Pandemic or not, the competitive nature of being a creative is not a secret. One has to win the hearts of a consumer in co-existence with peers that offer more or less virtuoso-wise, are marginally different or similar to you, or just have nuances about them that make them slightly leveraged or disadvantaged.
Sometimes, you’re not even in the same line of work as them and this frees up space for one to ‘operate’. Either way, one’s creativity, intellect and ability should be able to separate them from the pack.