A fire burns after a Russian strike in the Kherson ship yards on November 24, 2022 in Kherson, Ukraine.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Stories of Ukrainian resistance have emerged from Kherson since Russia's retreat.
Staff at a hospital detailed the lengths they went to in order to avoid a Russian takeover.
"Our hospital couldn't become a Russian hospital," the lead physician told The Wall Street Journal.
Staff at a hospital in Kherson, Ukraine, went to great lengths to prevent a Russian takeover during the eight months the city was occupied — including faking a COVID-19 outbreak to stave off troops.
Kherson, a southern port city, was the first major Ukrainian city taken by Russian forces after the invasion in February. The regional capital was held for eight months until Russian officials announced a retreat on November 9, delivering a humiliating blow to President Vladimir Putin's war effort.
A doctor with the city's Tropinka Hospital described the lengths he and his colleagues went to in order to prevent the Russians from taking control of the hospital to The Wall Street Journal.
"Our hospital couldn't become a Russian hospital," Chief Physician Dr. Leonid Remiga told the Journal. "All the employees felt this way…I couldn't leave them."
Within days of the Russian forces invading the city, soldiers showed up to the hospital with the intention of converting it into a military hospital. Remiga told them the hospital was dealing with a COVID-19 outbreak. He donned full protective gear, such as a body suit and foot covers, and the staff had put warning signs up on the hospital walls about COVID-19.
Believing there was an active outbreak, the troops left and the hospital remained in Ukrainian hands.
In another encounter, Remiga told the Journal Russian soldiers ordered him to take down a Ukrainian flag hanging at the hospital, but he refused. He said he told the soldiers they could shoot him if they wanted, but he wouldn't be removing it.
Remiga's detailed account of the way he and other hospital staff resisted a Russian takeover of the hospital adds to the stories of Ukrainian resistance that have poured out of Kherson since the retreat earlier this month.
Liberated Kherson is still dealing with the impacts of the war. Ukraine has offered to help citizens evacuate before the winter due to the destruction of the city's power infrastructure. Russia has also been striking Kherson from afar, with the latest shelling killing at least 10 civilians and injuring dozens more.
"As an early-stage brand, 100% of what we make goes back into the company," said David Manshoory, the cofounder of the personal-care brand Alleyoop, which sells beauty, body, and skin-care products like bronzer, razors, and toners. Manshoory and his wife Leila launched the business in 2019. "We're seeing quarter-over-quarter growth, but Q4 is always the biggest quarter of the year."
The duo put everything they earn back into the business to fuel growth, he said. When determining where to reinvest your seasonal earnings, look at the most pressing issues and constantly analyze business functions, he suggests. For example, they focus on inventory, research and development, marketing, and team building.
"The growth stage of the business plays a significant role in how business owners reinvest their money," Jenny Shum, general manager of Chase Ink, told Insider via email. But being intentional with where and how much is reinvested is crucial in mitigating today's ongoing economic pressures, she added.
"Small business owners have had to reimagine the way they do business over the last three years," she said. "This year, business owners are investing heavily in technology to sustain their businesses, cut costs, and increase efficiencies in order to mitigate ongoing economic pressures."
Insider spoke with David Manshoory, Shum, and two other experts who shared four specific ways business owners can reinvest their profits from this year into the future of their companies.
1. Inventory
An Alleyoop product kit.
Alleyoop
Inventory doesn't refer to only what's on the shelves. It can also reflect what's going to be purchased and how it's going to be sent to customers, Manshoory said.
Business owners should first ask themselves: "What are our top sellers, how long are shipments taking, and what do we need to buy in larger quantities this time of year," he said.
With the cost of goods increasing recently, "business owners can curb the effects of inflation by investing in inventory and committing to purchasing products at current, known margins instead of allowing the market to keep those margins in flux," Shum said.
Additionally, it's important to watch your margins closely, Cynthia Franklin, director of NYU Stern School of Business's entrepreneurship department, told Insider via email. "Know which products and services are contributing most to your bottom line." Those are not necessarily the highest-priced items, Franklin added.
Meanwhile, some companies should consider boosting digital strategies and services after the holidays, said Tolithia Kornweibel, the chief revenue officer at the payroll, benefits, and support platform Gusto.
"A lot of the businesses that innovated during COVID-19 did so through the digital delivery of services, which have no constraints from a supply-chain perspective," she added. "All the signs would suggest that we're going to continue to live much more in a digital world."
2. Research and development
The first quarter after the holiday season is often the slowest period of the year for retail companies, which gives business owners time to get creative and plan longer-term objectives, Manshoory said. For example, money can be reinvested into improving product offerings, he said.
More established businesses should consider investing in research and development "because their goals revolve around diversifying or improving their product offerings and enhancing the customer experience," Shum said.
Research can help founders understand what their customers want, Franklin added.
"This research will enable you to better develop products that resonate, create targeted marketing campaigns with messages that hit all the right notes, and craft an appealing customer experience," Franklin told Insider.
3. Marketing
Marketing is important all year, so business owners should reinvest in attracting customers, Franklin said.
"Plant seeds now so that customers are primed to shop with you not only the next holiday season but year-round," she said.
Manshoory's marketing efforts for Alleyoop are ever-changing and can be pivoted based on the season, he said. For example, the brand's messaging went from "on-the-go beauty" to "decluttering your routine" when COVID-19 hit.
Any seasonal or cultural changes should result in a marketing shift, so it's important to have money designated to those budgets, he said.
4. Team
Alleyoop co-founders, Leila and David Manshoory
Alleyoop
An efficient staff is crucial for company morale and consumer experience. Shop staff will connect better with customers if they are not overworked, a fully staffed warehouse will ensure orders are shipped to customers quickly, and an array of back-end employees is needed so customers feel heard online — both through digital interactions and marketing campaigns, Kornweibel said.
While recruiting is an area many business owners are focused on, hiring new staff members is not the only way to reinvest in the team, both Shum and Franklin agreed.
"If you can, carve out bonuses for them, no matter how modest," Franklin said. "The mere act of this gesture will go a long way building goodwill."
Along with reinvesting holiday sales into retaining the team, Shum also suggests business owners use cashback and credit card rewards to help subsidize employee bonuses, or turn rewards into gift cards and other benefits.
Holidays have the potential to bring pressure and stress to each of these departments of a business, but seasonal success can be used to rebuild each department to prepare for an even more successful new year, Manshoory said.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp campaigns alongside GOP Senate nominee Herschel Walker in Smyrna, Ga., on November 19, 2022.
AP Photo/Bill Barrow
Brian Kemp has emerged as Herschel Walker's most powerful surrogate in the Georgia Senate runoff.
Kemp, who won reelection as governor, didn't campaign with Walker during the general election race.
Republicans are working intently to win over the November voters who backed Kemp but not Walker.
