This Is Small Business

You don’t need to have it all figured out before you start. This latest season of This Is Small Business was full of founders who began with a problem they couldn’t ignore, made mistakes, changed direction, and learned as they went. Catch up on the stories, lessons, and advice from founders who figured it out the hard way. We’ll be back with more episodes soon! Until then, we’ll be sharing Small B...

What if the conversation you’re avoiding is the one your business needs most? A lot of founders start a business because they have an idea, a product, or a vision they believe in. But at some point, building the business also means learning how to lead people, give feedback, handle tension, and communicate when things feel uncertain. Ashli Carter , senior lecturer in management at Columbia Busines...

Your first business might not work out but it can show you how to build a better one. After years in hospitality and teaching cocktail classes to thousands of people, April Wachtel saw a gap: people wanted bar-quality drinks at home, but didn’t always have the time, tools, or ingredients to make them. So she launched Swig and Swallow – a cocktail batching and delivery business that didn’t quite wo...

What would you give up to build something bigger than yourself? After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Reubens Amedee left his successful finance career to build a school on his grandfather’s land. But keeping that dream alive meant finding a sustainable way to fund it. That’s how Papa Rozier Farms was born – a beauty brand built from Haitian grown castor and moringa, family legacy, and a mission to...

What if your biggest competitive advantage is your story?  When Akruti Babaria couldn’t find tools to help her son connect with his Indian heritage, she turned that gap into a business. What started as selling curated children’s books quickly evolved into Kulture Khazana – a brand built on storytelling, cultural connection, and community. In this episode, she breaks down how she validated dem...

What separates the businesses that get funded from the ones that don’t? Angela Lee, a professor at Columbia Business School and founder of 37 Angels, has helped evaluate over 20,000 startups and knows exactly what makes investors say yes. In this episode, Angela breaks down how to think like an investor, what metrics actually matter (hint: it’s not just revenue), and how to turn early traction int...

What happens when a simple craving turns into a nationally recognized brand? For Alejandro Lopez, it started with brunch. Frustrated by inconsistent Bloody Marys at restaurants, he began experimenting in his own kitchen – searching for the perfect mix. What began as a passion project quickly turned into Toma Beverage Company. In this episode, Alejandro shares how he tackled product development and...

What happens when you take a centuries-old tradition and introduce it to a modern audience? That’s the question Brenden Silverman set out to answer with Leilo, a wellness drink inspired by kava – a traditional beverage from the South Pacific known for its calming properties. What started as a college experiment (complete with questionable early recipes and brutally honest feedback at frat parties)...

What if design isn’t the finishing touch on your business but the foundation? Sally Chung thinks most founders have it backwards. They obsess over logos, colors, and aesthetics, while skipping the deeper work that actually determines whether a product succeeds: understanding the user. In this episode of This Is Small Business , Sally – founder of Designpreneurs & Co. and professor at Parsons S...

She didn’t mean to disrupt the gum industry. She just wanted gum that wasn’t made of plastic.  When Caron Proschan first found that out, she couldn’t ignore it. One piece of neon-blue gum after a healthy lunch sent her down a rabbit hole that ended with her hand-making natural gum in her apartment. In this episode of This Is Small Business, Caron shares how reading one ingredient label set of...

What if the biggest thing holding you back isn’t your idea… it’s the way you’ve been trained to think? Ashish Bhatia is basically a therapist for entrepreneurs and in this episode of This Is Small Business, he breaks down why “just be confident” is the worst advice ever, and what actually works instead. As a professor of Entrepreneurship at NYU Stern, Ashish has helped hundreds of founders go from...

What do you do when you realize the “safe” path isn’t actually your dream? Brandon Fuhrmann went to law school, passed the bar… and then walked away – because building Cooler Kitchen, a space-saving kitchen brand born in a tiny NYC apartment, sounded way more fun than billing hours forever. In this episode of This Is Small Business, Brandon breaks down how he actually built Cooler Kitchen – from c...

