The Localist with Carrie Rollwagen

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie shares a story about decorating her former bookstore, Church Street Coffee & Books, for the holiday season. With the help of her family, she redecorates the shop for the holidays in just one afternoon — and they even fit in a Thanksgiving celebration along the way.   This story is part of a series to close out our 2024 season; it originally ran on The Locali...

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie kicks off her series on small business Christmas stories. Though today's story isn't about a small business itself, it's a key moment in her journey. She reflects on attending a Starbucks rally with her then-manager, Cal — who would later become her business partner at Church Street Coffee & Books. This story is part of a series to close out our 2024 season;...

Carrie shares 10 lessons she's learned during the 10 years since The Localist book was released. For full show notes, head to carrierollwagen.com/podcasts .  

Carrie Rollwagen shares a story from her days at Jonathan Benton, Bookseller, called "Harry Potter and the Piggly Wiggly Milk." As the small bookstore prepared a release party for a new Harry Potter book, they faced an unexpected challenge. Can Carrie and her team pull off the event to keep their shop afloat, or will it turn into a fiasco? This story is part of a series to close out our 2024 seaso...

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie Rollwagen shares the story of a screenprinting business called Sugartop Gumdrop, which she started with her friend John Yam. Full of creativity but lacking business experience, the two faced a steep learning curve as they tackled the Print Gocco machine, built their own store display, and eventually expanded into other products.    This story is part of a se...

In this episode of "The Localist," host Carrie Rollwagen shares easy ways to support local businesses without making significant lifestyle changes. She covers three key tips: choosing specific categories to always buy local, switching recurring payments to local services and dedicating a day to shop at local businesses. The episode aims to make the process of buying local more accessible and enjoy...

In this episode of The Localist, Gina Locklear, founder of Zkano Socks, shares the journey of maintaining a small-scale, sustainable sock manufacturing business in Fort Payne, Alabama. She discusses challenges, values and the significance of consumer choices in supporting local businesses. Locklear also highlights the impact of receiving the American Made award from Martha Stewart and her commitme...

Buy all the guides for $30 (Combo Pack): https://carrierollwagen.com/combo-pack/ Buy the main writing guide for $25: https://carrierollwagen.com/main-guide/ Buy the AI guide for $5: https://carrierollwagen.com/ai-guide/ Buy the editing guide for $5: https://carrierollwagen.com/editing-guide/   Carrie's Instagram: https://instagram.com/crollwagen Sign up for Carrie's newsletter: https://gmail.us20....

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie Rollwagen talks with Jim Watkins about establishing his business, Sons Donuts, the thoughtful design and operational decisions that set it apart and how it maintains a dedicated customer base despite competition. Jim also shares insights on his previous venture, Steel City Pops, and the lessons learned from rapid business growth and eventual challenges, emph...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen discusses the importance of nurturing new ideas by carefully choosing whom to share them with first. She outlines the concept introduced by Tara Schuster of categorizing people into "hype men," "road warriors" and "absolutely nots" to effectively protect and develop ideas before exposing them to criticism. The episode highlights the value of p...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen interviews sustainable fashion advocate Julie Maeseele. They discuss Julie's journey from imposter syndrome to finding joy in customer interactions, the challenges and rewards of creating one-of-a-kind garments and the importance of mindful fashion practices and supporting local economies. Julie's unique business model, collaborative projects...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen discusses the concepts of manager time and maker time, explaining the differences in workflow for managers who thrive on scheduled meetings and makers who require uninterrupted blocks of time for creative and deep work. She offers practical advice for balancing these two types of schedules both for individuals who control their own time and th...

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie interviews Emile Hughes, founder of RideBHM, a downhill mountain biking park in Birmingham. Emile discusses the park's creation and development, the challenges faced in transforming the land, the benefits of e-bikes, and future plans, including expanding the shuttle system and improving infrastructure to enhance visitor experiences.   Mentioned in this episo...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen discusses common misconceptions about morning routines and provides practical strategies for sticking to them. She emphasizes the importance of enjoyment, simplicity and seasonal adjustments, sharing tips from her own experience to help listeners create a sustainable morning routine. Mentioned in this episode: Carrie's Instagram: https://insta...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen interviews Crystal Salter from Sozo Trading, an upscale thrift store supporting the Sozo Children's mission in Uganda. They discuss the challenges and rewards of running a mission-driven thrift store, including maintaining cleanliness, offering significant discounts and the importance of mindful consumerism. Crystal also elaborates on Sozo's c...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen discusses the importance of building a personalized morning routine for success. She emphasizes focusing on elements like maintaining consistency, incorporating sensory experiences and including activities such as listening to a playlist, exercising, reflecting, and eating a good breakfast. The goal is to create a routine that suits individual...

In this episode of The Localist, Adam Hickman of Foxhound Bee Company shares his journey from starting a beekeeping business in his garage to expanding into a full-fledged retail store with plans for further growth. He emphasizes the importance of education, content quality and a strategic approach to ecommerce and product development, avoiding rapid scaling and big financial mistakes. Carrie and...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen discusses the value of running experiments in personal and business life to test new ideas before fully committing to them. She emphasizes setting specific parameters, time limits and criteria for success to evaluate whether a new approach is worth pursuing, inspired by insights from the Noom app's psychology-based methods.   Mentioned in this...

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie Rollwagen interviews Lee Pantazis, the owner of Gus's Hot Dogs and culinary director at the Kelly and Redmont hotels in Birmingham. Lee discusses his passion for the restaurant industry, the importance of preserving the nostalgia and community impact of Gus's and his efforts to elevate the local food scene through his work at the hotels. Throughout the conve...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen explains how to manage an overwhelming to-do list using theme days. She shares her personal experience implementing theme days to prioritize tasks and reduce stress, offering practical advice on how to create and stick to these themed schedules for better productivity.   Mentioned in this episode: Carrie's Instagram: https://instagram.com/crol...

In this episode of The Localist, Carrie Rollwagen chats with Kathy D'Agostino of Chocolatá about building a positive work environment and the journey of opening her own chocolate shop. Kathy shares her experiences from working in a chocolate shop as a teenager to starting her own business, detailing the challenges and triumphs of entrepreneurship, hiring and creating unique chocolate products. Men...

In this episode of The Localist, host Carrie Rollwagen shares practical tips on how to promote events to ensure better attendance. She discusses strategies such as charging for events, posting in multiple locations, using various content angles to promote repeatedly and sending direct or personal invitations. These methods aim to build customer loyalty, create buzz and drive revenue for small busi...

In today's episode, Carrie Rollwagen hosts Sabrina Smith and Hannah Stallings, owners of Happy Links, a jewelry company specializing in permanent jewelry. They share the challenges of balancing their full-time jobs with their business, the struggles of managing chaotic pop-up events and their excitement about opening a new salon suite location to create a more luxurious customer experience.   Ment...

In this episode, host Carrie Rollwagen discusses strategies for finding additional revenue streams for small businesses. She shares her own experiences from managing bookstores, offers practical tips such as leveraging employee input and unrelated talents, and suggests creative revenue-generating ideas like selling digital products, offering courses and creating memberships.   Mentioned in the epi...

In this episode of The Localist, Duquette Johnston, founder of Club Duquette, discusses the evolution of his business from a brick-and-mortar store to an online community-focused brand, emphasizing the importance of personal connections and authentic customer engagement. He reflects on the challenges and transformations brought about by the pandemic, his vision for hyper-focusing on small business...