Today is June 05, 2023. As of writing, it’s been 1,179 days since the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown started here in Los Angeles.

To say this has been a challenging time would be an understatement. Regardless, I know I’ll need an answer when my kids inevitably ask me: “What did you do in 2020?”. So, here is my response to that very question, answered through a curated series of annotated screenshots of posts from my Instagram (@veryniceinstagram) from March 4 to December 16, 2020.

Just two guys, having a good time.

March 4, 2020. “Just two guys, having a good time.”

In the early days of the pandemic, I would open up my Instagram, and scroll to this post. It’s a picture Katie (my wife) took of Charlie (my dog) and I at Lupetti Pizzeria, a great spot in the Downtown Los Angeles Arts District that has since gone out of business. We didn’t even realize until our second visit, they had a secret bar with an excellent selection of scotch and vinyl music!

“Just two guys, having a good time.”

In many ways, the caption’s innocence is a perfect representation of how much we took for granted in our pre-COVID lives. While things do feel more “normal” today, I can’t help but see how my own definition of what it means to feel safe has been forever altered by the pandemic. When I look at this picture today, I see a guy and his dog, sitting less than two weeks away from living through a period of unprecedented social, political, and economic uncertainty and tension.

March 9, 2020. The Collaborator.

Just a few days before lockdown sent just about everyone into isolation, my good friend, Austin and I launched a new toolkit designed to enhance team-based collaboration: The Collaborator. I still haven’t decided if the timing on this project was terrible, or genius.

March 11, 2020. “Yesterday afternoon, I had the pleasure of sharing my story with students from @saga_delegation. They are on a journey to learn more about business in the United States, and I was happy to be part of their “tour”! 🇯🇵 ありがとうございました #design #business #innovation #japan”

Just over a month before this picture was taken of me, on a screen, with a group of students, together in a physical room, Katie and I found out that she was pregnant! With COVID cases already popping up in the US at the time, and the fear of harming our baby, I asked if I could participate virtually. I’m very grateful to my friend Jun, who not only accommodated my request, but became one of the first people in my life to know about Katie’s pregnancy.

March 11, 2020. “So this whole remote teaching thing was going fine... until my students found out they could draw on my presentation... 🙄😲😷”

Later that same day, our school put all classes online in order to evaluate our existing remote learning and collaboration tools. Two days later, lockdown would go into effect in Los Angeles.

At the time, I was serving as the Assistant Dean for Academic Strategy at the USC Iovine and Young Academy. This administrative side of my role at the school grew exponentially during the pandemic. Just about every day, I was working with faculty to strategize ways to convert their courses online; auditing course materials and recommending new materials that feature examples even more representative of our students; overseeing the distribution of custom at-home maker kits to students across the globe; spending hours on Microsoft Teams with the rest of the leadership team, running through near and long-term future scenarios.

Despite the challenges, when I see this image, I think of a time of deep optimism and inspiration, especially around online learning. Many do not know this, but when I joined USC in 2017, the original intention was to have me serve as the school’s first fully online professor. This aspect of the role ended up shifting, but if I’m being honest, it is the remote and hybrid modalities that I see the most potential in, if higher education wants to remain a desirable and relevant pathway for people.

Trying to be helpful.

My values around work has shifted drastically post-lockdown. Before lockdown, I would let my professional identity define every aspect of my life in an unhealthy manner. I was living a “more is more” lifestyle; fixated on accumulating as many projects, followers, headlines, and flights as possible. After lockdown, I think deeper about what I actually want to do.

March 14, 2020. Second day in lockdown.

This cheesy, but good-hearted post was developed out of a desire I had from the earliest days of lockdown: take the time you would have been spending on the train, and create something of value. To start, I created several posts in this “swipe-to-read” format. I found the pacing of it to be quite fun as a narrative tool. I also found the format to have high potential for social sharing and audience building, which was important for the big plans I had for Reginald, verynice’s toolkit publishing arm that I had launched earlier that same year. But we’ll get to that later.

March 15, 2020. Third day in lockdown.

One of the things I’m most proud of that I created during lockdown was launched just three days in: Make It Remote: A Survival Guide For The Future Of Work.

I remember staying up all night, recalling and documenting the best practices verynice has implemented to successfully collaborate with remote team members for over a decade. The toolkit includes a sample remote work policy for employers to use; a step-by-step guide to improve time management and the design of meetings; leadership strategies, and other best practices for managers. Even better, from the day it was launched, we had a stated commitment to donate 50% of the proceeds to food banks across the country. You’ll have to scroll down to April 05 to find out how it went!