Last Saturday, Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker hugged newly-reelected Gov. Brian Kemp at a campaign rally outside a suburban Atlanta firearms store.
This normally wouldn't be a notable act in GOP politics, but the Georgia Senate runoff election is not a normal contest.
Walker did not run a conventional general election race, as he didn't appear on the campaign trail alongside Kemp — by far the most influential Republican in the state — until last week.
The GOP won virtually every statewide election in Georgia earlier this month, except for Walker, who in his race against Sen. Raphael Warnock captured 48.5% of the vote compared to the incumbent Democratic lawmaker's 49.4%, which forced the runoff election as no candidate hit the requisite 50% of the vote needed for an outright victory.
And it wasn't difficult to see why Kemp and Walker fared so differently earlier this month.
Warnock won every age group under 45 and had an 11-point advantage with Independents, according to CNN exit polling, fueled by outsized margins in Atlanta's populous suburbs, where Republicans have faltered in recent years.
But Kemp flipped the script in his second gubernatorial campaign against Democrat Stacey Abrams, cutting into her margins with Independents in Atlanta's suburbs while earning strong support from both moderate and conservative Republicans — a feat that Walker was unable to replicate in his contest with Warnock.
For that reason, Walker has found himself openly embracing Kemp, who came out of the general election as the biggest winner in Georgia politics.
The Senate race remains close, but some major hurdles remain for Walker; the Republican significantly underperformed Kemp in the general election and polling continues to show Independents in Warnock's corner.
With less than two weeks before the December 6 runoff, Kemp can surely move some voters over to Walker, but will it be enough?
Kemp gives a speech celebrating his reelection victory at the Coca-Cola Roxy in Atlanta, Ga., on November 8, 2022.
Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Split-ticket voters will be key in the runoff
In the general election, Kemp defeated Abrams 53.4%-45.9%, coming out ahead by nearly 300,000 votes, a vast improvement over his roughly 55,000-vote victory over the former state lawmaker four years ago.
The governor earlier this month earned 2,111,572 votes, compared to 1,813,673 votes for Abrams.
But Warnock was the only statewide Georgia Democrat to come out ahead in the vote count this year, earning nearly 1.95 million votes to Walker's roughly 1.918 million votes — a lead of over 37,000 votes.
The results show that Kemp won over 200,000 more votes than Walker, with some voters splitting their tickets by backing the governor while also supporting Warnock.
Republicans picked the site of last week's rally for a reason; the firearms store is in Smyrna, a city in Cobb County, a former GOP bastion where Democrats have made notable gains over the past decade. Abrams defeated Kemp in the county, but she only won it by 5 points, while Warnock outpaced Walker there by nearly 17 points, which netted the Democratic senator over 50,000 votes — greater than the statewide vote difference between the two runoff candidates.
Cobb, along with other metropolitan Atlanta counties including DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Henry, delivered decisive margins to Warnock earlier this month — again creating a vivid contrast with Walker's weaker performance in those localities among moderates and college-educated voters.
In GOP-leaning Fayette County, an Atlanta exurb, Walker only won by 3 points compared to Kemp's 14-point victory over Abrams. So it was no surprise that last week, Walker held a rally in Peachtree City, the largest city in the county.
The suburban Independents who were onboard with Kemp but remain wary of Walker are a top target for the governor, who is now appealing to them to vote Republican in the runoff.
Walker greets supporters at the conclusion of a campaign rally in McDonough, Ga., on November 16, 2022.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Walker and Kemp both have their own brand of Republicanism
Throughout the general election campaign, Kemp pointed to his early reopening of Georgia's economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and his temporary suspension of the state gas tax to make the case for his reelection bid, while also touting the state's voting overhaul and his support of anti-abortion legislation in a way that appealed to a wide swath of traditional conservatives.
And Kemp in 2020 also became nationally known, alongside GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, for rebuffing then-President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn Joe Biden's presidential win in Georgia. Kemp was repeatedly lambasted by Trump over his defense of the state's election results, with the former president even recruiting former Sen. David Perdue to run against him in a GOP gubernatorial primary — only for the governor to defeat his former political ally in a landslide.
While Trump continued to nurse grievances against Kemp, the governor leaned into his strong ties with Georgia conservatives — from his days as a state senator to his tenure as secretary of state — which gave him solid footing among grassroots activists for the general election.
But Walker, a first-time candidate who was enthusiastically endorsed by Trump, ran a general election campaign heavily tailored to base Republicans, including evangelical voters who have powered GOP wins in the state. In his stump speeches, he accuses Democrats of dividing the country by race and rails against the use of "pronouns" in the military.
On November 7, Kemp flew around Georgia with most of the statewide GOP candidates — including Raffensperger — but Walker wasn't part of the mix.
When asked by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about Walker's absence, Kemp said that the GOP Senate nominee was "definitely part of the team" even if he wasn't present on the tour.
Later that evening, Kemp held a rally in Kennesaw, Ga., where he pumped up the party faithful alongside most of the GOP statewide ticket by focusing on his economic message. But just a few minutes away, in the same Cobb County city, Walker held a rally of his own alongside Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and former Housing and Urban Development secretary Ben Carson, where the former NFL player called himself a "warrior for God."
Kemp speaks to supporters at a campaign event in Ringgold, Ga., on November 6, 2022.
Megan Varner/Getty Images
Kemp won't be on the runoff ballot
One of the biggest challenges that Walker will face in the Senate runoff is the simple fact that Kemp won't be listed on the December ballot; the general election was the most optimal time for Walker to have benefited from the governor's coattails.
Walker remains competitive in the race, even with Democrats already set to control the Senate in 2023, but the inability of some Kemp voters to pull the lever for the former University of Georgia football standout means that the governor will have to use some of his political capital to continue boosting his fellow Republican in the runoff.
Kemp is featured prominently in a new ad from the Republican super PAC Senate Leadership Fund, where the governor said that Walker would "vote for Georgia" and "not be another rubber stamp for Joe Biden."
"That's why I'm backing Herschel," the governor continued to say. "And I hope you'll join me in voting for him too."
A huge benefit for Walker? Conservatives are solidly behind him.
They've taken to his outsider-centric campaign, which to them feels rooted in Georgia and not Washington, DC.
And Republicans by and large have waved off allegations that Walker paid for two women to have abortions, which the candidate has firmly denied.
But Kemp won't be able to help carry Walker over the finish line if Independents break for Warnock as heavily as they did for Democrats like Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona and Sen.-elect John Fetterman of Pennsylvania.
As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed this past summer, races for the upper chamber often come down to the individuality of candidates.
"Senate races are just different — they're statewide, candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome," the Kentucky Republican said at the time.
The Georgia runoff will be this year's last consequential test case of the veteran lawmaker's theory.
Brittany Phillips in Panama City Beach, Florida, where she moved back in with her mother.
