Story Pitch

During my initial story pitch I talked about how I am going to look into a small business and learn about how they are dealing with Covid and what struggles they are facing, as well as how they are getting back on their feet. More specifically I want to talk to Dwayne, (The owner of the hair salon) about how the virus has affected his target audience. His son is autistic and always had problems getting his hair cut. a lot of the time he struggles and it was just an awkward and rough situation. Dwayne wanted to create a place where children like his son can feel safe and comfortable getting their hair cut and have a place where they can be themselves. Many of the children that attend his salon regularly might be considered high risk on contracting the virus so I am sure many of them were quick to rush and get their hair cut. Also hair salons were one of the big talks during covid and many local hair salon owners were very scared of losing their business during quarantine. Some ways I want to ask him these questions is go through an interview most likely through email or phone and just ask him some questions about his salon and how he is doing after the big break. I want to ask him if he has seen a decline in customers specifically children that were at a more higher risk of contracting the virus. I also want to see how his son is doing and if he still enjoys the hair salon. I'm sure his child has grown up quite a bit and has probably out grown the salon but I want to know if the salon helped him out in the long run and if children like him can’t go to the salon will it effect them negatively. Overall the virus has effected everyone in the world, particularly small businesses got hit extremely hard with the quarantine and customers were not allowed in their stores. Stores that use physical contact like hair salons were also in extreme danger of having to close down due to all the social distancing. I am looking into a hair salon for children where I know the owner personally and I want to see how covid has effected his store and how they are bouncing back. I want to see if his target audience has changed and if it has effected the children who were regulars at the salon. At first I just wanted to talk about the business to see how the virus had effected it but I also want to take a look into the children and how it has effected them. I know many of the children I saw when I first went into the shop many years ago all looked very comfortable and relaxed. I’ve never seen that sort of calm at any other salon especially dealing with young children. I want to see if not being able to go to that salon has effected any of the kids who loved going to get their haircut somewhere they feel comfortable and safe.