Indie Business Podcast

W elcome to Episode 50 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I introduce you to Meagan Sincock of Wildly Natural in Bennington, Kansas. Wildly Natural is a fun and fairly new mineral makeup company run by a woman who loved makeup so much that she talked her mom into becoming a Mary Kay consultant just so she could have a never ending stash at her disposal. As you'll hear, Meagan is an es...

W elcome to Episode 49 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I introduce you to Ronda Porter-Altema of Soude Haiti, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping the people of Haiti build self-sustaining businesses and become more economically empowered. I recorded this interview just a few short days after Hurricane Matthew left a path of death and destruction throughout Hait...

W elcome to Episode 48 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I'll introduce you to Toushonta of Scent_sa-tional Soaps in Los Angeles, CA. As you'll hear on this episode, Toushonta has had two phases of her business. The first was a warmup phase, which ended when she worked through a bit of an entrepreneurial desert as she dug deep into herself to decide whether she wanted to really pursu...

W elcome to Episode 47 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I'll introduce you to Andrea Hence Evans, Esq. of The Law Firm of Andrea Hence Evans outside my fabulous hometown of Washington, DC. (Sorry for calling it episode 46 in the podcast recording.) As you'll hear on this episode, as a former practicing attorney myself, I was excited to meet Andrea on Twitter several years ago. Since...

W elcome to Episode 46 of the Indie Business Podcast! This episode marks a bit of a milestone: it's the first ever in which I am not interviewing a guest. I am not changing the things permanently. I will continue to bring you the best inspirational stories of Makers around the nation, but I am changing things up a bit this week to celebrate Independence Day 2016. In this episode, which is much sho...

W elcome to Episode 45 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I'll introduce you to Christina Wennstrom of Soap Seas in Redondo Beach, California. Before we dive in, I want you to know that I recorded this episode at my mother's dining room table on a day when her alarm malfunctioned and my children had just started summer vacation. Please be forgiving when you hear a few beeping sounds i...

W elcome to Episode 44 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I'll introduce you to Khadija Dawn Carryl of Henna Sooq, Elkridge, Maryland. Khadija launched Henna Sooq 11 years ago when she was the mother of four kids under the age of six. Today, her business has multiple income streams, and she credits a great deal of her growth to her willingness to engage personally with people. Today,...

W elcome to Episode 43 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this episode, I'll introduce you to Jennifer Hardaway of KleanSpa in Burbank, California. As you'll hear first-hand, Jennifer got the idea for her brand in December 2004 while driving down the street, just minding her business. By 2005, she was making and retailing sugar scrubs and other bath and body products at a new website and local mark...

W elcome to Episode 42 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this podcast episode, I introduce you to Michelle Smith of MamaSuds, Maker of natural cleaning products in Goodrich, Michigan. Michelle is a former middle school teacher who began making household cleaners for her family after she and her husband began their family. Encouraged by her husband, Michelle took the first tentative steps toward se...

W elcome to Episode 41 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this podcast episode, I introduce you to Kara Brook of Waxing Kara and The Honey House in Owings Mills, Maryland. Kara says that entrepreneurship is in her DNA. As you'll hear in the first part of the interview, her business experience includes leading Internet-based startups, but the truth is that Kara has always been an artist at heart. Am...

W elcome to Season 4, Episode 4 of the Indie Business Podcast! This season is all about celebrating finalists in the Martha Stewart American Made Awards. So far, I've connected you with Riche Holmes Grant from the Style category, Gilyn McKelligon from the Design category, and Colin Fickes and Mary Collins from the Food category. Today, it's about the Crafts category, and I'm pleased to introduce y...

W elcome to Season 4, Episode 3 of the Indie Business Podcast! This season is all about celebrating finalists in the Martha Stewart American Made Awards. So far, I've connected you with Riche Holmes Grant from the Style category and Gilyn McKelligon from the Design category. Today, it's about the Food category, and I'm pleased to introduce you to Colin Fickes and Mary Collins, the brother/sister t...