Brittany Phillips
Brittany Phillips made $85,000 a year in California and still struggled to find an affordable home.
She tried low-income housing, having roommates, and living in hotels.
Her story shows how hard it can be to secure stable housing in certain areas despite a good salary.
After living in California for 22 years, enduring steadily increasing rents and consistently out-of-reach home prices, Brittany Phillips finally reached her breaking point.
The single mom of one packed her bags for Florida and moved in with her mother in Panama City Beach, Florida, in August.
"I wanted a better life for my daughter," Phillips told Insider. "I loved California for so many reasons, and I built my life there. I've struggled and climbed mountains there, but at the end of the day, I was like, 'Is it worth it?'"
Before she decamped to Florida, Phillips, 37, moved regularly to find more affordable places to live. She said relocating so often took a toll on her mentally and financially. She went from what she described as a multimillion-dollar home she shared with her then-husband in Calabasas, a mountainous city outside Los Angeles home to the Kardashians and other celebrities, to paying $1,125 a month in rent for a 1,353-square-foot house in a more modest Southern California city an hour away.
But she ultimately found it too difficult to balance working enough hours to pay for adequate housing for herself and her 13-year-old daughter, Aniston, while also being present as a parent.
"It was really hard to work there and actually make enough money — unless you had a nanny or something — to even rent anything, because you had to choose: Do I want to be a parent, or do I want to work to pay off my bills?" she said.
Phillips works as a hairstylist and made about $85,000 a year when she lived in California. Her journey demonstrates just how difficult and unforgiving securing a roof over your head can be, even for those who make a good salary.
Do you make a decent salary and still struggle to afford housing? Reach out to the reporter Jordan Pandy at jpandy@insider.com with your story.
She chased affordability around Southern California
Phillips was a self-described Army brat who lived all over the US and beyond while she was growing up.
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, roughly a 30-minute drive north of the Florida border, Phillips lived in Maryland, Rhode Island, Germany, Virginia, and Hawaii before moving to Santa Clarita, California — a city 30 miles north of Los Angeles — in 2000.
Her parents divorced and left California, but, at just 17, she decided to stay. After bouncing around Los Angeles neighborhoods including Studio City and Hollywood — and even a short stint living out of her car — she eventually moved to a 4,200-square-foot home in swanky Calabasas with her eventual husband in 2005. (The median listing price in the area is $1.8 million, according to Realtor.com.)
In 2009, Phillips and her husband divorced. After living in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Woodland Hills, she found herself back in Calabasas in 2015. She was able to secure a two-bedroom unit for $1,600 because she qualified for low-income housing as a single mother. However, her rent increased to $2,300 after one year.
Unable to afford the $700 jump, Phillips moved into a two-bedroom house with her daughter in Ventura, a city 40 miles west known for its beaches, for $1,749 at the start of 2019.
COVID-19 caused another setback
Unable to work as a hairstylist early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Phillips briefly moved to Florida with her mother, as she could no longer pay rent. She started receiving relief payments and an EBT card, commonly known as food stamps, for her and her daughter. That helped her get back on her feet and back to Ventura.
"If I didn't have that, I don't know what I would've done," she said. "I would've been on the streets."
In Ventura, Phillips split half of a three-bedroom, 1,353-square-foot house with a roommate. While not an ideal, she was finally able to save.
"I started making like $6,500 to $8,000 a month depending on how many people came in" to get haircuts, she said. "I started finally getting my credit up."
But that security vanished after her landlord decided to sell the house.
For weeks she jumped between Airbnbs and hotel rooms ranging from $1,400 for two weeks to $150 a night — which drained her savings and wrecked her credit, making it challenging to apply for an apartment in California.
"It was impossible to survive anymore," she said. "I'm making good money, but I don't have anything to show for it."
Phillips' mother's house in Panama City Beach, Florida.
Brittany Phillips
As she grew tired of scratching and clawing just to stay afloat, Phillips moved in with her mother in Florida.
Phillips made over the median salary of $78,672 in California, and she, like many others, still struggled to make it work.
"I had to survive since I was 17 years old there by myself, and it was hard," she said. "And at 37, to just have it all ripped from underneath me, I feel like I failed. How? I did everything right."
Do you make a decent salary and still struggle to afford housing? Reach out to reporter Jordan Pandy at jpandy@insider.com with your story.
Rats are taking refuge in cars, chewing through wires and leaving owners with big repair bills.
One expert says pet owners may be more prone to finding rodents around their homes.
There are three things you can do to help prevent rats from living under the hood of your car.
If you're one of the many drivers whose cars have been damaged by rats chewing through wires, you may be able to partly blame the pandemic.
The New York Times interviewed 28 mechanics in New York and they reported an increase in the number of rodents found in cars.
That may be partly due to the common use of soy-based wiring in modern vehicles, and a 19% rise in car registrations by New Yorkers between 2019 and 2021, but it's not the whole story.
Michael Parsons, an urban rat expert and research scholar at Fordham University, told Insider that rats had to find other ways to get food when COVID-19 lockdowns were imposed. "They weren't hanging around the restaurant areas as much anymore, but they were attracted to people's home – where food was," he said.
Calls fell in the first six months of the pandemic, which seemed odd until his colleagues realized that rats had not departed for the suburbs but "rather they were moving really close to the closed restaurants."
Between 2000 and 2021, calls to the 311 citizens' hotline increased sharply, according to NYC Open Data.
While we have largely returned to normal life after the pandemic, rats have not, Parsons said, with some now even attacking pigeons. More rats sightings usually reflect poor garbage hygiene, because rodents are simply looking for food.
What can you do to prevent rats from nesting in your car?
Electrical wiring damaged by rats.
Getty Images
Parsons said there are three key tactics to stop rodents bedding under your car hood:
Even if you work from home, do not leave the car sitting unused for long periods of time – drive around the block and repark. At the very least, use a remote starter to make some noise under the hood, and open it from time to time.
Do not park above or near storm drain basins or openings to sewers – Norway rats are called sewer rats for a reason.
Understand that cars provide refuge, and in some cases, feeding opportunities for rats. They like soy-based wiring but will also seek out discarded candy wrappers too.
Failure to heed this advice could leave you facing a bill for hundreds of dollars. One woman told The Times that a rat chewed through a sensor wire in her car, which cost $700 to fix.
Ozzy Dayan, a mechanic at Manhattan Auto Repair in Hell's Kitchen, told the newspaper: "I see new cars, old cars, everyone is coming in now with these rat problems. It brings me a lot of business, but it's disgusting."
It's not always known that rats also need to constantly grind down their teeth, which grow in the same way that our fingernails do.
Pet owners should be even more wary. Rats are highly attracted to homes with animals because pet food is highly aromatic and arousing to rats, and pet waste contain essential nutrients, according to research Parsons co-authored for the Journal of Urban Ecology.
