#WFH Diaries: PR Consultant Jessica Fuchs

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on everyday life, we’re checking in with people in the creative industry to see how they’re faring. Here, Germany-based PR consultant and recruiter Jessica Fuchs shares her creative coping plan.

Muse: Give us a one-sentence bio of yourself.

Ex-journalist (and cook, and DJ) turned PR consultant 20 years ago, thrown into advertising without thinking twice, never regretted, mostly into excellent creative, and topmost into weird commercials.

Where are you living right now, and who’s with you?

Hamburg, Germany. With me are my two girls and our cat Minki.

What’s your work situation like at the moment?

Nearly all of my clients are hit hard by the economic coronavirus crisis, so there’s mostly crisis communication (and lots of heads-up talk) right now.

Describe your socializing strategy.

I. Keep. To. Myself. All work socializing down to digital and phone calls. My closest friends have a WhatsApp group, and we update it with our lives and thoughts. Today I saw my best friend to give her some money because she ran out (no jobs)—we didn’t hug or kiss, that was weird. I have to keep my 80-year-old mum at bay, which is hard because she’s not buying into coronavirus prevention. She misses her grandchildren.

How are you dealing with childcare?

Since all German schools have closed for the next month, my kids are at home most of the time. Teachers try to engage them into doing school stuff online, but to them it feels just like vacation, only without friends or activities. I realized pretty quickly how much I depend on external childcare, including feeding them. I have to cook so much right now.

What are you reading?

Lipshitz Six by T Cooper.

What are you watching?

Modern Family.

What are you listening to?

All these lovely home-alone concerts by artists like John Legend and Chris Martin.

How are you staying fit?

A little yoga, a lot of bike riding.

Have you taken up a hobby?

None, besides getting to know our new cat Minki.

Any tips for getting necessities?

More and more shops and restaurants in my area, which had to close to the public, offer home delivery. Try that instead of Amazon!

An awkward moment since all this started.

Every day when I cycle past our office and peek at the closed blinds. Sigh.

Best work email you got since all this started.

Not any special one, it just moves me every time people write “Stay safe” or “Wishing you good health.” It takes work emails to a personal level like never before.

An aha! moment since all this started.

I was listening to a podcast by a well-respected (and now widely known) German virologist, Prof. Christian Drosten, last week, when it hit me: This won’t go away anytime soon. This will affect all of our lives severely. Act accordingly, Jessica.

What’s your theory on how this is going to play out?

It’ll go on for at least a year. If our German government won’t shell out loads of bucks to the advertising community and commercial film industry with its many freelancers, most of my friends (and maybe even myself) will go down with it.

See the full “WFH Diaries” series here.