WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR

Rising Forward: Stories of Change

Business EN ↓ 6 episodes

Hosted by Shannon Sims, this podcast goes behind the headlines to explore the social entrepreneurs transforming Milwaukee and beyond. Shannon leverages her networks, resources and journalistic curiosity to uncover the stories of innovative changemakers who are building businesses that solve pressing community challenges. Each episode features authentic conversations with entrepreneurs who are rising from their communities, leaning into social concerns, and creating sustainable solutions that move Wisconsin forward — embodying our state's motto. From Milwaukee neighborhoods to communities acros...

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WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR

Episodes

Fruition MKE: Tiffany Miller chose to Bloom on Milwaukee's Near West side 21.04.2026 24:01

Some business origin stories start with a pitch deck. Tiffany Miller's started with a seed. A word written on a chalkboard in a Near West Side Milwaukee classroom. A flower made for her mother's 60th birthday. A neighborhood that deserved a coffee shop someone could walk to and one woman who decided she was going to build it. Tiffany Miller is the owner of Fruition MKE — a 4,000 square foot cafe...

The Milwaukee movement changing how folks see food as medicine: Kathy Koshgarian 14.04.2026 24:01

What if the prescription your doctor handed you wasn't the only option? That question led Kathy Koshgarian to build something Milwaukee had never seen before. Today she leads Food for Health, Wisconsin's first and only accredited medically-tailored meal program, delivering real results in the communities that need it most. A 43% reduction in health care costs. Fifty percent fewer diabetic ER vis...

He paid $1 for a lot nobody wanted, then he got to work: Derrick Cainion 07.04.2026 22:01

Derrick Cainion spent 20 years helping people understand each other as a sign language interpreter. Then COVID-19 hit, his son turned three, and a vacant lot on Milwaukee's north side sat waiting. This week on Rising Forward, Derrick walks us through what he built at 35th and Vliet — ART Intersection MKE — a living outdoor gallery where art, sustainability and community healing don't just coexist...

Funding the dream, how mission-driven business actually get funded: Nina Johnson & Tony Shields 31.03.2026 24:01

There's money in Wisconsin right now looking for the right people to fund. Most social entrepreneurs don't know how to find it — or how to be ready when it finds them. In this episode, Shannon Sims sits down with Tony Shields, CEO of Wisconsin Philanthropy Network, and Nina Johnson, senior vice president at U.S. Bank, to break down exactly how mission-driven businesses get funded. They cover the...

Stephanie Melnick helping women entrepreneurs break barriers and make an impact 24.03.2026 24:01

Women are breaking barriers and rewriting the rules of entrepreneurship often in systems that weren’t built for them. Stephanie Melnick has been practicing law in Milwaukee for over 30 years. But in 2017, she realized her clients needed more than legal advice. They needed each other. So she founded She Stands Tall — a community for women entrepreneurs. Stephanie has highlighted dozens of wom...

From 14 Moves to $1 Billion: Kevin Newell's Rising Forward Story 17.03.2026 24:01

Kevin Newell moved fourteen times before he went to college. Today, he's transforming that instability into solutions — as founder and CEO of Royal Capital Group, Newell has built a billion-dollar portfolio proving that the people who lived the problem are the ones who can solve it. From redeveloping Phillis Wheatley School — the grade school he once attended — to creating the Good Hope Library,...