It's a misconception that leaving food out for your pet all day is the right thing to do. "What they're doing is inadvertently attracting rats or other rodents onto the property," he said.
And don't expect your pet to chase rodents away. "We've got research that shows that cats don't always control rats. If anything, a well-fed cat might actually even share dish with a rat."
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Apple is offering big discounts on iPads, MacBooks, AirPods, and more for Black Friday.
Apple; Amazon; Alyssa Powell/Insider
Black Friday is almost over, but we're still seeing tons of deals on popular Apple products like iPads, AirPods, Apple Watches, and MacBooks, as well as Apple accessories like the Apple Pencil and Beats headphones. For these Apple deals, you'll want to keep an eye on retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.
So far, we're seeing the best prices of the year on Apple's latest 2nd-gen AirPods Pro, Apple Watch Series 8, certain iPads and Mac laptops, Beats headphones, and even the premium Apple Watch Ultra.
Just like last year, you'll find deals on most of Apple's devices this Black Friday. That includes deals on AirPods, iPads, Macs, Apple Watch, Apple TVs, and accessories like the Apple Pencil.
You'll find the best deals for current devices were announced a while ago. In this case, Apple devices released in 2021 have been getting great deals, and we're expecting as much during Black Friday.
Apple just recently announced the 10th-generation iPad and 2022 iPad Pros in October, and we don't anticipate any significant deals for those devices.
However, we have already seen deals for devices that were released in September, like the Apple Watch Series 8 and second-generation AirPods Pro. And Apple devices released earlier this year, like the M2 MacBook Air, M2 13-inch MacBook Pro, M1 iPad Air, have also been getting deals.
We've seen the 2021 Apple TV 4K as low as $100, but we recommend spending the extra $30 for the 2022 model, which has a newer and more powerful A15 processor for a smoother experience and opening apps faster than the 2021 model's A12. The 2022 Apple TV 4K will also stay smooth and fast for much longer than the 2021 model. Plus, the 2022 Apple TV 4K's remote charges via USB-C instead of Lightning, and it comes with 64GB as standard compared to the 32GB in the 2021 model.
Apple's iPhones don't typically get deals if you're looking to buy an iPhone outright, but you'll find the usual tempting trade-in and activation offers from carriers and retailers.
Where are the best places to find Apple deals?
You'll find the best Apple deals from retailers like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Amazon, and they'll all have similar competing deals. You should pick whichever retailer is most convenient for you. One thing to be said about retailers with physical locations is that you could have the option to pick up your item on the same day if it's in stock at your nearest store.
Looking for Apple deals on Apple's website will be mostly fruitless, as the company itself rarely hosts a deal for its own products. The company does offer gift cards, however. For last year's Black Friday, Apple offered gift cards of up to $100 when you bought an Apple device.
Apple was hit with iPhone shortages on Black Friday while customers shopped for deals.
Analyst sees roughly 8 million iPhones sold on the Black Friday weekend, down from 10 million a year ago.
Supply chain issues and lockdowns in China are likely to blame for the shortages.
If you're looking for deals this Black Friday on the latest iPhone models, you may be out of luck.
Shoppers across the country are reporting shortages of iPhone 14 products, including the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max in Apple stores, online retailers, and big box electronics stores, according to a report by Reuters. Online wait times for orders of the new iPhone 14 Pro are now up to 40 days on Apple's website.
The company is facing supply chain snafus due to pandemic-related component shortages and COVID-19 lockdowns in China. Reports of worker unrest at supplier Foxconn pushed Apple shares down about 2% this week, while the tech heavy Nasdaq rose almost 1%. Earlier this month, Apple warned of delays in shipments following a significant production cut at Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant due to China's strict pandemic policies.
"We believe many Apple Stores now have iPhone 14 Pro shortages based on model/color/storage of up to 25-30% below normal heading into a typical December, which is not a good sign heading into holiday season for Cupertino," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to investors on Friday.
Ives expects roughly 8 million iPhones will be sold on the Black Friday weekend, down from 10 million a year ago, mainly due to these supply challenges.
An Apple spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Friday afternoon.
A pharmacist prepares the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Jessica Hill/AP Photo
The COVID-19 pandemic has infected nearly millions of people, and scientists raced to develop a vaccine at record speed.
But vaccines often take years, and sometimes even decades, to develop, test, and approve for public use.
Here's how long it took to develop vaccines for infectious diseases throughout history, including COVID-19.
Across the world, scientists worked at record speed to develop a successful vaccine for coronavirus, which has infected nearly 640 million people and has killed over 6.6 million. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists were about to develop and distribute shots to prevent those infected from severe illness.
In the US, vaccine development undergoes a specific set of steps that includes exploratory phases, pre-clinical trials, new drug application, four phases of vaccine trials, and thorough vetting from the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration.
All of that combined could take multiple years, and even then, it might not be as effective as hoped. But because of the severity of the pandemic, manufacturers and leading scientists have made efforts to shift funding and expedite the process to yield results as quickly as possible.
To gain some perspective on the complexities of vaccine development, here's how long it took to develop vaccines for other infectious diseases throughout history.
Smallpox
A teenage boy is vaccinated against smallpox by a school doctor and a county health nurse, Gasport, New York, 15th March 1938.
Harry Chamberlain/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
The eradication of smallpox through a vaccine is seen as one of the biggest achievements in public health history — but it took several centuries to get there.
The origins of smallpox are unknown, though scientists believe it dates all the way back to the Egyptian Empire of the 3rd Century BCE. By the 18th century, colonization spread the disease across the globe. It had a devastating mortality rate of up to 30%.
In 1796, Edward Jenner in the UK created the first successful smallpox vaccine, but it wasn't until the 1950s that vaccine treatments began to effectively eradicate the disease in some parts of the world.
Then, in 1967, a global effort that provided a higher level of vaccine production and advancement in needle technology eventually lead to the eradication of the disease by 1980.
To date, smallpox remains the only disease to have been completely eliminated around the world through vaccination efforts.
Plague
People praying for relief from the bubonic plague, circa 1350.
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Plague is one of the world's oldest and most lethal diseases, culminating in nearly 200 million deaths throughout human history. But to date, no licensed vaccine is available.
Plague is perhaps most notorious for killing millions of people during the Middle Ages, but the disease is still active in areas around the world. As recent as 2017, a plague outbreak in Madagascar attracted widespread attention and panic.
However, since plague is a disease spread by bacteria, the advent of modern antibiotics can be used as treatment. Even so, researchers believe that vaccination development is the most viable option to prevent the spread of disease in the long term.
Many failed attempts have been made to create a plague vaccine in the past – including one that was made in the US to inoculate soldiers during the Vietnam War.
But in 2018, the WHO created a Plague Vaccine Target Product Profile, which lists 17 possible candidates for vaccine approval, which are undergoing clinical trials and moving toward FDA approval.
