A Suggestion From Me

Don’t visit small businesses because you have to. Do it because your choice can make a real difference in someone else’s life.

As we all do last-minute shopping for Christmas, I wanted to encourage all of you, to the extent you can, to remember to support small businesses.

I know for some people this is not possible, that online shopping is a necessity, and that they don’t always have the time to go out, but if you can do it, please make the effort.

The way our economy and attention economy work now, sometimes all of us need a reminder to take the time to patronize small businesses.

As I have done shopping at small businesses, I have found business owners who are genuinely grateful, sometimes almost emotional, that someone has chosen to walk through their door and spend some money.

I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to do this. That often leads to people going in the opposite direction. Do it out of care for the people who own these businesses, the people they employ, and the neighborhoods that deserve to feel alive.

My mom and step-dad, along with my ex-husband Angelo, are small business owners. They own Vivian’s Millennium Cafe in Studio City — they struggled through COVID, and then through what came after: soaring rents in California, rising costs, and constant uncertainty.

Their experience is not rare.

What they are dealing with is happening to small business owners across the United States.

At the same time, I know many people are barely surviving. People can’t afford groceries, rent, and basic necessities. This did not happen by accident. These are the results of policy choices and priorities set by elected officials, and the impact is being felt by all of us.

In the entertainment business, people who spent their lives working behind the scenes, camera operators, makeup artists, hair stylists, lighting crews, are being forced to leave Southern California or start new careers at a point when they should be preparing for retirement.

Things can feel dystopian here in Southern California: empty storefronts, struggling businesses, and neighborhoods that look like a Walking Dead set.

Small business owners are not asking for sympathy.

They are asking for a fair chance, a chance to survive in an economy where everything costs more and support feels nonexistent.