What if the thing everyone avoids talking about is actually your best business idea? When Katie Diasti realized how awkward and outdated period care still felt, she didn’t wait for someone else to fix it. She built Viv – a brand rooted in honesty, education, and actually listening to people. In this episode of This Is Small Business, Katie shares how a college class project turned into a real comp...

Running a business is more than strategy and numbers. It’s momentum, pressure, excitement, and responsibility–often all in the same day. It’s making decisions without perfect information, trusting your instincts, and living with the outcome. In This Is Small Business , host Andrea Marquez sits down with founders and creators to talk honestly about what it’s really like to run a business. The highs...

Building a business can often seem like a solo mission. But founders who thrive know that success doesn’t come from hard work alone — it comes from having the right people in your corner: those who understand your mission and are invested in your growth. In this Small Business Byte on This is Small Business, host Andrea Marquez dives into how to build, and lean on, a support squad that keeps your...

Every small business owner dreams of seeing their product go viral. It’s exciting to imagine your business blowing up out of the blue, but these moments aren’t as random as they seem. What looks like a sudden spike in attention is often months of preparation, small bets, and calculated risks coming together at just the right moment. In this Small Business Byte on This is Small Business, host Andre...

No one gets it right on the first try. But every great idea has a few misses behind it – because getting it wrong is how you finally get it right. In this Small Business Byte on This is Small Business, host Andrea Marquez explores why the secret to finding your winning idea often lies in what doesn’t work. From testing products that flop to pivoting when plans fall apart, embracing trial and error...

Before you pour time, money, and energy into a new idea, how do you know if people actually want what you’re offering? The answer: market research. In this Small Business Byte on This is Small Business, host Andrea Marquez breaks down how to test your ideas before going all in. From spotting market trends and scoping out competitors, to collecting honest feedback from real people, Andrea shares pr...

When one stream of income slows down, how do you keep your business moving forward? For a lot of entrepreneurs, the answer is diversification. In this Small Business Byte on This is Small Business, host Andrea Marquez unpacks how building multiple revenue streams can help you reduce risk and keep growing without spreading yourself too thin. You’ll hear how Blake Shook of Desert Creek Honey diversi...

This is Small Business  host  Andrea Marquez  joins  Helium 10’s VP of Education and Strategy, Bradley Sutton , for a dynamic recap of  Amazon Accelerate 2025 . Together, they dive into the latest releases and initiatives reshaping the seller landscape, and reflect on how the event has evolved to deliver even greater value for sellers. In this episode Bradley and Andrea co...

This episode is presented in both Spanish and English, with the original voices of the guests. What if the biggest risk isn’t falling, but staying invisible? After a near-accident on his motorcycle, Gonzalo Zamora, the co-founder of Riderbag, realized his black backpack was blocking out his reflective gear and decided to invent the solution himself. With his longtime friend and co-founder Carlos C...

What if the biggest risk isn’t falling, but staying invisible? After a near-accident on his motorcycle, Gonzalo Zamora, the co-founder of Riderbag, realized his black backpack was blocking out his reflective gear and decided to invent the solution himself. With his longtime friend and co-founder Carlos Colarte, Gonzalo turned a pencil sketch into a global product, navigating missteps, cash-flow ch...

What if failure wasn’t the end but the beginning? Dr. Amy Edmondson, Harvard Business School professor and author of The Fearless Organization and The Right Kind of Wrong, says that failure is not proof you’re falling behind – it’s proof you’ve taken a risk. And if you set it up right, it can actually be the key to progress. In this season finale of This is Small Business, host Andrea Marquez sits...

What would you do if family duty came calling – along with a big ol’ guilt trip? For Adia Howard, the COO of her family business RA Cosmetics, it meant leaving behind her steady career as an occupational therapist to dive into the unknown world of entrepreneurship. Andrea Marquez sits down with Adia to talk about how she’s not only redefining leadership but also carrying her family’s legacy forwar...

Entrepreneurship will always involve risk so how do you learn to control it instead of fear it? Dr. Lois Shelton, Professor of Management at the Nazarian College of Business and Economics at California State University Northridge, joins host Andrea Marquez to break down why the most successful founders aren’t thrill-seekers. They’re calculated decision-makers who know how to test ideas, filter fee...