Jessica Heksem’s Grand Ledge photography studio, Le’Mae Photography, has been closed down since Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued a “stay at home” executive order on March 23 in response to the COVID-19 epidemic.

Heksem, who lives in Charlotte and opened her studio almost eight years ago, told Michigan Capitol Confidential that it took her about three years to really get established.

Unlike some frustrated owners of “nonessential” businesses, Heksem isn’t angry about the governor’s response to the epidemic; she said she absolutely thinks the lockdown was the right thing to do.

“I work very close to my clients, especially children,” Heksem explained. “I have many different families in and out of my building. There’s no way to social distance yourself in this line of work and I would never want to put anyone at risk of contracting COVID-19.”

With her studio shut down, the photographer is fortunate to have a side job to fall back on.

But as the mother of four children who can’t go back to school this year, she has her hands very full at home while her family stays quarantined.

“I work in media/news during the day so I’ve been working from home while attempting to home school my four children now that they won’t be going back to school until next year,” Heksem explained. “While I’m losing a large portion my income from being shut down, I know that it’s the right thing.”

She said her family is doing their best to abide by the state’s emergency order while Michigan struggles to contain the spread of the pandemic.

“We are pretty much locked up in the house most of the time, unless me or my husband have to go to the grocery store for essentials,” Heksem said.

Despite the challenges, Heksem said she’s trying to stay positive and boost the spirits of other small business owners who are struggling.

Heksem said she’s under no illusion that her business will immediately bounce back once the stay-at-home order is lifted.

“With so many not being able to work or bring in an income, my studio will understandably be slow for a while after reopening until people can get on their feet again,” Heksem said.

Once she can work with the public again, she is planning to offer free graduation photo shoots to students in the Class of 2020, who have had their last year of high school cut short.

What happens when one of Michigan’s idiosyncratic and successful live performance companies encounters the COVID-19 pandemic?

So far, nothing good.

Thirty years ago, Michigan natives Dan and Janice Priest were recent college graduates, working for a health care firm and taking occasional side gigs as entertainers.

Dan, now 53, had a degree in natural science and physiology from Michigan State University. He also had an interest in offbeat amusements: He founded a juggling club and took clown classes in college. Janice, now 51, was trained at the University of Michigan in opera.

It wasn’t long before their avocational amusements morphed into an entrepreneurial enterprise. They performed as clowns, balloon artists, magicians and face painters at sporting events, parties, restaurants and festivals all over Michigan, Ohio and Indiana.

By the mid-1990s, Dan (under his clown name Derby) was spending more and more time twisting balloons for pay, while Janice (who went by the name Lovely) both entertained audiences and doubled as the growing company’s business manager.

In 2000, their firm, 2clowns.com, was selected to perform at the Detroit Tigers’ new stadium, Comerica Park. Other gigs followed at the Lions’ Ford Field and the Red Wings’ Joe Louis and Little Caesars arenas. 2020 was scheduled to become their 20th straight season at Comerica.

Then came the novel coronavirus.

Early in February, there were a few warning signals, Dan said in an interview. The managers at a Monroe restaurant, where they had a weekly, family-night gig, warned them that the virus threatened the dining industry.

Shortly thereafter, their gig was cancelled. Then the Red Wings suspended the clowns’ contract, then its own season altogether.

Bookings for warm-weather events, the company’s busiest season, were coming in steadily early this year, until late February and early March. Then they were replaced by almost daily cancellations. Finally, state government-ordered shutdowns brought 2clowns.com to a standstill.

“In late February, we went from full, regular income to no income,” Priest said. “We had all these major events coming up that are the backbone of our business. Everything has been put on hold.”

The Priests’ lives were turned upside down almost overnight. Priest said they’ve investigated government-run small business assistance programs, but they are uncertain if 2clowns.com qualifies. He said he may be eligible for unemployment insurance, but that too is up in the air, and it wouldn’t make up for lost income in any event.

Just before the pandemic struck, the family refinanced their Flat Rock home with the intent of converting the basement into living space for one of their four children, a 23-year-old with special needs. Now, Priest said, they’re going to “sit on that money for awhile.”

For the time being, “we’re living on savings and donations,” he said. Former clients and fans, including some who contributed to a GoFundMe drive for unemployed clowns, have been generous, he said.

If government-ordered shutdowns are eased and public events reopened in some fashion by midsummer, the damage could be modest, he said. But only if people “begin to feel comfortable.”

Even with no government restrictions, the effects of the pandemic will likely to be profound. It may be awhile before parents are willing to sit their children down in front of a clown for a close contact face painting.

Priest said he’s started to see some glimmers of hope. His company has recently taken a few summer bookings from customers who said they’ll need entertainment, if their events go forward.

A few others have asked for limited services that can be delivered at a safe, social distance, such as balloon art. Priest said he can even imagine moving some of the family’s business online, hosting magic shows or kids’ karaoke events by teleconference.

Or he may go back to working in an elder care facility, or as a hypnotist or something else. But Priest said he is an optimist.

“We’ll get through it," he said. “You’ve got to have hope. It would take some pretty rigorous (government) restrictions to make me stop being an entrepreneur.”