March 18, 2020. “These are all of the group photos I took last year. I miss taking group photos.”

Prior to lockdown, I was known to quickly pop in and out of cities across the globe to speak at conferences, lead workshops, or conduct design research projects with clients. While I worked hard to maintain an openness and genuine excitement for the online modality everyone was so skeptical of, posts like this are an indication of the deep nostalgia I was simultaneously navigating.

March 25, 2020. “EVERYONE! Between now and April 05, we are donating one meal for every one download of Make it Remote. We are capping this at 10,000 - a TON. Help us make big #impact. Check out the link in my profile! #remotework #wfh #wfhlife #donate #cause #marketing #givehalf”

After seeing some success with our commitment to donate 50% of the proceeds from the Make it Remote toolkit, I decided to take the game to a new level with this post. This video not only features a great look at my sorry attempt at growing a mustache during lockdown; it promises to donate one meal for every download of the toolkit for a period of about 10 days.

March 30, 2020. “Reflecting on intentions behind corporate #Covid_19 responses for a paper I’m working on. 🤔”

I was very fixated on accumulating as many podcast interviews and other media appearances as possible in the first few months of lockdown. In total, my numbers for 2020 were 51 podcast interviews/articles/awards/other press and accolades; 65 talks/workshops.

One incredible opportunity that I had was writing this article for Forbes: “How 2020 Is Ushering In A New Era For Corporate Social Responsibility”.

The above diagram illustrates a theory I developed within the first couple of weeks in lockdown, around the intentions of private sector COVID-19 responses. I came up with this after reviewing over 100 corporate press releases and CEO letters. The research that led to this article ended up getting me a series of speaking engagements throughout the year.

April 5, 2020. 24 days into lockdown.

The response to the Make it Remote toolkit was phenomenal. In just a couple of weeks, we were able to obtain enough downloads and donations from users across 70 countries to be able to contribute 8,500 meals to food banks across the country.

It gets better: by the end of 2020, we were able to donate over 12,000 meals thanks to a consistent growth in audience we were earning. To anyone reading that downloaded or donated: THANK YOU!

April 7, 2020. 26 days into lockdown.

My friend Austin and I have an incredible ability to imagine strange yet novel ways to pass time. We share this gift with the world through the publication of Peculiar Prompts.

During lockdown, Austin and I would meet up for drinks on Zoom every Wednesday evening. While we both lived in the same building downtown, the only way we could actually see each other during lockdown was live from the only room in our respective lofts with a door that closes: the bathroom.

This particular “Social Distancing Edition” of Peculiar Prompts includes “624 prompts to keep you busy while stuck at home”. We wrote all of them during our weekly bathroom hangs.

Trying to be honest.

I will always remember the pandemic for inspiring me to better understand, and act upon some of the health issues I had accumulated as a side effect of running 100 miles an hour, non-stop for most of my career. I’ll be honest: being in an immuno-questionable position while anticipating the arrival of our twins took a toll on me.

April 12, 2020. 31 days into lockdown.

For much of my career, I was very fixated on building a well curated image on social media that always painted a positive picture. This post is meaningful to me as one of very few one might find on my feed that is more authentic and honest with people. Luckily, this trend continues in posts to come.

April 13, 2020. “164 hours clocked on Zoom since March 11th. I’ve been breaking up the screen time by playing with Charlie, watching @katiemanos get her puzzle on, measuring the very slow growth of my “beard”, and sticking my head out the window. #quarantinediaries #zoomlife #zoom #corona”

Not only was the beard growing in a highly unpredictable manner, I was clearly starting to get stir-crazy. What I hadn’t told anyone, is that I had been too afraid to leave my apartment. As a result, at the time, sticking my head out the window was my only physical contact with the outside world.

The next several days would be packed with virtual talks and workshops with communities in Berlin and Amsterdam.

April 14, 2020. MOOZ.

Since I was spending a lot of time on Zoom, I thought it would be good to come up with a new game that could get people to have fun, and open up a bit more. MOOZ is essentially a scavenger hunt game that takes place on Zoom. Players have varying amounts of time to find objects in their space that best match randomly generated adjectives. For example, “find something fuzzy”.

Big changes coming.

