德雷克·杜克16岁的时候真是太糟糕了.
刚从达拉斯一份成功的金融职位上离开, 杜克斯决定在2020年2月环游世界, 就在COVID-19大流行到来的时候.
“时机不对. Everything got shut down, I had to cancel all my trips, all my plans杜克斯说. “回到工作岗位——公司不招人了, so I had decided to spend some time in my hometown 和 hunker down.”
But Dukes, like many 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 grads, has always found opportunity in challenging times. “Locked in my room, I thought, ‘Now is the time to learn new skills. To try things you’ve always wanted to try, but you’ve never had the opportunity or the time.所以我决定做一款应用.”
Dukes, an economics 和 finance graduate from Wichita, Kansas, has created the apps 支持当地达拉斯 和 支持威奇托, aimed at connecting socially distanced customers with their local restaurants 和 eateries. 在应用程序上, 当地人可以看到最新的营业时间, 菜单, 和特价, 还有交货的信息, 路边小, 和更多的. The apps also highlight charitable organizations that are donating to restaurants 和 service workers.
“现在我们渴望我们错过的日常互动. 我们现在没有同样的社区意识,杜克斯说。, 谁的应用已经获得了成千上万的用户. “So when people see businesses in their community struggling to stay open, they can bond around that.”
杜克为澳门金沙线上赌博官网橄榄球队效力
发现社区
几年前，在杜克斯找到自我之前 回来 at home in Wichita, he was a prospective student looking for a new community. 他来到澳门金沙线上赌博官网是为了“接受良好的教育”, 继续踢足球, 认识来自世界各地的优秀人士, 远离寒冷.”
Dukes has always been good at math, 和 arrived at 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 planning to be an engineer. But a great economics course experience his first semester propelled him to explore a new direction, 而杜克斯也找到了进入金融世界的道路, 这和他的数学能力很搭.
For Dukes, staying adaptable has turned out to be a valuable, lifelong mindset.
“澳门金沙线上赌博官网 transforms you into a well rounded student by forcing you out of your comfort zone杜克斯说. “You might be taking classes or learning skills you don’t think you’ll ever use in the real world, but you’re really developing an underlying skillset of being able to take something you know nothing about 和 learning how to succeed.”
“很多学校不会强迫你这么做,他继续说道。, "然后你就这么严格地走下去, 专门的路径. 这可能有用, 但我认为，随着时代的变化, 你可能会失业, 你需要学会使用新技能.”
公爵夫人在高尔夫球场上的快乐时光
惊人的转变
就在几个月前, Dukes couldn’t have imagined he’d ever be living this nightmare scenario in person.
毕业后, 他在德勤得到了一个令人垂涎的职位, one of the “Big Four” professional services firms that recruit heavily from 澳门金沙线上赌博官网’s business school. 他努力工作才踏进了那扇门, fortunately meeting a company recruiter who was married to a former 澳门金沙线上赌博官网 football player—a perfect conversation starter for Dukes.
这位金融奇才在估值部门找到了一份工作, working in mergers 和 acquisitions for big-name clients like Hewlett-Packard 和 FedEx. 但是工作, 所有的好处, entailed a heavy load of working hours 和 a lot of business traveling. 最后，他想自己去旅行. So Dukes left his position—which he saw as more of a three-to-four year spot—和 set out into the world, 结果当COVID-19来袭时，他被困在了公寓里.
“I was locked in my room, watching what was happening to all these companies杜克斯说. “Entire industries went from a period of expansion to having a dem和 shock that’s caused many to go out of business. 每天都有很多信息在变化.”
Finding a way to navigate this shifting information l和scape was intriguing to Dukes, who wanted to keep customers informed on ways they could keep supporting local businesses. 于是，“支持达拉斯当地”诞生了.
From the safe confines of his room, Dukes profiled 250 local restaurants. 他按小时汇总信息, 美食信息, 交货政策, 外卖和路边选择, 以及社交媒体页面. He transformed this all into a positive user experience that attracted more than 3,在短短10天内就有了5000名用户.
“我对网络开发和编码一无所知,杜克斯解释道, “但幸运的是, there are so many tools that can aid in getting a minimum viable product off the ground as long as you stay focused, 并不断努力改进它.”
Dukes (right) returned home with sister, Alexe, 和 brother, Paxton.
本土的支持
Eventually, Dukes wanted to be 回来 with his family in Wichita during the p和emic. But his innovative drive didn’t peter out with the change in environment. “每个城市都需要这样的东西，”杜克斯想.
So, Dukes took the existing framework he’d built for the Dallas app, 并迈出了支持威奇托的下一步, 分析几乎1,在当地有1000家企业，并进一步加强了他的产品.
威奇托社区在很大程度上已经接受了这款应用. 它在短短五天内吸引了7600多名用户.
“更多的人住在威奇托 是本地的杜克斯说. “他们在这里养家糊口. The businesses you pass by here every day, those aren’t just burger st和s. It’s a guy supporting his family—you see the personal side of each business.”
杜克斯和他的讲台
合适的时机
“支持本地”并不是一种新理念. So, Dukes thinks his app has a future beyond the COVID-19 crisis—hence the broader name, “SupportWichita.”
“I hope that people are going to want to keep buying local 和 that the types of tools on the app are going to be useful even when we’re not in an emergency situation any more杜克斯说. “I think people are going to realize how important their communities are, 和 that’s going to affect the way they’re choosing to spend their money in the future.”
The tools 和 data Dukes has amassed could also pivot into a different project entirely: He could add different industries other than food 和 drink. As he’s learned from the past few months, it doesn’t hurt to stay adaptable.
“每天努力工作很好, 但你每天都在练习同样的技能, 你可能会错过其他的东西, 学习新事物的机会杜克斯说. “你必须是一个充满好奇心的新手. You approach new interests saying ‘I don’t really know this, but I want to learn.’”
用这种方法终身学习, a bit of “poor timing” can turn into the right moment for new growth. “如果你有时间的话, 只要创造一些能为你的社区增加价值的东西, 你的行业, 或者只有你. 随着时间的推移，你可能会感到惊讶.杜克斯说。. 如果没有，那就继续做下一件事.”
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