Localpreneur Life: Recent Episodes
Justyna Frank
Localpreneur Life explores the lives, work and contributions of small, independent, brick and mortar business owners, and the role their businesses play in the health and welfare of our communities.
Tune in to my interview with Marian Haas, who —on a bit of a whim— took over one of Chicago’s favorite home-grown businesses, REPCHI in Jefferson Park. Just a couple of short months into small business ownership, she found herself watching online as Illinois Gov. Pritzker mandated statewide business closures in March of 2020.
We talk about how the local community spontaneously coalesced around this neighborhood gem of a business to see them through the rough spot, and the silver lining: the community realization how much they value their small business neighbors when faced with the palpable threat of losing them.
In this interview I talk with Mike Michalowicz, author of Profit First. Mike has written widely on all aspects and challenges of small business ownership, and in our conversation we talk about applying some of his best strategies for eliminating entrepreneurial poverty to a brick and mortar business.
This week's conversation is with Amy Peterson, co-founder of Rebel Nell, a jewelry design business in Detroit that grew out of a strong sense of mission to empower women at risk to transition to a life of self-sufficiency and equitable opportunity.
Together with her husband, Karen started The New Wheel, a premium electric bicycle store, with the mission to change the lived experience of her city through bicycles. The store has not expanded to three locations. We sat down to talk about working locally to create global change, and about small business optimism.
Janette is a first generation American female business owner who runs a zero-waste and refill shop in suburban Summit, NJ. We talk about starting a brand new brick and mortar at the onset of the pandemic, and bettering the health of our planet one customer at a time.
I talk with with George Karzas, a long-time owner of Chicago's iconic Gale Street Inn restaurant, about Chicago history, and the role small local businesses play in the life and vitality of the city.
Welcome! I created Localpreneur Life to be a platform where owners of small, local, independent businesses that are open to the public can find support and inspiration, and share the best ideas that help us thrive and continue to contribute to our communities. My goal is to free the small local marketplace from its reputation as a quaint relic of the past, and showcase it as an essential agent of change in building healthy communities of the future.