April 24, 2020. “Katie and I are so excited to announce that we will be welcoming twins in September! They’ll be born into a new world, but one that we know will be better because of them. Two babies! OMG. 🤣”

On April 24, we finally shared our big secret with the world. I couldn’t believe the response and feeling of support we received from so many friends, family members, colleagues, students, and supporters of verynice. I also couldn’t believe we were going to have twins! It was double everything! Despite the uncertainty, I couldn’t have been happier about it.

May 5, 2020. “Phew! That was fun. I just wrapped up my second webinar with @aigadesign. Thanks to everyone that tuned in! 📸 by @jonathonflores_”

Meanwhile, the Make it Remote toolkit continued to grow in usage, and the AIGA ended up asking me to present my best practices on virtual meeting facilitation to designers and strategists across the country.

May 9, 2020. Car Sick.

The CAR SICK workshop experience takes place in a car, van, or school bus while driving up and down the 110 freeway (from DTLA to Pasadena and back). The purpose of the workshop is to teach participants about the history of America’s oldest freeway while inspiring everyone to imagine a future that is less reliant on cars.

CAR SICK is probably the most interesting workshop I had ever designed up until then. The project began in 2019, and the Carpool Karaoke style filming concluded right before lockdown. By May, I had finally completed the video, and had an opportunity to present the work at a virtual conference hosted by Pando Populus.

May 13, 2020. Imaginary Friends.

One of my many side projects during the pandemic is a series of 26 portraits inspired by a generative network that had been trained on photographs of other people. Essentially, I’d use AI to generate a random face, and then paint that face in a semi-abstract and colorful manner.

June 2, 2020. “Racism and police brutality are not acceptable. We stand in solidarity with all who are paving the way to build a new system that is more just and equitable. Please consider joining @katiemanos and I in making donations, spreading awareness, and taking action. #BlackOutTuesday”

Just a block or two from our building, national guard officers were placed to contain demonstrations. Curfews were put into effect. I can still hear the constant sound of helicopters.

Lockdown ends.

June 21, 2020. “This one managed to get me out of the house today for my first #fathersday! ❤️❤️”

This photo triggers a challenging set of emotions for me. It was the first day, in 100 days, that I stepped outside of my apartment. I remember having depth perception issues, and the sky looked incredibly bright. In many ways, this moment represents a complete shift in my own priorities; a milestone in moving from a self-centered set of goals and motivations to engagements that will set Amelia and Henry up for success. After this day, Katie and I would start a twice-monthly tradition of grabbing a breakfast burrito from Lucky Boy and finding a cool park to eat it in.

Funny enough, this particular post got me some compliments on my hair, so I might as well tell a funny story. When I first saw my long-time stylist, Kaz, in 2021 for a haircut, she revealed to me that she was sad I had been going to someone else for my hair during lockdown. I laughed, told her I had been cutting my hair on my own, and said: “take a closer look”. Kaz soon saw all of the bald patches I managed to carve into the sides of my head. She laughed. It was a great moment.

July 9, 2020. “I overheard this exact dialogue at a bookstore once. Cracked me up. #comics #drawing #art #illustration #altcomics #comix”

At school, the executive team was meeting every day to check-in and continue tweaking classes and resources to better serve the needs of faculty and students as they operated in a remote environment. To say it was a stressful time would be an understatement, but I have to say: the school did well.

Our daily meetings were always off-camera. Since no one could see me on the call, I was able to multitask; I found the time to ink some comic pages I had been sketching, about a guy who works in a bookstore. To my surprise, the gag got a lot of great feedback on my Instagram feed. The response inspired me to start writing an entire comic book, with this sketch occurring within the narrative. Keep scrolling to find out how that went.

August 1, 2020. verynice’s first virtual “pro-bono marathon”.

verynice has a tradition of convening local volunteers to participate in an intensive pro-bono project for a non-profit organization. Obviously, due to COVID, we had to move our 2020 pro-bono marathon online. I remember really loving the format’s ability for us to include volunteers from across the globe. For this event, we convened 38 of our volunteers for a virtual pro-bono marathon. Designers and strategists spanning 25 cities in 7 countries came together to tackle creative challenges for 6 wonderful organizations: Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, International Rescue Committee, American Heart Association, Swipe Out Hunger, Change4Children's, and AltaMed Health Services.

The result of the event was a total of 300 hours of pro-bono service, valued at $58,500. It’s one of many examples of a community of passionate people coming together to be of service.

Becoming a father.

