DetroitIsThis

Mat Ishbia, CEO of Pontiac-based mortgage lender United Wholesale Mortgage, discusses his time on a championship Michigan State University basketball team. Now as CEO of a homegrown mortgage lender with over $100 billion in loan originations last year, he's focused on steady growth in a cyclical industry. We discuss early life, family, and current successes.

In this episode, we are joined by Roslyn Karamoko. Roslyn is the brainchild behind Detroit’s premier label and concept shop Détroit is the New Black. Roslyn holds a B.A. in Fashion Merchandising from Howard University. She believes that fashion is evolutionary and not revolutionary, and with her current business, she aims to change the fashion scene in Detroit by setting up a collaboration between both national and local designers. We talk about how she came into the fashion space because of an eye for design and how from early on in her life she used fashion and design to express herself. She talks about how society drives fashion and fashion provides perspective to the society, and also how fashion has helped her to raise her voice and express her political views. We discuss the importance of an online marketplace for local businesses in light of COVID-19 where Roslyn shares her 3 tips to handle business situations during the pandemic.

Detroitisit founder Ivana Kalafatic talks to Liz Blondy of Canine to Five, Metro Detroit's finest in dog service, about deciding to open a dog daycare and how Detroit has changed over the years for small business owners.

Detroitisit founder Ivana Kalafatic talks to Detroit business leader and community maker, CEO of TechTown Ned Staebler about the challenges of the times, the opportunities for small business, and the solutions to thinking bigger when we find ourselves facing hardship.