 6 p.m.
Despite losing money during the pandemic, the businesses offer the service for free.
“I think it is more important that we build those relationships and really produce content for people that are also maybe cash strapped,” Kelly said. “It is not really the time to focus on how to get the dollar per se. It is really important to focus on how to build that community and enrich the content that we’re putting out there for them.”
“We’re all in this alone. We’re practicing social distance, but by creating this content – creating these platforms for people to come together, we’re able to gather virtually,” Crystal explained.