Podcasts about Boutique

What if more sales, more traffic, and more marketing aren't actually the answer? Retail businesses don't usually break because the owner isn't working hard enough. They break because the business has outgrown the systems holding it together. In this conversation, Ashley and retail professor Sara Burks break down the Six Layers of Retail—from foundations and finances to team, sales, content, and marketing—and explain why growth has to happen in the right order. You'll learn: Why more information isn't the same as implementation The Six Layers of Retail and why the order matters The BHOS System & how it can become your business's AI assistant Why fixing marketing first can actually make your problems worse Join The Boutique Hub CJC Dynamic Solutions:  CJCDynamicSolutions.com  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Check out Lodgify claim your exclusive discount: https://www.lodgify.com/behind-the-stays/  — Explore FerebeeLane: https://www.ferebeelane.com/ Connect with Matt: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-ferebee-2287566/ Connect with Zach: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharybusekrus/ — Twenty-five years ago, a kid with an English degree and a freelance gig writing about furniture realized something. People didn't want to just know what the sofa looked like. They wanted to know how it was made, who designed it, how many hands had touched it before it reached the showroom. The descriptions of the piece were fine, but it was really the stories that sold it. That kid was Matt Ferebee. And that instinct, that the story behind the thing is more valuable than the thing itself, became the foundation of FerebeeLane. Boutique, brand, and guest experience agency that he co founded with his partner Josh Lane over two decades ago. Their first big client was Hickory Chair, a premier furniture company in North Carolina that was fighting to stay relevant in a rapidly commoditizing market. Matt and Josh launched a magazine for them called Timeless, profiling watchmakers from Cartier and interior designers to contextualize the brand among the greats. That caught the attention of BlackBerry Farm. At the time, maybe 22 keys, hard to categorize, and often dismissed as a charming bed and breakfast. Matt interviewed founder Chris Bell, and within 18 months, FerebeeLane had assumed full responsibility for their marketing. To this day, BlackBerry Farm does no paid advertising. They're celebrating their 50th anniversary, and Matt's team is still right there beside them. In this conversation, we trace the arc from furniture copywriting to shaping the narrative identity of some of the most revered hospitality brands in the world. Matt talks about what he learned watching Blackberry Farm scale without ever compromising on guest experience, why he believes the current wave of rustic minimalism is often just a cash grab dressed up in Scandinavian language, and how his team brought Canoe Place in. A site dating back to 1697, America's oldest inn, turned nightclub, turned forgotten asset, back to life with a story rooted in place. We also get into what it means for a 15-person agency to land on Marriott Luxury Portfolio's approved list alongside publicly traded global firms, what that signals about where the major flags are headed, and why Matt believes the future of branded hospitality looks a lot more like. Treating a 90-room Ritz-Carlton as an independent boutique property, not the other way around. This is a fascinating conversation. You're really gonna love Matt. He and his team have done incredible work. So, friends, without further ado, get ready to meet Matt Ferebee. —   Behind the Stays is brought to you by Journey — a first-of-its-kind loyalty program that brings together an alliance of the world's top independently owned and operated stays and allows travelers to earn points and perks on boutique hotels, vacation rentals, treehouses, ski chalets, glamping experiences and so much more.   Your host is Zach Busekrus, Head of Growth at Journey. If you are a hospitality entrepreneur who has a stay, or a collection of stays with soul, we'd love for you to apply to join our Alliance at journey.com/alliance.

In this episode, Steve Carran and David Millili sit down with David Bowd, co-founder and owner of Salt Hotels, for a candid conversation about hospitality, leadership, design, service, and the future of independent hotels.David shares how growing up in a small village in Staffordshire, England, and working in a local pub sparked his passion for hospitality. He also talks about leaving school at 16, discovering that the kitchen wasn't for him, and building a career that would take him through some of the most influential lifestyle hotels in the world, including St. Martin's Lane and Sanderson, as well as working alongside hospitality icons Ian Schrager and André Balazs.David explains why he founded Salt Hotels and the philosophy behind combining thoughtful design, personalized service, and a strong sense of place. He also shares why memorable hotels are ultimately created by people—not just beautiful spaces—and tells a powerful story about turning a hotel disaster into an unforgettable guest experience.In this episode, we discuss:The philosophy behind Salt HotelsWhy people and service create memorable hotel experiencesHow independent hotels can build visibility and commercial successAI's role in hospitality and the importance of human connectionWhy every hotel should feel connected to its locationWatch the FULL EPISODE on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gB-NcS4Aj18 This episode is sponsored by Sip Tea: https://sip-tea-path.com/Links:David Bowd on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidbowd/ Salt Hotels: https://www.salthotels.com/For full show notes head to: https://themodernhotelier.com/episode/322Follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-..Join the conversation on today's episode on The Modern Hotelier LinkedIn pageConnect with Steve and David:Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/%F0%9F%8E...David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-mil.

