“It's really hard to focus, and with exercise, I guess you can say you're keeping a sense of sanity.”

-Dexter Fabian, St. Petersburg, on combatting the added stressors of a small business owner in  a pandemic year.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — As we prepare to face a new year, we look to people who have persevered in this past year.

How did they do it?

And what are they doing next?

Dexter Fabian works out, and he is going to keep on keeping on.

That’s because it helps him in lots of ways: it beats his pandemic isolation model of working and living in the same space – all while providing time for self care.

“So considering how everything is like insane or uncertain right now it helps to have something that you can have some control over,” said Fabian. “And I think exercise and your health--it’s probably one of the few things that you have control over.”  

Fabian picked Crossfit 9 in St. Petersburg in 2009 when he got serious about getting healthy.

He’s been a part of that community ever since.

As a small business owner, Fabian says he felt more able to navigate the pandemic.

A lot of people are counting on him, and he needs to stay frosty.

The creator of “I Love the Burg” social media sites has also created Facebook groups for friends and supporters to remember smaller restaurants that don’t have marketing resources.

Fabian says his hope for the new year- that although we may be struggling, some of us mightily, we try to show kindness and empathy.

“It’s the little things,” said Fabian.

Since March, Virginia has spoken to people from all walks of life in the Tampa Bay area about Life in The Time of Coronavirus. You can see more of these stories here.