Typhoid Fever
New York, NY- Mary Mallon(1870?-1938), known as "Typhoid Mary". She was the first person identified as a carrier of typhoid bacilli in the United States.
Getty Images
Typhoid fever is a deadly disease that can be spread widely through food and water. Though relatively uncommon in industrialized areas, it remains a significant threat in developing nations throughout Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
Two vaccines are commercially available to prevent typhoid fever. After the bacteria responsible for the disease was discovered in 1880, German scientists first began research into these efforts in 1896.
In 1909, US Army physician Frederick F. Russell developed the first US typhoid vaccination. For the next several years, the vaccine would be used for military purposes, but in 1914, it became available among the general American public.
Today, Typhoid fever is uncommon in the US and vaccinations are not commonly recommended for routine use.
Yellow Fever
A nurse prepares a vaccine against yellow fever at an outpatient clinic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on January 12, 2018.
MIGUEL SCHINCARIOL/AFP via Getty Images
In 1951, Max Theiler became the first and only scientist to receive a Nobel Prize for the development of a vaccine. His efforts to control yellow fever are widely praised by the scientific community, and he helped to correct years of misled research.
Yellow fever has caused deadly epidemics throughout human history for more than 500 years, and by the end of the 19th century, it was well known to be a threat around the world. But little was known about the disease itself, and early vaccination efforts at the close of the century mistakenly focused on bacterial transmission when it's actually caused by a virus.
In 1918, researchers working for the Rockefeller Institute developed what they thought was the first successful yellow fever vaccination — but in 1926 Theiler proved otherwise and the faulty vaccine ceased production.
Influenza
Volunteer nurses from the American Red Cross tend to people with the flu in the Oakland Auditorium in Oakland, California, during the influenza pandemic of 1918.
Edward A. "Doc" Rogers
Influenza has a long, tragic history of killing millions of people worldwide. During the 1918 influenza pandemic, there were no known cures or vaccinations for the virus.
But just two years later, in 1947, researchers concluded that seasonal changes in the composition of the virus rendered existing vaccinations ineffective.
Researchers realized that two main types of influenza viruses occur — influenza A and influenza B, along with multiple new strains of the virus each year. Because of this, scientists have to tweak the influenza vaccine every year.
Today, seasonal flu vaccines are designed by the WHO using data gathered from influenza surveillance centers to develop a new vaccination based off the three strains most likely to circulate in the upcoming season.
Polio
A boy receives polio vaccine drops, during an anti-polio campaign, in a low-income neighborhood in Karachi, Pakistan, on April 9, 2018.
Reuters
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella are viral infections that have each caused widespread, deadly disease outbreaks. Throughout the 1960s, individual vaccines were developed for each of them, but a decade later, they were combined into one.
Hilleman was credited with creating the first measles and mumps vaccine and began researching ways to incorporate a system of immunity for each virus. Using his previous research and a rubella vaccine developed by Stanley Plotkin in 1969, he created the first successful MMR vaccine in just two years.
According to the CDC, "One dose of MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles, 78% effective against mumps, and 97% effective against rubella."
"Two doses of MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles and 88% effective against mumps."
Anthrax
A biological technician wearing a Level C PAPR protective suit climbs up a ladder to inspect a decontamination tent covering Smailholm village hall in southern Scotland March 6, 2007. The technician is part of a team who are currently in the process of decontaminating the village hall which was the scene of an Anthrax outbreak in July 2006.
REUTERS/David Moir
Anthrax is thought to have been around since 700 BC, but the first clinical account of the disease was recorded in the 1700s.
Throughout the 1800s, a series of studies to determine where the disease originated from, how long the bacteria could survive, and how the disease was transmitted through animals paved the way for the first attempts at a vaccine in 1881.
In 1937, scientist Max Sterne created a successful Anthrax vaccination to be used in livestock, a version of which is still used today, in order to reduce transmission from animals to humans. Thirteen years later, the first human vaccine was created and made available for people working in animal processing mills in the United States.
An updated anthrax vaccine was developed in 1970, which is largely what's used to prevent the disease in humans today.
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR)
A nurse displays vials of measles vaccine at the Orange County Health Department on May 6, 2019 in Orlando, Florida.
NurPhoto/Paul Hennessy via Getty Images
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella are viral infections that have each caused widespread, deadly disease outbreaks. Throughout the 1960s, individual vaccines were developed for each of them, but a decade later, they were combined into one.
Hilleman was credited with creating the first measles and mumps vaccine and began researching ways to incorporate a system of immunity for each virus. Using his previous research and a rubella vaccine developed by Stanley Plotkin in 1969, he created the first successful MMR vaccine in just two years.
According to the CDC, "One dose of MMR vaccine is 93% effective against measles, 78% effective against mumps, and 97% effective against rubella."
"Two doses of MMR vaccine are 97% effective against measles and 88% effective against mumps."
Varicella (Chicken Pox)
Kiara Boisvert, 5, gets a varicella booster vaccination from Amy Moran, a clinical assistant at Intermed in South Portland on Thursday, June 4, 2015. (
Gregory Rec/Portland Portland Press Herald via Getty Images
Primary varicella infection, commonly known as chickenpox, was misdiagnosed as smallpox until the end of the 1800s. In the 1950s, scientists distinguished varicella from herpes zoster (shingles), and subsequent research lead to the development of first vaccine for chickenpox in Japan in the 1970s.
The vaccine was licensed for use in the US in 1995.
Shingles (herpes zoster)
Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images
Shingles, or herpes zoster, stems from the same virus that causes chickenpox. The only two ways shingles can develop is after an initial infection of chickenpox, or (uncommonly) exposure to a chickenpox vaccination.
The connection between shingles and chickenpox was first observed in 1953, and throughout the 1960s, studies indicated that shingles was much more common in older populations. But it wasn't until 2006 that the first commercially available vaccine was licensed in the US.
A more recent licensed vaccine for shingles came with a recommendation by the US Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices in 2018 that adults age 60 or older should be vaccinated for the disease.
Hepatitis B
Vaccinations to help prevent Hepatitis A and B, where given by HEP Team to those interested, free of cost.
Carlos Chavez/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Hepatitis B is a more recent virus and was discovered by Dr. Baruch Blumberg in 1965. Just four years later, he created the first hepatitis B vaccine using a heat-treated form of the virus.
Twelve years later, in 1981, the FDA approved the first commercially available hepatitis B vaccination, which involved blood samples from infected donors.
Then, in 1986, a new synthetically prepared vaccine that does not use blood products replaced the original model.
Since Hepatitis B can cause liver cancer, the vaccine was also considered the first anti-cancer vaccine.
