Sincerely, Your Small Business

This episode originally aired in January of 2023.Born in Manila, the tiniest bit strange and a lot dramatic, PK Ross was probably meant for a life of crime boss’ mistress. Just kidding. Not about the Manila part; she was definitely born there.Hers is a typical tale of an Asian immigrant child whose only proper destiny was doctor or lawyer. But as luck would have it, after completing a degree in Biology, with a focus on genetics, at UVA, she lost herself in the culinary world.One of her part-time jobs was at the gelato shop she would eventually own. And now she finds herself a reluctant cog in the machine of capitalism, making weird food along the way.Listen in as PK shares how she came to own her gelato shop, Splendora's Gelato, what it's like to figure out how running a business fits into a community, backing intentions with action, and the myth of being "self-made".Follow Splendora’s Gelato on Instagram and Facebook!Did you enjoy this episode? Please share a rating or review, and tag us on Instagram when you listen!

Tina Page is the founder of Palm + Petal Creative, based out of Maui, Hawaii.   Her line is inspired by the islands. Palm + Petal Creative creates sustainable apparel and coastal-themed home decor.  You can find her products in boutiques and resorts throughout Hawaii or through her online shop.  Tina and her husband are originally Virginia natives, but now Maui is a place they feel grateful to call home and raise their two children.Listen to this episode as Tina shares her experiences with: letting your creativity take you to new places in your business, hearing "no" a lot, and how that's an essential part of business, and how being out in nature helps fuel creativity.For listeners of this podcast, you can use code: SYSB20 at checkout for 20% off your order!Learn more: www.palmandpetalcreative.comFollow Palm + Petal Creative on social media: @palmandpetalcreative

Do you know anyone who gives off ALL the high energy and joy? How do you connect more with those joyful parts of yourself, and set boundaries around the things that don’t fill your cup? On this episode, I got to chat with Sarah about lessons that Covid has taught us, what it means to tap into what truly makes you happy as a parent and business owner, and how family values play a role in the amount of work we take on.About Sarah:"For as long as I can remember, I have had a passion for understanding people and making beautiful images. Earning dual degrees in fine art photography and anthropology was a natural extension of this passion — a path that led me to launch Cramer Photo in 2005. In the years since, I’ve been fortunate to share glimpses of my clients’ lives and capture many important moments along the way.I focus my photography on the art of documentation.  I love to capture the in-between moments, when a bit of your inner self is revealed. Your images will be a perfectly honest reflection of you, the people you love, and the moment you’re in. I am a visual storyteller, documenting the personal and professional stories of my clients.I am thrilled to be a partner at The Bradbury. What a great team of humans! As a visionary and skilled facilitator, I shepherd very big ideas on the complex path to implementation.A few companies I have had the pleasure of founding: Cramer Photo, Shields Lab, Our Local Commons, and This Is Charlottesville. I have also published 5 cookbooks.My superpower? Seeing the beauty in all things and helping businesses and individuals tell their authentic story through imagery.Charlottesville is my home and truly I adore this community. Let me tell your story!"Follow Cramer Photo on Instagram and visit Sarah's website here.Learn about The Bradbury here.Did you enjoy this episode? Please share a rating or review so that others may learn about your listening experience. Thank you!Follow us on Instagram @sincerelyyoursmallbusiness.

Tiffany Nguyen loves throwing parties and, more importantly, bringing people together. And now? She’s taken the plunge and launched her own business, doing what I absolutely love – creating memorable gatherings.As a mother of four wonderful kids and the wife of an entrepreneur, Tiffany is well acquainted with the demands of juggling multiple moving parts, multitasking, and (by the grace of God) managing to get dinner on the table… most nights. One of her favorite activities—apart from engaging in stimulating conversations over a good glass of wine and delicious food—is championing individuals in pursuit of their dreams. Thus, in a small way, Tiffany hopes to translate the dream of your event into a reality. She possesses an eye for those distinctive details that illuminate an event, all the while maintaining a clear focus on the bigger picture.Listen in as Tiffany shares about acknowledging that your identity as an Asian-American can be a part of you, not just define who you are; celebrating moments, even if they’re fleeting; and the intersection of hard work, privilege, opportunity, and leveraging that for others.Learn more about Events by Phoenix Collective here:Website: www.phoenixcollective.coInstagram: @_phoenix_collective

This encore episode was originally launched in October of 2022. Enjoy!Chris is a baker based in the Charlottesville area, doing pop-ups all over central Virginia. She’s inspired by Americana and diversity, using local ingredients and her knowledge from fine dining to execute menus that change weekly. She’s originally from The San Francisco Bay Area, and attended Johnson & Wales University for an AA in baking and pastry, and a BS in Food & Beverage Entrepreneurship. Listen in as Chris shares about her journey to Charlottesville, how community and collaborating with other local folks is a part of her business model, and lessons learned transitioning to entrepreneurship.Follow Chris on Instagram @bakernobakery and visit her website here.Did you enjoy this episode? Share a rating or review and help others take part in these real, raw conversations.Follow us on Instagram @sincerelyyoursmallbusiness.\

