GrowThat Small Business Podcast

Rory is the owner of Ugly Duck Coffee, a small coffee shop in Rochester. I dropped by his shop, and we recorded this interview from inside his shop. You'll hear how he and his wife started the coffee shop with a pop-up, mobile coffee bar, and how they got to where they are now. Rory shares his thoughts on management and building a team; his heart for approachable coffee and incredible customer service, and more. If you're a small business owner - especially a coffee shop owner - don't miss this one.

In this episode, you'll hear from Evan, the founder of Moo - a classic burger and food joint, with a relentless focus on highlighting the purity of the ingredients, supporting local farms, and a chef-like obsession with getting the basic things right. Everything from the grass-fed beef for their burgers, the potatoes for their fries, the ice-cream for shakes, and recently even the potato buns for the sandwiches are locally and mindfully sourced. Here are some cool things you’ll hear in this episode: Evan’s mindset on business and his focus on being true to himself and remaining unique. His philosophy on hiring and taking good care of employees. His firm commitment to buying and supporting local. How he thinks of his restaurant as a canvas or a creative studio. His chef-like, meticulous preparation of the food (down to the pickle slice thickness). I think that Moo is an awesome example, of being "the best in the world". If you’re in that area of Pennsylvania, they are (in my opinion) the best in the world at classic food, made with high quality local ingredients. You'll struggle to find anywhere else to go to get an experience like that.

In this episode, you’ll hear from Nick the owner of Modern Male Barbershop. Modern Male is a barbershop seeking to bring back the lost art of barbering, and cultivate a place where fathers and sons can come and have the camaraderie that they used to, when the barbershop was a pillar in the community. It's a place to gather, meet, talk over a root beer or a beer, have a conversation, and leave looking and feeling great. In the episode you’ll learn: How Nick grew from one chair, and one barber (himself) to multiple locations, a barber training school int he works, and an apprentice program. Lessons he learned from his business mentor and coach How he thinks about creating a place where his customers and his employees are well taken care of The need to put in systems and processes to keep growing in a healthy way And a ton more... This may be one of the most “business-focused” episodes I’ve done, so there’s a lot of gold here if you’re a small business owner. If you haven’t gone through the process of developing an employee manual and communicating your vision to your employees, thinking about large-scale employee training, and the like- you’ll enjoy learning from Nick.

In today’s episode, I’m talking with Matt, the owner of Backyard Beans Coffee - in Lansdale PA. You’ll hear: How Matt went from roasting using an air-pop popcorn maker he got at the thrift store, to being carried by Whole Foods and roasting hundreds of pounds of coffee a week. How he took the leap to full-time, leaving his really stable, well-paying career job to jump into Backyard Beans full time, with the help of his business partner and wife, Laura. How he thinks about management and engaging with employees. We’ll also talk about how they got their branding so on-point, and utilize the talent of their employees and hired talent to make amazing Instagram content, keep a beautiful website, and more. In my humble opinion, I think Backyard Beans offers some of the best coffee in the nation, and while it’s a somewhat young company still, Matt, head roaster Bobby, and the whole team have done an amazing job to craft the brand that exists today.

A short solo episode recapping the takeaways from prior guests. I'll talk about: overcoming fear, staying true to yourself, seeking help and council, working hard, and investing in your brand. After this comes another series of discussions with amazing small business owners.

In today’s episode, I’m talking with Stacy, the owner of Love Obsessed, a small jewelry and clothing boutique brand. Love Obsessed actually started as a jewelry brand carried by the likes of Urban Outfitters and is now a full fashion boutique with three locations in Pennsylvania. In this episode we’ll talk about: -How Stacy started Love Obsessed because she was pregnant, and wanted to contribute financially to her family... -How she started making the first few - then the first few hundred - pieces of jewelry by hand and scaled it up from there -How she got carried by stores like Urban Outfitters -And then how, and why, she pivoted to expand into a boutique focused on fashion as well Connect with her at: Her VIP FB Group @loveobsessed

In this episode, you’ll hear from Sara, the founder of Rye Goods - a bakery in Costa Mesa CA. There were so many awesome things from this interview. If you’re afraid to take the leap, and working for another company - you’ll hear how Sarah took the leap to start her own business after years of baking for other businesses -If you think it requires $50,000 out the gate - take note of how she started super lean, with low overhead, in a food truck -You’ll also learn how she got her first customers and wholesale accounts -And probably most importantly - how she doesn’t sway from her vision. One of the things that impressed me most about Sara was that she’s doing this her way. She’s passionate, and committed to delivering the best breads and foods possible. She’s relentless about quality and the purity of what she does, she works 12-16 hour days just about every day, and she’s in this because she absolutely loves it. CONNECT https://www.ryegoods.com/ @theryetruck