W elcome to Season 4, Episode 2 of the Indie Business Podcast! This season is all about celebrating finalists in the Martha Stewart American Made Awards. Last week, we brought you Riche Holmes Grant , our choice from the Style category. Today, I am thrilled to introduce you to Gilyn McKelligon of Hannah Bergen in Portland, Oregon, our choice from the Design category. Hannah Bergen makes easy-to-us...

W elcome to Season 4, Episode 1 of the Indie Business Podcast! This season is all about celebrating finalists in the Martha Stewart American Made Awards. We start with the Style category, and our featured Maker of choice is Riche Holmes Grant of BambiniWare in Silver Spring, Maryland, and I am thrilled to introduce you to her. BambiniWare makes smart + stylish gear that makes sense, works well and...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 12 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this twelfth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, I will introduce you to Amber Hawthorne of Bambu Earth in San Juan Capistrano, California. Amber just hosted the soft opening of her store this past weekend, and she tells us all about it in this episode. You'll also enjoy hearing how Amber used Kickstarter to fund her dream...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 11 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this eleventh episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Cindy Jones, Ph. D. of Colorado Aromatics in Longmont, Colorado. Cindy started her business 10 years ago on the heels of a career as a chemist and microbiologist. After serving as a medical writer while her children were very young, she began to see a need in the...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 10 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this tenth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet La Shonda Tyree of Handmade Soap Coach in Paterson, New Jersey. Before La Shonda opened her soapmaking studio in Paterson, New Jersey, her business underwent multiple changes and growing pains. She started out making and selling her handmade soaps at fairs, markets...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 9 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this ninth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Deb Jasien of Fields of Ambrosia in North Conway, New Hampshire. Deb, a former theatrical set designer, has owned her business since 2001, and her store in 2007. Deb also wholesales her products, but she is very picky about what stores she will sell her products to....

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 8 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this eighth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Roberta Perry of Scrubz Natural Skincare in Farmingdale, New York. (NOTE: This written article has been updated to reflect the relocation of the retail store to a new city. The audio still contains the old address.) Roberta has been a member of the Indie Business Ne...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 7 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this seventh episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Kristin Fraser of The Grapeseed Company in Santa Barbara, California. Kristin calls herself a “born entrepreneur,” and with good reason. She was born into a family of people who encouraged her entrepreneurial mindset, and she started her first business,...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 6 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this sixth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Torrian Howell of Dorneé Natural Body and Hair Luxuries in Twinsburg, Ohio (near Cleveland). Torrian is the single mother of one son, and even with her business going gangbusters and a newly opened retail store, she still holds down a full time job. Torrian has been...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 5 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this fifth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Kismet Andrews of Bar Maids in Brush Prairie, Washington. Kismet held down a full-time job working eighty hours a week for several years after the started her business, and when she finally quit, she never looked back. Today, Kismet owns and manages a retail shop in...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 4 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this fourth episode of my Makers on Main Street series, you'll meet Michelle Rhoades of Mossy Creek Soap in Perry, Georgia. Michelle's introduction to business ownership began with a foray into the world of direct sales. She was very successful at it, but when the company folded, she found herself with an active list of customers an...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 3 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this third episode of my Makers on Main Street series, I introduce you to Jamyla Bennu of Oyin Handmade in Baltimore, Maryland. You'll be so inspired by how Jamyla has grown her business from a tiny kitchen operation to a retail store with production space built in, a fully operating salon (where Oyin Handmade products are used excl...

W elcome to Season 3, Episode 2 of the Indie Business Podcast! In this second episdoe of my Makers on Main Street series, I introduce you to Keith Emmons and Robert Ungemach of Opportunity Market in Dallas, Texas. Keith and Robert are partners in life and in business, and each serves a different leadership role at the business. Keith's and Robert's individual and collective passion for Makers and...