Yolonda Coles Jones, also known as The Calm and Thrive Coach, is an internationalconscious relationship expert and empowered living coach. She helps reactive, drained,distracted and anxious people learn to be more at home, at peace and in unconditional Love with themselves and others so they can be more present in more of the moments that make up this one precious and beautiful life.Learn more about and connect with Yolonda Coles Jones below:Website: www.YolondaJonesCreative.comInstagram: @yolonda_j FB: The Calm and Thrive CoachFree resource: The Family Leaders Who Love Well Facebook Group: where tenacious, heart-centered, critically-thinking and wholeness-seeking Family Leaders who want to smooth out their nervous systems gather to connect with each other while they learn tobe more present and build an authentic, intentional and supportive home and family culture.

Emily Wool is a printmaker and surface designer, working out of her home studio in Crozet, VA. Her business Emily Ruth Prints strives to create beautiful and functional items inspired by nature and to honor Emily's core values of sustainability, transparency, and curiosity.Hear Emily share lessons she's learned as a small business owner, including embracing her identity as an artist, balancing between her passions and running a business, and staying genuine to who she is as a business owner.Follow Emily on Instagram @emilyruthprints and shop here.Follow us on Instagram @sincerelyyoursmallbusiness and tag us when you listen to this episode!

Critter Butts is the dream of queer, neurodivergent sweethearts Dylan & Joan. Since 2021, their work has been an ever-evolving representation of their spicy brains, their identity as transgender queers, the creatures they turn to for joy, and the humor that keeps them afloat in the midst of a crumbling culture.Listen to this episode as Joan and Dylan share their thoughts and experiences around:- being aware that you're neurodivergent and how that plays a role in the way you run your business- the surprise of having a community impact that stems from your business- developing the awareness and self-esteem that your business is not for everyone, and that's OK- being seen in your time of need and using that experience to help others Follow Critter Butts on Instagram: instagram.com/critterbuttsFollow The Beautiful Idea on Instagram: instagram.com/the.beautiful.ideaVisit and learn more: www.critterbutts.com, www.beautifulideacville.com

Listen to this episode as Elisabeth shares her thoughts on: deciding NOT to grow a business as fast as possible, and instead be stable (while still pushing the envelope); and our capacity to take larger risks when we take into account our "track records".Elisabeth’s boutique PR firm Golden Word specializes in its own special brand of PR, which they trademarked as: “talk like a human.” Pitching new business and editors with their signature mix of insightful strategy and real empathy, the all-woman Golden Word team is able to help small businesses secure big national press. Eschewing press releases and impression reports, Golden Word executes a deeply thoughtful, pinpoint strategy geared toward results, whether national broadcast segments live on Cyber Monday, viral TikToks that increase reservations 500% overnight or sprawling features that book a client’s next quarter of business.The Richmond-based firm offers PR, social media and communications consulting for a variety of brands in the food and beverage, hospitality, design, fashion and accessories spaces. Golden Word’s style and culture was inspired by this Conan O'Brien quote: “If you work really hard and are kind, amazing things will happen.”Elisabeth founded Golden Word in 2016 with a vision for creating a powerhouse little agency that chases doing good work with good people. She wanted working with Golden Word to be impactful and fun for both client and team.Before Golden Word, Elisabeth handled PR, events and partnerships in-house at luxury menswear brand Ledbury, where she literally shed blood, sweat and tears to help build the company. Before that, she worked in consumer, luxury and celebrity public relations and events in NYC for five years, She has played bouncer at Virgin Mobile's MTV VMA afterparty, awkwardly coached Katie Couric on her lines as charity event emcee, worked on eight seasons of New York Fashion Week and fibbed to clients about her age when she started her first PR firm at the age of 24. She graduated from the University of Richmond in 2005 with a triple major in journalism, French and Spanish (nerd alert).Learn more here: https://www.goldenword.co/Follow Golden Word on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenwordco/

Allison Egidi is a certified pediatric sleep coach and founder of Sleep and Wellness Coach. Her primary area of focus is sleep for newborns through early elementary-age children. She offers 1:1 virtual consultations and online courses and workshops. She also provides parents with weekly educational content on her podcast, How Long 'Til Bedtime.Listen in as Allison talks about the humbling experience of parenting, what it's like to grow a team, and learn a series of questions to ask yourself each week that can help you feel more accomplished and better prepared for the following week. We also talk about how taking care of yourself can actually help your business thrive...despite feelings of parental guilt.  Follow Allison on Instagram here and learn more about her business: https://sleepandwellnesscoach.com/

