Like all of us, Cara Roach has a pandemic story. Not long before the world would learn that anything and everything in it was going to drastically change. She had just moved into her new role as Chief Operating Officer for Lancaster Management Services after being the Director of Account and Marketing.

Not knowing anything about the trade show world in 2015 when she accepted her first job at Lancaster as an account manager, she had methodically risen to a senior management position.

As a Community Manager organizing large fundraising events for the American Cancer Society, she found the job opening at Lancaster Management after getting to know President Patrick Lancaster through their sons. The boys were not only in the same class, but were regulars at the local pee wee fields in the suburbs of Indianapolis.

In the seven years before Lancaster named her COO, Roach watched as the company grew. In need of more management layers, especially with an active owner who was involved in all aspects of the business, Roach was tasked with helping oversee the day-to-day operations. Her role included putting the policies and procedures in place to complement the growth.

"We were adding more and more employees, and the growth was interesting to see develop. We not only needed more employees; we needed more managers. It became a matter of finding the holes, and plugging them up."

As Roach was preparing to head out to meet other executives in Anaheim, California for the National Products West Show, all eyes were drawn to the stories coming from the World Health Organization (WHO) surrounding a virus that was popping up all over the country. Already causing panic internationally, the COVID-19 was making its presence felt in the U.S. "Everything stopped," Roach recalls. "Things tend to start on both coasts and then filter inward. So there we were, right in the middle. At that point, we knew it was going to be a big deal. And then, it spread like wildfire."

One of her first tests of management and leadership hit at a time when there was no playbook available. What do you do when everything is turned upside down?

Roach and the Lancaster Management team learned on the fly—like the rest of us. The first step was to get everyone on board with the changes that were to come, some of which included cancelling 50 jobs a day. While Lancaster was able to keep everyone on board, salaries had to be reduced. There were some months where nobody received a paycheck (they were doubled up the next month). In a stroke of entrepreneurial genius from Patrick Lancaster and some PPP funding, Lancaster pivoted to selling Plexi shields to companies and installing them. Roach connected with the local chamber, passed out fliers and worked with a local bowling alley owner who made an introduction to the National Bowling Association. After being put on its preferred vendor list, the Plexi shield move paid off.

"The next thing you know, we're shipping Plexi shields to 200-plus bowling alleys across the country," Roach says. "They were now able to open. The move kept us afloat."

Roach credits all of the decisions that she was a part of to her ability to see things in a methodical sense. "You have to look at a challenge from every angle, so that's what I did. What did the market need? What could we do to help? What do we already have in place that can work? You cannot reinvent the wheel all the time because that takes time, effort and money. There are times when you have to find the most efficient way to execute what you have in front of you. I give credit to our owner because he is entrepreneurial."

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