The timing couldn’t have been worse for Drake Dukes ’16.
Just after leaving a successful Dallas position in finance, Dukes had decided to travel the world in February 2020, just when the COVID-19 pandemic arrived.
“It was poor timing. 一切都被关闭了，我不得不取消所有的旅行，所有的计划，”杜克斯说. “And going back to work—firms aren’t hiring, 所以我决定在家乡呆上一段时间，放松一下.”
不过，和赌博娱乐平台网址大全的许多毕业生一样，杜克斯总能在充满挑战的时代找到机会. “把自己锁在房间里，我想，‘现在是时候学习新技能了. 去尝试你一直想尝试的事情，但你从来没有机会或时间去尝试.’ So I decided I was going to make an app.”
杜克斯毕业于堪萨斯州威奇托市的经济学和金融学专业，他开发了这些应用程序 Support Local Dallas and Support Wichita，旨在将社交距离较远的顾客与当地的餐馆和小餐馆联系起来. On the apps, locals can see updated hours, menus, and specials, along with information about delivery, curbside pickup, and more. 这些应用程序还突出了向餐馆和服务人员捐款的慈善组织.
“Right now we crave that day-to-day interaction we’re missing. We don’t have that same sense of community right now,” says Dukes, whose apps have already garnered thousands of users. “因此，当人们看到他们社区的企业在努力保持营业时，他们可以围绕这个问题建立联系.”
Dukes in action for Trinity's football team
Finding Community
Years ago, before Dukes found himself back 在威奇托的家中，他是一个寻找新社区的准学生. He came to Trinity to “get a great education, keep playing football, meet awesome people from all over the world, and get away from the cold.”
杜克斯一直擅长数学，他来到赌博娱乐平台网址大全时计划成为一名工程师. 但是，第一学期一次很棒的经济学课程经历促使他探索了一个新的方向, while Dukes also found his way into the world of finance, which fit well with his math prowess.
对杜克斯来说，保持适应能力是一种宝贵的终身心态.
“赌博娱乐平台网址大全迫使你走出自己的舒适区，把你变成一个全面发展的学生,” Dukes says. “你可能正在上课或学习你认为在现实世界中永远不会用到的技能, 但你真的是在培养一种潜在的技能，能够接受你一无所知的东西，并学习如何成功.”
“A lot of schools don’t force you to do that,” he continues, “and you go down this strict, specialized path. That may work, but I think that when times change, you could be out a job, and you’ll need to be able to start using new skills.”
Dukes during happier times on the golf course
Shocking Shift
Just a few months ago, 杜克斯无法想象他会亲身经历这种噩梦般的场景.
After graduating, he’d moved on to a coveted position at Deloitte, “四大”专业服务公司之一，从赌博娱乐平台网址大全的商学院大量招聘. He’d worked hard to get his foot in that door, 幸运的是，他遇到了一位公司的招聘人员，她的妻子是前赌博娱乐平台网址大全橄榄球队的一名球员——这对杜克斯来说是一个完美的开场白.
The finance whiz got a job in valuation, 为惠普(Hewlett-Packard)和联邦快递(FedEx)等知名客户从事并购业务. But the job, for all its perks, 需要大量的工作时间和大量的商务旅行. Eventually, he wanted to do some travel for himself. 因此，杜克斯离开了他的职位——他认为这更像是一个三到四年的职位——并开始进入这个世界, only to end up stuck in his apartment when COVID-19 hit.
“我被锁在房间里，看着这些公司发生了什么，”杜克斯说. “整个行业从扩张期进入需求冲击期，导致许多企业倒闭. There’s so much information changing daily.”
找到一种方法来驾驭这种不断变化的信息景观对Dukes来说很有吸引力, 谁想让客户了解他们可以继续支持当地企业的方式. So, Support Local Dallas was born.
在他房间的安全范围内，杜克斯分析了250家当地餐馆. He aggregated information on hours, cuisine info, policies on delivery, takeout and curbside options, and social media pages. 他将这一切转化为积极的用户体验，吸引了超过3人,000 users in just 10 days.
“I knew nothing about web development or coding,” Dukes explains, “But fortunately, 只要你保持专注，有很多工具可以帮助你推出最小可行产品, and keep trying to improve it.”
杜克斯(右)带着妹妹阿列克谢和弟弟帕克斯顿回到了家.
Homegrown Support
最终，杜克斯想在疫情期间回到威奇托的家人身边. 但他的创新动力并没有随着环境的变化而逐渐消失. “Every city needs something like this,” Dukes thought.
So, Dukes采用了他为达拉斯应用程序构建的现有框架, and made the next step with Support Wichita, profiling almost 1,000 local businesses and beefing up his product even more.
And the Wichita community, in large part, has embraced the app. It attracted more than 7,600 users in just five days.
“More people living in Wichita are local,” Dukes says. “They raise families here. 你每天经过的商店，不只是汉堡摊. 这是一个男人养活他的家庭——你看到每个企业的个人方面.”
Dukes and his platform
The Right Moment
The drive to “support local” is not a new philosophy. So, Dukes认为他的应用程序在COVID-19危机之后有一个未来，因此有了更广泛的名字, “SupportWichita.”
“我希望人们愿意继续购买本地产品，即使我们不再处于紧急情况下，应用程序上的工具类型也会很有用,” Dukes says. “我认为人们会意识到他们的社区有多重要, 这将影响他们未来花钱的选择.”
杜克斯积累的工具和数据也可以用于一个完全不同的项目:他可以添加食品和饮料以外的其他行业. 正如他从过去几个月学到的那样，保持适应能力并没有坏处.
“It’s fine to be working hard every day, but every day you’re working on the same skills, you may be missing out on other things that are out there, opportunities to learn new things,” Dukes says. “You have to be a curious novice. 面对新的兴趣，你会说:“我真的不知道这个，但我想学。.’”
With this approach to lifelong learning, 一点“糟糕的时机”可以转化为新的增长的正确时机. “If you have time on your hands, just create something that adds value—for your community, your industry, or just you. You might be surprised how it scales over time.” Dukes says. “If not, move on to the next thing.”