Brittany, the owner of Salty Blonde Cut Co., a collective of talented stylists and colorists located in Eastside Costa Mesa dedicated to fresh cuts and innovative color. She shares how she went from being a single hair-stylist, to starting her own brand and creating her own salon. Topics Covered: How she started her own salon The importance of innovating in your space Not worrying about competition Using Instagram to brand yourself and highlight work And more! Plus, a bonus interview at the end that you won't want to miss. Connect with her at: https://www.saltyblondecut.co/ @saltyblondecutco

Edit: GrowThat has become Pollen (WooHoo!), so althought you'll hear "GrowThat" in the show, the app is nowe called Pollen. Hope you love it! SUMMARY This episode we’re talking with Ally from Neat Coffee in Costa Mesa, CA. Her journey to starting Neat began in 2010, after she married her husband David, and they spent their first year of marriage in Uganda working for non-profits. During a visit to a local coffee farm, she saw the process of making coffee from beginning to end, and a seed was planted to come back and start her own shop. After coming back home, she worked for 4 years in the industry to learn more about running a coffee shop, and then took the leap. Ally has an amazing heart for community and loves how coffee brings people together, and this is her story. TOPICS Overcoming fear and taking the leap to starting a business Starting lean and small Perfecting your product before expanding Creating community Hiring your first employees The importance of brand, visuals, and graphic design Advice for aspiring business owners What’s next (Neat 2.0) CONNECT Web: http://www.neat.coffee/ Instagram: @neat.coffee

Edit: GrowThat has become Pollen (WooHoo!), so althought you'll hear "GrowThat" in the show, the app is nowe called Pollen. Hope you love it! Hey there! Welcome to the Pollen Small Business Podcast. I'm Jeremiah, the founder of Pollen, and I'll be the host of the show. I wanted to create this introduction episode to tell you what you can expect in each episode. First, let me clarify what I mean by “small business”, because technically, a small business could be a large manufacturing plant, or a privately owned software company. What I mean by “small” is: local, brick and mortar, artisan businesses that produce something for people to enjoy. So in each episode I'll be talking with a small business owner that's doing something really awesome in their space: from coffee shops, to breweries, boutiques, bakeries, hair salons, and more. You'll get to hear the story of how they got started, why they chose to start a small business, and: obstacles they had to overcome growing pains they had as they grew more successful how they think about running their business (managing employees, hiring, etc.) and more They'll also share advice for anyone thinking of starting a small business. My hope is that whether you're a small business owner, someone thinking about starting a small business, or just a supporter of small business - you'll come away inspired, motivated, and get takeaways to help you grow and run your own business. So that's a little bit of information about the show, and what to expect. Now - you may be wondering what Pollen is. Well, basically - GrowThat is an app that lets small business owners get more new customers through word of mouth referrals. It lets you create your own referral program (or, refer-a-friend program), that runs automatically and tracks your program's success. My goal at Pollen is to help small business owners get more customers, every year, the best way possible: through word of mouth. Pollen is meant to make it easy, and automated, and we'll be adding new features all the time to help businesses grow. If you want to try it, you can head over to Pollen, and try it free! OK - so wrapping things up for this episode, here are a few things I'm going to ask you to do: If you like the first episode or two, subscribe so you don't miss one. If you have a friend who's thinking about starting a small, local, brick and mortar business, share this podcast with them! The business owners I'm talking to are really amazing people and they have so much knowledge to share. After you've heard enough to make a judgement, go ahead and leave me a review! Let me know what you like, what you don't like. If you'd like to be considered for the podcast, or want to nominate an amazing small business who has been around a while and been successful, or is doing something really creative or interesting in their space, send me an email at jeremiah@sharepollen.com and let me know! In closing... I love small business. My goal in GrowThat is to help small businesses grow and thrive each year, and I hope this podcast does the same. I couldn't be more proud to share this podcast with you - not because I'm in it, but because of the stories of the small business owners. They've each faced the fear of starting something new, and putting themselves out there, and taken the leap, and I couldn't be more proud to get to share their stories with you. Happy listening!