Unemployment during the covid-19 pandemic has reached heights unwitnessed in most of our lifetimes. No corner of the country has been untouched, from massive cities like Los Angeles to small towns like New Lebanon, New York. Relating the experiences of those who have been rocked by the crisis is business journalism at its best: concise, factual, and hard-hitting, but with a distinctly human touch.

When one of the editors at Business Insider put out a public call for journalists to help tell the personal stories of those affected by unemployment in every state, I knew I wanted to be part of the project—and maybe even part of the solution. For my contribution to this sprawling story, I was assigned New Hampshire, and set about tracking down everyday people affected by the loss of a paycheck.

My research led me to Gloria Castiglione, a multifaceted entrepreneur who was using the unusual circumstances afforded by the pandemic to prepare for her next career act. Her story, written by me in an “as told to style,” isn’t your standard business journalism, but it’s a recent favorite project of mine.