Commentary

For 13 years, I poured my heart into Sage Regenerative Kitchen, my Los Angeles chain of five restaurants that employed 350 people and nourished communities with sustainable farm-to-table and local meals. By early 2020, I was poised to sell for $25 million, securing a legacy for my four young children.

Then the pandemic struck—not just a virus, but a response so arbitrary, suspicious, and devastating that it obliterated my businesses, home, farm, and dreams. While bureaucrats silenced dissenters like doctors Jay Bhattacharya and Pierre Kory and enforced nonsensical rules, corporations like Amazon and Walmart amassed billions, leaving small businesses like mine in ashes. At 46, I’m starting over, and I demand answers: Who pays for what was stolen from us?

The pandemic response wasn’t a good-faith error—it reeked of coordination and control. Governments worldwide acted in lockstep: lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and censorship. Therapeutics like ivermectin were dismissed to fast-track vaccines, as emergency use authorizations required no viable treatments. Dr. Bhattacharya, a Stanford epidemiologist, co-authored the Great Barrington Declaration, advocating focused protection for the vulnerable while keeping businesses open. He faced censorship, with emails from Anthony Fauci and Francis Collins revealing efforts to “take down” his work; social media suppressed his posts, and he endured smears. Dr. Kory, a critical care expert, championed ivermectin, testifying to Congress. He was “canceled,” lost jobs, and saw his work labeled “disinformation” by aligned media.

These doctors screamed the truth—lockdowns caused more harm than good—but were silenced to protect a failing playbook.

In Los Angeles, rules changed hourly, each more absurd. By Friday midnight, I’d get edicts: “Chairs 6 feet apart.” “No indoor dining.” “Masks off while eating, on in restrooms.” “Booths need 8-foot backs—no, 10 feet.” I spent $70,000 renovating outdoor patios, only for the government to ban outdoor dining weeks later, claiming it was “too dangerous.” I pivoted relentlessly to keep my 350 employees paid—selling vegetables, toilet paper, even low-cost frozen meals. I tried everything, but nothing stopped the bleeding.

Data showed lockdowns didn’t curb the virus but decimated economies—$4 trillion in global GDP losses, per the World Bank—yet officials ignored it. As a pregnant, unvaccinated woman, I couldn’t use restrooms citywide. My own staff, gripped by fear, reported me to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the health department, and police for lacking “proper documentation” in my own restaurants. I begged officials to reconsider. They said, “The train is moving—get on.” Americans embraced censorship, begged for restrictions, and vilified those sounding alarms.

Sage Regenerative Kitchen didn’t survive. Three of my five restaurants closed during the pandemic; the final two shuttered in 2025, crushed by debt and lost customers. I laid off 350 employees—family to me—watching their livelihoods vanish. The $25 million sale evaporated, along with 13 years of no days off, missed birthday parties and weddings, breastfeeding my babies in a booth in the corner of the restaurant, and strapping them right back to me to keep working. There was no maternity leave—owners don’t get breaks. My marriage strained; my children developed speech delays from a masked world.

I lost my farm, my sanctuary, and my home. This wasn’t a virus—it was policy. Small businesses, employing nearly half of America’s workforce, were collateral damage. A 2020 PNAS study estimated 200,000 U.S. small businesses closed permanently, while entrepreneurs like me lost generational wealth.

Contrast that with corporate giants. Amazon’s revenue soared 38 percent in 2020 to $386 billion, profits doubling to $21.3 billion. Walmart’s 2020 sales hit $559 billion, up 6.7 percent, as lockdowns funneled shoppers to big-box stores. These companies thrived while I sold toilet paper to survive. The pandemic was the greatest wealth transfer in history, funneling trillions to elites while small businesses burned.

Who’s accountable? Bureaucrats with little at stake followed orders, ignored data, and dismissed my pleas. Health officials who sidelined therapeutics, politicians who prolonged lockdowns, and tech giants who censored truth must face scrutiny. Without cost or accountability, history will repeat. After 9/11, the Patriot Act stripped freedoms under the guise of security. COVID’s response eroded more—movement, speech, livelihoods—through arbitrary mandates.

If we the people don’t stand up and say enough, bureaucrats will continue eroding freedoms, drumming up any crisis to justify control. We need independent investigations—transparent, relentless—into why dissent was crushed, why small businesses were targeted, and who profited. Governments exist to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, not to quarantine the healthy or crush livelihoods with unscientific edicts. If I miss a bill, I pay a late fee. If I err in business, I lose money. What’s the cost for leaders who destroyed Sage Regenerative Kitchen and countless other businesses?

Friends say, “Move on.” I am—rebuilding with grit, faith, and love for my four children, creating Sovereignty Ranch in Texas, an extraordinary regenerative hospitality and farming project. I didn’t intend to start over at 46, but I’m resilient, and I’ll be OK. Still, I demand accountability. As a believer, I forgive, but I won’t forget. The pain—missed milestones, financial ruin, my children’s delays—demands justice.

For my 350 employees, my community, and millions of shattered entrepreneurs, we deserve answers, reforms, and a vow: never again. This wealth transfer must be reckoned with, or we’ll lose everything.

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