August 4, 2020. “My students are so thoughtful and amazing... thanks Cohort 4 for the custom peculiar onesies!!! @usciovineyoung”

At my doorstep, just 21 days away from Amelia and Henry’s birthday, was a package from my Seniors at IYA. Receiving this gift from them brought me so much joy, and reminded me of the potential impact I can have on student lives, and vice versa.

August 25, 2020. “Two pretty magical things happened to @katiemanos and I today! A bit earlier than we expected, but also right on time. Welcome to the world, Amelia and Henry!! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 #twins #twinning”

Welcoming Amelia and Henry into the world is an act that still terrifies me. Throughout Katie’s pregnancy, the world around us was falling apart. Was it right to bring two new people into the world? But then, the more I thought about it, a new question emerged: “What if Amelia and Henry do something that makes the world much better than I’d ever dream of being able to do?” My perspective on things has shifted since writing down that question.

September 3, 2020. The Keep A Breast App.

One of the client projects I really enjoyed working on is the 2020 re-launch of the Keep A Breast App. We first got involved with Keep A Breast as part of the second launch of the app in 2012, and have supported the organization on numerous initiatives since. The version of the app that we worked on in 2020 was also the first time a breast self-check app could connect users who think they may have discovered something during their check with a telehealth medical professional.

September 6, 2020. “I imagine five years from now I’ll find pictures like these in my phone and react using one of the following phrases: A. Oof. 2020 was rough, man. B. Looks like a typical Tuesday! C. Those were the good ol’ days. #covid19 #socialdistance #sixfeetapart #newnormal”

A few things managed to get me out of the house after my initial 100 days of lockdown: dog walks, skatepark trips, comic shop fly-bys, and a pastrami sandwich with extra pickles, from The Hat.

September 11, 2020. “👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 First family photo! Eventually they will learn that we do, in fact, have mouths. Man, having babies sure isn’t like the movies. These little ones were born 17 days ago, and still haven’t been able to come home from the NICU. Talk about an overwhelming time. But little moments like these make everything feel alright. Also, everyone is doing great now, so don’t worry... and🤞should be home in a matter of days. PS @katiemanos is PRETTY FRICKIN’ AWESOME.”

The moment our twins were born, I began my parental leave. What I didn’t expect was the kids were not able to come home immediately. There was a strange period of time where I wasn’t quite sure what to do with myself. Since I was on leave, there was no expectation of work, but I also wasn’t the busy father I thought I’d be. I’d pass the time between hospital visits writing new toolkits with the American Heart Association, the International Rescue Committee, and the Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles; I’d play virtual poker with old friends; I went on a virtual BBQ trip across the US with my buddy Michael; I’d jump into endless rabbit holes of YouTube videos from Cartoonist Kayfabe, Comic Tom 101, and For the Love of Comics.

September 15, 2020. The Responsible Brand.

Another positive moment in 2020 was getting a call from long-time professional pal and collaborator, Teresa Coles. Teresa is the president of Riggs Partners, a brand marketing agency that helps businesses make a positive impact through strategic communications and brand strategy. The Responsible Brand is a 52 page toolkit full of activities and insights that help organizations better define, and design, their organizational culture, business strategy and brand marketing.

The Riggs team and I would met regularly on Zoom to review the toolkit’s content and design. I believe this toolkit is the most comprehensive and robust that we have ever put out on Reginald. The toolkit did great, with 1,600+ downloads and an estimated 4,800+ people who have been introduced to the framework across the globe. I even had an opportunity to write an op-ed about the research driving our content on Forbes: “The Year of the Responsible Brand”.

Bringing Amelia and Henry home.

September 22, 2020. “Grateful for this mama, and to finally have our kiddos home. 25 and 26 days in the NICU. During a pandemic. And there was an earthquake the night before they came home. What a story! ❤️❤️❤️”

My dream was to be able to have our twins home in time for my birthday on September 26. On the 21st, Henry came home. On the 22nd, Amelia joined him. Shortly after Halloween, we’d be listing our place downtown, leasing a minivan, and moving to the suburbs. Truly a time of massive change.

Being able to see them in our living space was a truly special moment. Charlie was so nervous around the babies when they first came home. He still kind of is.

