As Joanna McFarland, co-founder and CEO of HopSkipDrive, an on-demand ride service for kids, was steering the firm to its best year ever thanks to a nationwide bus driver shortage, Covid struck, and children stopped going anywhere. With afterschool programs closed indefinitely, McFarland had to lay off most of her staff. A clutch pivot would save the business. McFarland looks back on a momentous year. –As told to Marli GuzzettaAt a birthday party, all the moms were commiserating over impossible transportation issues. I was feeling guilty that I couldn’t get my son to karate at 3 p.m., and I joked …