Human papillomavirus (HPV)
Pediatrician Richard K. Ohnmacht prepares a shot of the HPV vaccine Gardasil for a patient at his office in Cranston, Rhode Island, Sept. 3, 2015
Two strains of HPV are thought to cause up to 70% of cervical cancer, which can result in hundreds of thousands of deaths each year. The link between HPV and cervical cancer was first made in 1981, and over two decades of research followed before a viable vaccine hit the market.
The first HPV vaccine was developed in the US in 2006, and subsequent research has led to the development of two more vaccines since.
Today, recommendations on what type of vaccine to get largely depend on age.
COVID-19
Pfizer, along with BioNTech, used breakthrough mRNA technology to create its COVID-19 vaccine. The potential of this new tech could transform science, leaders at the company said.
Vincent Kalut / Photonews via Getty Images
The COVID-19 outbreak caused billions of people across the world to go on lockdown — disputing everyday life — to curb the spread of the highly contagious virus.
During the early stages of the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top disease expert, said in front of Congress that a vaccine could be developed by the end of 2020 or available for use in 2021.
In December 2020, Sandra Lindsay, a critical care nurse, became the first person in the US to receive the jab outside clinical trials.
"As a minority, I wanted to instill confidence in my people that look like me to say that it is safe, be guided by science, don't be afraid," Lindsay told Insider at the time.
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Apple is offering big discounts on iPads, MacBooks, AirPods, and more for Black Friday.
Apple; Amazon; Alyssa Powell/Insider
Black Friday is here, and with it are deals on popular Apple products like iPads, AirPods, Apple Watches, and MacBooks, as well as Apple accessories like the Apple Pencil and Beats headphones. For Apple deals, you'll want to keep an eye on retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, Target, and Walmart.
So far, we're seeing the best prices of the year on Apple's latest 2nd-gen AirPods Pro, Apple Watch Series 8, certain iPads and Mac laptops, Beats headphones, and even the Apple Watch Ultra.
A quick note on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max — Apple announced that its supply chain is severely hindered by temporary Covid-19 restrictions at the assembly facility responsible for these models in China. If you're waiting for a deal on the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max, you should buy one now while you can, even if there's no deal available. iPhones rarely get deals, even during big sales events like Black Friday.
Just like last year, you'll find deals on most of Apple's devices this Black Friday. That includes deals on AirPods, iPads, Macs, Apple Watch, Apple TVs, and accessories like the Apple Pencil.
You'll find the best deals for current devices were announced a while ago. In this case, Apple devices released in 2021 have been getting great deals, and we're expecting as much during Black Friday.
Apple just recently announced the 10th-generation iPad and 2022 iPad Pros in October, and we don't anticipate any significant deals for those devices.
However, we have already seen deals for devices that were released in September, like the Apple Watch Series 8 and second-generation AirPods Pro. And Apple devices released earlier this year, like the M2 MacBook Air, M2 13-inch MacBook Pro, M1 iPad Air, have also been getting deals.
We've seen the 2021 Apple TV 4K as low as $100, but we recommend spending the extra $30 for the 2022 model, which has a newer and more powerful A15 processor for a smoother experience and opening apps faster than the 2021 model's A12. The 2022 Apple TV 4K will also stay smooth and fast for much longer than the 2021 model. Plus, the 2022 Apple TV 4K's remote charges via USB-C instead of Lightning, and it comes with 64GB as standard compared to the 32GB in the 2021 model.
Apple's iPhones don't typically get deals if you're looking to buy an iPhone outright, but you'll find the usual tempting trade-in and activation offers from carriers and retailers.
Should you wait until Black Friday for Apple deals?
While there were sales on Apple products ahead of Black Friday, the official Black Friday and Cyber Monday events should offer even better deals, but availability could be limited.
Where are the best places to find Apple deals?
You'll find the best Apple deals from retailers like Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and Amazon, and they'll all have similar competing deals. You should pick whichever retailer is most convenient for you. One thing to be said about retailers with physical locations is that you could have the option to pick up your item on the same day if it's in stock at your nearest store.
Looking for Apple deals on Apple's website will be mostly fruitless, as the company itself rarely hosts a deal for its own products. The company does offer gift cards, however. For last year's Black Friday, Apple offered gift cards of up to $100 when you bought an Apple device.
Oil benchmarks crept higher Friday, with Brent crude at $86.68 a barrel and WTI at $79.76.
Discussions about western countries capping Russian crude at between $65 and $70 a barrel continue.
China reported a record number of COVID-19 infections on Friday, sparking fears of slowing demand.
Oil prices edged higher on low trading volume Friday even as western countries continued their discussions about a price cap on Russian crude and China enforced further lockdown measures.
Brent crude traded 1.7% higher at $86.68 a barrel at last check, while WTI crude had climbed 2.3% to $79.76 a barrel.
Those benchmarks are still on course to finish in the red this week as talks of a price cap on Russian oil continue.
Diplomats from the G7 group of countries and the European Union are discussing capping Russian oil at between $65 and $70 a barrel as part of a broader sanctions package. Russian Urals oil slipped 5.3% on Friday to $67 a barrel.
"Talks will continue on a price cap but it seems it won't be as strict as first thought, to the point that it may be borderline pointless," Oanda market analyst Craig Erlam said.
"That's hit oil prices again this week as the threat to Russian output from a $70 cap, for example, is minimal given it's selling around those levels already."
Further Covid-19 lockdowns in China could also weigh on crude prices, Erlam said. The world's top oil importer logged a new daily case record on Friday, with Beijing putting cities across the country into lockdown. The move could reduce oil demand.
"Lockdowns in all but name appear to be popping up in major Chinese cities in an attempt to get a grip on record cases which will weigh heavily on economic activity once more and in turn demand," Erlam said.
"It's now a question of how long they last but clearly investors' enthusiasm toward the relaxation of Covid restrictions was a bit premature."
Homebuilder sentiment has plunged since March, when the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to bring down inflation and cool the housing market.
Kirk Fisher/Getty Images
At least one major builder is slashing prices to attract homebuyers.
Lennar, the nation's second-largest homebuilder, advertised Black Friday deals on its website.
Builders who were once scrambling to keep up with demand are dropping prices to keep sales moving.
At least one major homebuilder is joining the Black Friday frenzy this year, slashing prices as it tries to lure buyers back to the market.
Lennar, the nation's second-largest homebuilder, advertised "Black Friday Deals on select move-in ready homes" at the top of the home page of its website as of Wednesday. Click the link and you'd find a four-bedroom home in central Florida listed for $399,999, a price reduction of roughly $57,000. Other homes promoted on the site offered similar price cuts.
These aren't your run-of-the-mill discounts on flat-screen TVs or last season's clothing. These price drops offer some of the clearest evidence of just how much has changed for homebuilders over the past year, as they've shifted from scrambling to keep up with demand to dropping prices to keep inventory moving.