Pour écouter l'épisode en entier, tapez "#557 - Patrick Pruvot - Passage du désir - “En France on sait faire un Airbus mais pas un sextoy”" sur votre plateforme d'écoute.Hébergé par Audiomeans. Visitez audiomeans.fr/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Host Steve Turk interviews Melissa Blettner, CEO of Boyd Hollow Resorts and Ancient Lore Village in Knoxville, Tennessee. Melissa explains founder Tom Boyd's book inspired mission to create a fantasy village where only good exists and guests leave happier, kinder, and friendlier. She shares her hospitality start from an XL Inn front desk job to studying hospitality management, advancing through roles in front office, sales, and leadership, and spending 20 years at Great Wolf Lodge building brand culture, openings, and a large call center with strong standards. After Great Wolf's culture shifted following Blackstone's acquisition and a corporate move to Chicago, she consulted before joining Boyd Hollow. Ancient Lore Village offers 14 themed dwellings on 67 acres, day passes, dining, axe throwing, archery, events, retreats, and weddings, and is expanding with Boki's Trek Experience and an Ancient Lore Wellbeing Retreat.00:00 Show Kickoff00:31 Sponsor Lodgify01:34 Meet Melissa02:23 Ancient Lore Origin04:03 First Hospitality Job06:08 Breaking Into Hotels07:51 Career Steps Forward10:18 Great Wolf Breakthrough12:44 Growing at Great Wolf16:13 Call Center Culture17:41 Brand Building Playbook21:19 Leaving After 20 Years22:12 From Mars To Buyout22:49 Dream Big Consulting Reality24:24 Finding Boyne Hollow26:19 What Ancient Lore Offers28:23 Managing Crowds And Groups30:39 Small Resort Big Opening32:20 Guests Define The Magic34:41 Future Attractions And Wellness36:02 Luxury Not Kitschy Design40:13 Team Growth And Mentorship42:10 Advice And Farewell

What if luxury wilderness travel was about more than a beautiful room and an incredible view? In this episode, architect and hospitality designer Kevin Kennon joins Lisa to talk about his vision for Beyond Zero, a new concept focused on intimate wilderness destinations designed around adventure, comfort, connection, and personal transformation.  Kevin shares his thoughts on what makes a truly special travel experience, why remote locations matter, and how thoughtful design can help travelers reset and reconnect with nature. Plus, hear about his favorite way to travel, his must-have item for every trip, and what he hopes to create with the future of wilderness hospitality. THIS EXPERIENCE IS COMING SOON! Kevin would love to receive input in designing these experiences. You can reach out to him here paulkevinkennon.com

You're marketing everywhere, but the bookings still aren't coming. The problem may not be how much you're marketing, but whether you're attracting the right people. In this episode of the Worth Every Penny Joycast, Sarah Petty breaks down the five marketing strategies boutique portrait photographers actually need, and why genuine relationships are the foundation for them all. • Why trust beats more social media posts • How partnerships and referrals put you in front of better-fit clients • Where to start when marketing feels overwhelming You don't need to do everything. You need the right strategy, done well. If you're tired of chasing inquiries that ghost you after hearing your prices, this episode will help you build marketing around connection, trust, and clients who value what you do. RESOURCES:  Photography Business Tools to Get Started 37 CLIENTS WHO CAN HIRE YOU TODAY https://info.photographybusinessinstitute.com/37-clients-optin   INSTAGRAM – DM me "Conversation Starters" for some genuine ways to strike up a conversation about your photography business wherever you are. https://www.instagram.com/sarah.petty   FREE COPY: NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING BOOK FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS www.photographybusinessinstitute.com/freebook    BOUTIQUE BREAKTHROUGH – 8-WEEK WORKSHOP www.photographybusinessinstitute.com/boutiquebreakthrough   FREE FACEBOOK GROUP: Join and get my free mini-class: How I earned $1,500 per client working 16 hours a week by becoming a boutique photographer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ditchthedigitals    YOUTUBE: Check out my latest how to videos:  https://www.youtube.com/photographybusinessinstitute   LOVE THE SHOW? Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worth-every-penny-joycast/id1513676756