Helping others is what sparks joy in Susan. Her experience as a Birth Doula in Honduras and Ireland led her to train in massage in 2017. After giving birth to her daughter in 2020, she holds a deep connection working with women in the prenatal and postpartum periods. Her favorite sessions are Thai massage and she’s beginning to incorporate more herbs into her practice!In 2021, she quit her full-time spa job and opened her business, Latitude Massage. What she thought would be a solo-preneur endeavor quickly turned into something much bigger than herself. She now works with a fabulous team of seven and is excited to see how the massage studio continues to grow and reach even more folks in the Charlottesville community.Instagram: @latitudemassage Website: getlatitudemassage.com 

Carolyn Leasure is who you turn to when you want to fill your business with ideal clients – and still have a life offline.With SmallBiz Sidekick, she provides web design, messaging, & integrations for solopreneurs, service providers, & coaches who think “tech” is a scary word. Carolyn lays the groundwork for the smoothest online experience ever for you and your clients, helping your biz grow with ease. She believes that your brand, design + tech should work for you—not drain the time you’d rather spend doing what you love.Carolyn calls the mountain town of Charlottesville, VA home. When not constructing seamless automations or copy-driven web design for clients, she can be found playing Himalayan Sound Bowls for a meditation shortcut, or splashing and whooping down the Rivanna River in an inner tube with her husband and two sons.Launch-Your-Site Game Plan - Should you DIY, hire a pro - or something in between? Take our 8-question quiz to learn how to leverage your interests, budget, stage of business, and existing skillset in launching (or re-launching) your perfect-fit website. www.smallbizsidekick.com/quizLearn more about SmallBiz Sidekick: www.smallbizsidekick.com and follow on Instagram @smallbizsidekick

What do you do when you meet a friend who shares your same dreams, energy level, and passions? Why you start a business of course!Chelsea and Flannery met through the small business network of Crozet and immediately started hosting pop-up markets together to encourage and support a variety of female entrepreneurs in and around Crozet. What started as a small side hustle quickly became a dream for a shared retail space to house their two businesses, Bluebird Bookstop and Fancy & Nell. They agreed it would have to be the Just.Right.Place. When the little blue house became available, they knew they had to take a leap of faith. Together.  Flannery and Chelsea's vision from the start has been a place to house their businesses, for Bluebird to ship out of the back AND a place where they can bring in novelty products by all of the awesome female-owned businesses they continue to come across. Bluebird & Company's mission remains constant which is to encourage, empower, and support female entrepreneurs in whatever stage of their business journey.  Learn more: https://www.bluebirdcrozet.com/ and follow them on Instagram @bluebirdandco

Katie was born and raised in Orange County, California and in 2008, she moved to Sonoma County to pursue her bachelor's degree in Biology and found a passion for the health and wellness industry. By 2011, Katie became both an ACE certified Personal Trainer and Group Exercise Instructor and was managing both the Group Ex and Training Department at Sonoma State University.After moving to Charlottesville, Virginia in 2016, she decided to make her dream of creating her own studio a reality! Katie's training philosophy is centered around the idea of seeking progress, not perfection. "Little actions every day can create large change" is her strategy in helping people with behavior and physique change. She also believes in looking holistically at someone's life in order to seek improvements. Learn more at: www.progressyourfitness.comFollow Progress on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/progresscvl

Dr. Tamara Wilkerson Dias is an instructional designer, curriculum developer, and organizational leader with a background in learning and development across corporate, nonprofit, and K-12 educational spaces. She began her career in education, shifting into leadership development, professional coaching and consulting. Dr. Dias then transitioned to a grassroots nonprofit as CEO, focusing on the retention of educators.Her expertise and leadership garnered national recognition, and she was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2017. Each of these experiences required knowledge around shifting company culture, managing human capital, and harnessing talents to move teams forward. Dr. Dias is certified in DiSC Assessment and DEI in the Workplace Certificate. She’s also a Certified Learning Specialist. Dr. Dias holds a Bachelor’s in Spanish Linguistics and Philology, a Master’s in Foreign Language Education, and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership. She is an active member of the Association of Junior Leagues International Inc., Women United in Philanthropy, and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.Instagram/Twitter: @drtamarawdias Website: www.tamaradias.com