Builders were riding high in the first couple months of this year, when the average rate for a 30-year mortgage was still below 4%. But the Federal Reserve's steep interest-rate hikes, which began in March and eventually sent the average mortgage rate skyrocketing past 7%, put an end to homebuilders' rally.
Faced with the prospect of paying hundreds of dollars more for a mortgage each month, buyers retreated from the market in droves. Homebuilders' immediate prospects, and their outlook for the future, quickly soured. The National Association of Home Builders, which uses surveys to measure builder sentiment on a scale of 0 to 100, saw the monthly score fall from 83 in January to 33 in November — only slightly better than during the dark early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In July, when the housing market was reeling from a series of interest-rate hikes, D.R. Horton, the nation's largest homebuilder, said it was scaling back its production and offering more incentives to buyers to keep deals going. PulteGroup, a publicly traded builder based in Atlanta, described similar headwinds around the time.
Buyers have continued to pull out of the market amid persistent inflation and high home prices. Nearly 18% of home sales nationwide were canceled in October, the most since 2013, according to Redfin.
Lennar declined to comment for this story. But in a third-quarter earnings call with analysts in September, the company's CEO, Stuart Miller, offered a mostly optimistic long-term outlook, while conceding that the housing market was weakening and that sales would "just drop off" if the company didn't lower prices or offer incentives to buyers.
"As we bring prices down and incentives up, demand is still there," Miller said during the call.
MaryKate Murphy has worked every Black Friday at Kohl's for the last nine years.
Murphy said a lot has changed since the pandemic, but working on Black Fridays is always fun.
Lately, she's noticed shoppers focusing on products that are under $15 instead of big-ticket items.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with MaryKate Murphy, a Kohl's employee from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, about working on Black Friday. It's been edited for length and clarity.
I became a permanent employee at Kohl's eight years ago. One October, I started out as a seasonal worker, and now I'm working my ninth Black Friday at the store.
Before COVID-19, we'd open at 4 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and the store wouldn't close until midnight on Black Friday, which meant we were open for 32 hours straight. I worked 16 of those hours — eight hours each day.
Working on Thanksgiving was wild. The first few years, we'd have big-ticket items like televisions and cameras that went fast, and certain sales ended on Thanksgiving itself. Those hours were the most intense because some people would shove into the store trying to make it past other customers in order to get one of the limited-stock items with a deal.
But in 2020, because of the pandemic, we didn't open until Black Friday, and ever since then Kohl's and other big retail stores seem to have stopped opening on Thanksgiving, which is nice because I don't have to miss spending time with my family.
On Black Fridays, I have to get to the store about 30 minutes before my shift so I can find a parking spot. But once I'm there, Kohl's makes it really fun for us.
The store usually provides Wawa breakfast sandwiches for the early workers, pizza for lunch, and coffee during the day. Even though the days are long and the crowds are overwhelming, we take our regular breaks, and it's nice to have food waiting for us. For each eight-hour shift, we receive two 15-minute breaks without having to clock out, and one 30-minute unpaid meal break.
Working on Black Friday and throughout the holiday season usually means benefits for employees as well. While employees aren't able to reserve some of the limited items and deals, I've been able to get boots for my sons and other higher-stocked items before the store opens.
Kohl's usually gives us an added employee discount around the holidays as well. While our normal employee discount is 15%, Kohl's increases that to 35% several times a year. This year, it's been increased for three different windows during the holiday period. Employees are also allowed to stack coupons, which gives us even more of a discount.
If you work during the holiday season, Kohl's gives you a bonus in your paycheck, which is really great. The bonus has ranged from an added $3 to $4 per hour.
For the past few years, our big draw seems to be anything below $15
During my first few years working for Kohl's, Black Friday shoppers came for the big-ticket items like televisions, hoverboards, and game systems. Now, they seem to focus on anything below $15, such as t-shirts and small toys. I've noticed this while working at the register, and also from times when I'm tasked with restocking.
Additionally, we usually offer more Kohl's cash during the holidays than regular business times. Kohl's cash is earned by shopping at Kohl's. Typically, shoppers can earn $10 in Kohl's cash for every $50 spent, but during the holidays it's periodically raised to $15. Other promotions have included a $10-off coupon for one item, but the coupon has to be used before 2 p.m., so that brings a rush and makes the lines really long.
I really enjoy the Black Friday shoppers who are here more for the experience than for specific deals
Enjoyable shoppers are the ones who show up when we open at 5 a.m., do a little shopping, go out to brunch and have mimosas, then come back for a little more shopping before heading home.
Those people are the experts. They come with lists, they know what they want, and they have experience with successful Black Friday shopping from years' past. For many of them, success is measured by having a fun morning out with their best friend.
Of course, there are always grumpy shoppers or a shopper who's angry that the lines are so long. One time, a man held me personally responsible that he didn't get one of the deeply-discounted televisions on Thanksgiving night, but for every bad story I have there are good ones.
I love seeing people helping each other out. A few years ago, there was a woman in the toy department who grabbed two Hatchimals, a kid's toy, off the shelf immediately, but it turns out she only needed one for herself. She hung around and waited for a person who missed getting one from the shelf and decided to surprise her with the spare Hatchimal, making the other woman's day.
This year, my schedule and section are a bit different
This will be my first year going in at midday instead of first thing in the morning, so I'm looking forward to seeing how that's different from the other years. It's also my first year working at the Sephora section of Kohl's instead of in apparel, so I won't spend the whole day refolding tables full of sweaters. I can't imagine anyone coming in for a color match on Black Friday, but who knows — probably most of the shoppers in my section will be looking for gift sets and fragrances.
At the end of the day, I usually head home exhausted, but I love working Black Friday and seeing all of the people having fun shopping together. I love being a part of their preparations for the holidays.
One of the biggest things I would recommend for people who haven't cruised before is finding a travel agent or advisor who specializes in cruises
Even with me being in the industry for as long as I have, having a travel agent is helpful.
When I got married, I did a wedding cruise, and we had our ceremony in Nassau on the beach. We had a two-hour cocktail reception, then got back on the cruise.
I decided to use a travel agent because I didn't want all the guests calling me, but this travel agent was with a bigger agency and the experience was awful. I almost felt like I was telling her how to do her job.
She wasn't very flexible and I swore off using an agent. Then, I ended up joining a cruise community on Facebook, which is a huge thing because cruising is so social, and I had to book through their travel agent to go on our group cruise.
The agent and I ended up talking — and we're now best friends four years later. We even host a weekly travel talk show together going over travel news for our little travel community that we created on Facebook this year. Working with him was just a totally different experience.
When I was doing a trip this past August, my plane ended up being rerouted because of a windstorm, so we ended up landing at an airport and had to clear customs there and wait for the plane to fuel up.