Prior to this day, alongside all of the personal and professional projects that kept me busy, Katie and I made regular visits to the NICU to see our twins. Having kids, and then not being allowed to take them home, was an emotional rollercoaster. And, due to COVID restrictions, I was not initially allowed in to see the twins with Katie. When I tried to walk in with her, I was asked to wait in the lobby due to the posted guidelines. I read the sign more closely: “Due to COVID restrictions and social distancing, only one parent is allowed to visit at a time.” I asked the nurse: “isn’t that one parent per one child?” She gave me one of those looks you get when you know someone just found a loophole, and responded: “yes”.

September 23, 2020. The Stranger.

My love for comics was rekindled during the pandemic. Like many people, I was getting pulled into it for the nostalgia factor; the desire to revisit a time that felt better.

From the back cover: “A recently enlightened man recalls what it was like to slowly devolve from human to bird poop.”

Writing and drawing my own comic book was a lifelong dream come true. The story is psychedelic and existential. The artwork shows potential. My copies sold out to friends, family, and strangers almost instantly. I’m very proud of it.

I ended up submitting the book to Ron Turner, the Founder of legendary underground publisher, Last Gasp. In return, I received the best rejection letter I have ever seen:

October 12, 2020. A quick trip to Kyiv.

In 2019, I had the honor of begin invited to Ukraine to conduct a number of workshops and presentations. During the pandemic, I was invited to present virtually (with live simultaneous translation) on a panel discussion around sustainable models of social entrepreneurship. Before the audience logged on, one of the presenters told us he was battling a mild case of COVID. It was the first time I spoke to someone who was actively experiencing the disease.

October 15, 2020. “Where’s the hot dog? Sorry, had to do it... 🌭”

I remember taking this photo. This was right around the time the twins started to feel less breakable. I also remember feeling more comfortable and adjusted.

More change on the horizon.

November 6, 2020. Listing our loft.

Around Halloween, we were out with our kids enjoying matcha in Little Tokyo. Unfortunately, a very aggressive man approached us and started knocking over our drinks. Having lived and worked in downtown for many years, I was used to these kinds of incidents. But this was the first time I saw them through the lens of my kids. That same night, we called Mark (our friend and realtor), and got the process of listing our home started.

November 25, 2020. “Really fun #futures workshop today with @joffeemergencyservices! Thanks for having me. 🤙🎉⭐️”

In between diaper changes, I continued delivering virtual talks and workshops across the globe, from my bathroom. The messages I had been refining around futures thinking ended up proving to resonate even more, in such uncertain times. The positive feedback around these presentations would go on to further define and refine the direction for my professional practice.

November 26, 2020. “When you’re a professional workshop facilitator, but also in charge of Thanksgiving...”

After two weeks of additional lockdown at home, we were able to host Thanksgiving with Katie’s parents. I was in charge of our meal, and my approach to time management ended up providing some comedic relief for folks.

“Hanging out with my daughter... 😘”
(November 28, 2020)

Leading positive change.

December 1, 2020. L.A. Optimized.

During COVID, I worked as part of the founding team that launched LA Optimized, a $5.5MM COVID-19 response program designed to connect creatives with local small businesses in need of services to expand their online presence and e-commerce capabilities. I was responsible for leading the scaling of the program’s network of creative professionals to 74 individuals, while also building a recruitment and vetting process, and building a creative advisory board. I was honored with the designation as the inaugural Chair of Mayor Garcetti’s Creative Advisory Board.

December 4, 2020. Giving Tuesday.

To end the year, verynice and Reginald decided to run a Giving Tuesday campaign that promised a $1.00 donation for every download we received over a five day period in December. The campaign benefited the Michael J. Fox Foundation’s research on Parkinson’s, a disease that has impacted my family in numerous ways. While we had set a goal of $1,000, I’m proud to have broken that goal by 50%, for a total of $1,500 raised.

December 8, 2020. Rethinking Education.

My last project of the year was to facilitate a design sprint with our graduate students, and Apple. The project explored new, narrative visions of the future of learning. Each team of students produced four unique scenarios: growth, collapse, constraint/discipline, and transformation.

In many ways, the task to imagine the future of learning was the perfect note to head into winter break on. Soon, we would be packing up the car to drive to Arizona for Christmas; my parents would meet our twins for the first time, at the age of four months.

December 16, 2020. The end, and…

…the beginning.

So, there you have it. My 2020 year-in-review. What a year.

At some point in 2021, I was having a beer with my friend Stuart. When he asked how I was doing, I responded: “I feel like the world is opening back up, but I haven’t yet”.

Now, writing this in 2023, after a lot of reflection and hard work, I feel ready to keep doing exciting and interesting things.