How often do you compare your old with your new self, and how are you showing up as your "whole self", whether it's for work or family? Listen to this episode as Holly and Ellen share about those things, as well as vulnerability with clients, what it's been like to give and receive support with your business partner, and journeying through money-mindset as female entrepreneurs.Holly Kennedy, LPC, PMH-C and Ellen Jones, M.Ed., PMH-C, are co-founders of Mother Tree Wellness - a coaching practice for every season of motherhood. Through MTW, Holly and Ellen focus on your well-being so you can find more confidence, empowerment, and joy in the daily ups and downs of motherhood. Holly and Ellen combine their professional backgrounds in mental health counseling with their personal experience as moms and their extensive training in perinatal well-being to bring information and connection to moms through private coaching and groups. Through insight, action, and connection with other women who get it, MTW strives to set the stage for you to create space to feel more like *you* in motherhood. Holly and Ellen met when they were in the weeds of early motherhood in Charlottesville, VA, where they each live with their families. In their free time - which they're always striving to prioritize - they both head into the Blue Ridge Mountains every chance they get. Holly loves spending time with her two boys, ages 8 and 10, traveling with friends, and keeping her cats out of mischief. Ellen loves spending time with her children, also 8 and 10, watching any reality show that involves people blindly jumping into relationships with strangers, and chatting with her dog all day long. Follow them on Instagram @mothertreemoms and learn more about their services here!Tag us on Instagram @sincerelyyoursmallbusiness when you listen, and please share a rating or review if this episode resonated with you. Thank you!

What does "resiliency" mean to you? Listen in as Daniel shares about what that word means to him, and what it can look like to forge your unique path of small business ownership.Daniel Perry was introduced to jam-making 20 years ago and never looked back. 15 years ago, a year out of college, he started a jam business. He bought a tent at K-Mart, borrowed a table, and set up a booth at the Farmers Market behind his Grandmother's Oldsmobile. He sold a handful of jars and his life was forever changed.Now, 100,000 jars later, he's married with two energetic toddlers, surrounded by friends & hungry customers every weekend at the City Market.When he's not busy making jam or being a husband and pop, he loves to make connections in the food community, between bakers and caterers, cheese makers and gelato makers, winemakers and mead makers. He counts himself fortunate to be among a growing number of chefs who've used entrepreneurship to escape from restaurant kitchens in search of stability, independence, and mental health.When fruit is in season, from May to September, he's a whirlwind of fruit, processing 500 pounds and making 250 jars in a series of wild 80-100 hour weeks. Every Saturday morning from April to Christmas you'll find him giving out free samples and selling jam at the City Market in downtown Charlottesville.Follow Daniel on Instagram and purchase jams here!Did you enjoy this episode? Please share a rating or review on your podcast player! 

Marc Boston is a children’s book author, and ordained minister. His stories emphasize the importance of diversity and inclusion and reflect on topics surrounding definitions of family values, and self-empowerment.Marc has published several picture books and was awarded grants from The Virginia Humanities, Charlottesville Area Community Foundation, and the Memory Project of the University of Virginia to author books for children and adults which increase diversity and inclusion to community processes and decision-making.He is published in several periodicals, is a member of SCBWI, sits on two local community boards, and serves as Youth Director at Unity of Charlottesville.Listen in as Marc shares an abundance of wisdom nuggets and personal experiences around: transitioning from working outside the home in corporate, to inside the home as a stay-at-home-parent; what it was like to write and publish a number of children's books; and what it means to nurture our hobbies and skills to build a life that is the truest reflection of our full selves. Follow Marc on Instagram and visit his website here!Did you enjoy this episode? Be a podcast rater and reviewer so that others may discover the Sincerely, Your Small Business podcast, too.

Alex Theriault, owner of Dogwood Refillery, a “Conscious Market”, followed her passion for sustainability to shift her career from corporate finance to small business ownership. Alex’s approach to Dogwood Refillery is based on the triple bottom line: people, and planet before profit; her priority is to educate the community about sustainable habits and curate an eco-conscious product offering. From non-toxic home cleaning and personal care refills to easy swaps for every day, you can find most things you need at Dogwood Refillery which is in Charlottesville near Whole Foods.Listen in as Alex talks about the unspoken challenges of retail, the idea of "80/20" instead of striving for perfection, and her goals for the store this year (2023).Local to central Virginia and Charlottesville? Check out Earth Month Festival, Sunday, April 30th from 11 - 4. More information here!Shop online and read the blog at: https://dogwoodrefillery.com/Stay connected with Dogwood Refillery and their community at: https://www.instagram.com/dogwood.refillery/Did you enjoy this episode? Please share a rating or review!

Jen Siomacco (they/them) has been working in digital marketing, tech and user experience for more than 10 years. In 2020, Jen founded a small digital marketing agency in Charlottesville, VVITCH Digital, and since then they and their team of skilled creatives have helped more than 40 small businesses achieve their marketing goals. As a queer and disabled business owner themselves, Jen loves any opportunity to advocate for accessibility and inclusivity in their work.Listen in as Jen shares their experiences starting and growing a business--and one that is structured to work with their lifestyle. We talk about people pleasing, making choices to take care of our health and well-being, boundary-setting so that not only our businesses can grow, but we can thrive, and what it's like to grow with a team. Learn more about VVITCH Digitial and follow them on Instagram.Did you resonate with this episode? Please share a rating or review!New episodes launch every two weeks. Thank you for your support.