It was 8 p.m. on Saturday, and I called him and he told me what I could purchase and have covered through my travel insurance. He had me send him all my receipts, submitted it all to the travel insurance company, and got me refunds for my hotel, meals, and flight.
Travel agents don't cost money — they make their commissions from the ships and travel insurance agencies or tour companies. They also get access to a completely different set of rates than Expedia or what you see online.
If somebody's preparing to go on a cruise during the pandemic, using a travel agent is huge even if you're a seasoned cruiser because the guidelines keep changing, and it's their job to stay on top of it.
Travel insurance is also great because it covers anything from medical issues to trip interruption or even theft
I'd never had travel insurance until my travel agent educated me on it, but it's been helpful already. I had my phone stolen in Paris last year and my travel insurance covered it.
Some people I know kind of don't want to spend the money, but for my husband, my daughter, and I for our two cruises at the end of August it cost $225 total. So worth it.
It's not necessarily the medical aspect that gets used the majority of the time — it's trip interruption, the hiccups, and things of that nature.
I also recommend doing your research
Watch a cruise-ship tour video and stateroom tour videos. There are websites like Cruise Critic, where people rate certain room types. You could, for example, see if anybody has stayed in Adventure of the Sea room 9244 and see the reviews on that.
My husband's a bigger guy, and the stateroom showers are kind of like tubes, so if you're a big and tall guy you might need to research what room you're booking to know what's best for you and what will be comfortable.
What people don't realize is, online they're going to have pictures of their newest and greatest ships, and not all the pictures online are completely accurate to what your room is going to look like. If you're seeing videos and pictures of Symphony of the Seas and you go and book the Brilliance of the Seas, you're frankly going to be a little disappointed.
I've had cruise regret on certain ship types that I've booked because it was cheap. And there are certain classes of ships that are not for me.
Join Facebook groups to meet people ahead of your cruise
I've met so many new people because of cruises. Facebook, as much as it's an older social-media platform, is a great hub for the cruise experience.
There are a lot of groups to choose from, too — for example, there will be a group called Adventure of the Sea June 12 that you can join and ask questions and meet with people going on the same cruise ahead of time.
You can also go to Instagram and search hashtags for your different cruises and you'll see content creators and bloggers that cruise and even other cruise-goers you can connect with. You'll also find people such as myself doing lives every week and answering questions.
There are things you can bring to make your room — which is typically much smaller than a hotel room — more comfortable
For example, I bring magnetic hooks because your walls are metal to hang my bathrobe or different things from them. I also bring a pop-up hamper for laundry. Little cruise-packing hacks.
Another thing people don't realize is you have very limited outlets, so I have a multiport charging outlet.
Before my first post-pandemic cruise, I wish we had a little more information about what the onboard experience was going to be like
I don't think I was emotionally prepared enough for how different the environment would be with the mass reduction of people onboard and how the COVID-19 protocols altered the social experience.
Another thing people need to be aware of is it's not just knowing what your cruise line protocols are — you need to keep up with your port-of-call protocols. My friend is on a cruise right now, and Barbados required masks the whole way through.
You need to be flexible, and you need to make a conscious decision about purchasing from a line that aligns with your values and wants.
Here are five ways small businesses can prepare for their Q1 this year.
Peathegee Inc/Getty Images
Small-business owners should start prepping for the new year now.
With elevated prices and potential recession on the horizon, the next year could bring new challenges.
Here are five ways small business owners can prepare for the first quarter of 2023.
For many people, the start of a new year is all about resolutions and future goals. For business owners, the start of the year welcomes the first quarter and strategy planning.
Right now, it's imperative for business owners to be prepared as they grapple with a potential recession, increased inflation, and a competitive labor market prompted by the "Great Resignation." Setting clear strategies for the year ahead can help entrepreneurs prepare, even if they're thrown another crisis-inspired curveball.
Here are five ways small business owners can prepare for the first quarter.
Dominic-Madori Davis contributed to a previous version of this article.
1. Determine your best point of sale
As COVID-19 pushed us online, e-commerce, social media marketing, and live-streaming became valuable tools for entrepreneurs. But this year, as some customers are returning to brick-and-mortar stores, it's important to decide which method of sale is best for your business.
Entrepreneurs should meet their customers where they're shopping. For many, that's still online. If you haven't experimented with livestream shopping yet, now is a good time to start. Virtual events can engage customers and incentivize them to shop online, according to the entrepreneurs who host them.
Retailers who use livestreaming typically broadcast from three to eight hours, and some Insider spoke with make $1,000 to $9,000 per event.
But not all online sales platforms are designed for every entrepreneur, so it's key to find the one — or ones — that fulfills your needs and caters to your audience. For example, retail stores should consider selling on Shopify, while service providers can try platforms like Fiverr.
Meanwhile, certain industries, like restaurants and food, should reevaluate their sales methods for the new year.
"Some companies that have made a big shift to online are actually shifting back to in-person," said Tom Sagi, cofounder and CEO at payroll company Hourly. Mom-and-pop shops that invested heavily in their e-commerce platforms to sustain business in the last two years might be able to invest in different areas in 2023, he added.
For many business owners, Instagram can be a lucrative selling platform. But it takes outside apps to make content on the social-media site pop with special filters, graphics, and fonts.
Insider asked entrepreneurs which apps and programs helped them craft the perfect posts, from editing pictures to scheduling content ahead of time.
3. Invest in new technologies
The start of the year is the easiest time to invest in new practices and procedures that can help businesses operate, Sagi said.
"Adapting technologies that help them run their business in a better and smoother way is super important," he added. He suggests improving areas like employee retention, payroll, and point-of-service systems.
Additionally, customer service is another important area for business owners.
Offer clients multiple venues to get in touch with your team, Vic Drabicky, a retail and digital-marketing expert, previously told Insider.
"If you don't have the right infrastructure in place, whether that be servers, fulfillment, or customer service, then you're putting yourself at risk," he said.
Budget line items will likely change from year-to-year, based on how your company is scaling, Sagi said. "With the new year, it's a good opportunity to do some house cleaning and make sure that everything is in check," he added.
He suggests entrepreneurs reassess financial components like their insurance, employees, and government lending programs they're using.
If the company is scaling, business owners should ensure all employees are classified properly and have workers comp insurance, if applicable. What's more, entrepreneurs should invest in hiring professionals like corporate attorneys, consultants, and other experts who could help a startup grow, he added.
Manage burnout by accepting failure
While exercise, sleep, and spending time with loved ones can combat burnout, entrepreneurs should also protect their mental health by accepting failure, Michael Freeman, the founder of the entrepreneur-mental-wellness startup Econa, said. About 20% of new businesses fail during the first two years, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"Don't criticize yourself or blame yourself," Freeman, who also works as a psychiatrist and executive coach for business owners, said. "The middle ground between success and failure is, 'We did our best, and our customers actually appreciate that we did it at our best.'"