What if AI could do more than answer questions—and actually help run your boutique? Ashley sits down with Jim Nidiffer, the Boutique Hub's Director of AI & Innovation, to break down how AI is evolving from a chatbot into an actual business agent. Jim explains how boutique owners can use AI to analyze their business, create marketing plans, manage inventory, build workflows, organize tasks, and eventually have AI agents communicating with other business systems on their behalf. You'll learn: Introducing the BHOS system The three things you need to give AI to get better results How AI can handle 80% of certain tasks while you focus on the 20% that moves the needle Why your business knowledge base is so important Join The Boutique Hub  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Was braucht es 2026, um eine starke Personal Brand aufzubauen - und warum ist gerade jetzt der richtige Zeitpunkt, sichtbar zu werden?Tanja spricht mit Lukas Vilanek über seinen eigenen Weg, strategischen Content und den Aufbau einer echten Community. Es geht darum, warum Klarheit und Persönlichkeit wichtiger sind als reine Followerzahlen, wie Content nicht nur Reichweite schafft, sondern das eigene Business unterstützt – und welchen Einfluss der Aufbau einer Personal Brand auch auf die persönliche Entwicklung haben kann.Eine Folge über Sichtbarkeit, authentischen Content und eine Community, die wirklich Verbindung schafft.Melde dich hier zum Webinar an: ⁠https://workshop.thebrandboutique.at/sos-community-launch⁠Instagram Tanja:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/tanja.kammler⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram the brand. Boutique:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/the.brand.boutique/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buche dir hier ein unverbindliches Erstgespräch:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thebrandboutique.at/buchung-erstgespraech

In this episode, we break down the strategic decision to sell a portfolio of boutique hotels in Lake Tahoe, detailing the operational scaling challenges, rising interest rates, and the reality of 24/7 hospitality management. Understanding when to liquidate stabilized assets and redeploy trapped equity is a critical skill for any real estate investor looking to optimize returns and reduce active management stress.Beyond hospitality, we explore the current macroeconomic landscape, highlighting the unprecedented shift toward a buyer's market in housing and the potential impact of indexing capital gains tax to inflation. We also introduce the concept of "eustress" versus distress, providing actionable frameworks for high-performing entrepreneurs to leverage pressure for personal and professional growth.KEY TOPICS DISCUSSEDThe impact of rising interest rates on commercial real estate valuationsScaling challenges and operational realities of boutique hotel investmentsCalculating and understanding cap rates for passive investmentsUtilizing AI agents for investor relations and fund managementThe recent shift to a buyer's market in the US housing sectorProposed capital gains tax cuts and indexing gains to inflationThe psychological difference between distress and eustress for entrepreneursKEY TAKEAWAYSTrapped equity in stabilized real estate assets often yields a lower return, making it essential to unlock and redeploy capital into higher-yielding opportunities.Boutique hotels are 24/7 operating businesses, not just passive real estate, requiring significant scale to support a self-sustaining management team.The housing market currently holds a 51% seller surplus, creating a rare window of leverage for buyers to negotiate concessions before interest rates drop.Indexing capital gains to inflation could unlock stagnant housing supply by eliminating the lock-in effect and phantom profit taxation for long-term property owners.Engineering positive eustress into your routine forces growth and elevation, whereas unmanaged distress degrades focus and health.CONNECT & TAKE ACTIONImagos Income Fund: Text "INCOME" or "DEALS" to 844-447-1555 to learn more about Matty A's private debt fund targeting 10% fixed returns paid out monthly.Visit skylineocresidences.com to discover luxury condo ownership at Skyline OC, Orange County's tallest residential tower. Get a free financial audit on your investment portfolio by texting X-Ray to 844-447-1555

Mike is swamped in Spain (with homework, not water), so Pat does an intermediary episode that is .5 by name, .5 by nature. He takes a look at five box sets in three completely made up categories and when he's done you'll still have time to go out for a nice dinner. John Coltrane - THE COMPLETE 1961 VILLAGE VANGUARD RECORDINGS; Charles Mingus - THE COMPLETE 1970s STUDIO RECORDINGS; Miles Davis - MILES IN FRANCE 1963 & 1964: THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 8; Various Artists: NEWVELLE RECORDS SEASON FOUR: COMPLETE BOX SET; Various Artists: COMPLETE KEYNOTE COLLECTION. 

In this video we will be talking about 8 Ways To Simplify Your Life from the philosophy of Michel de Montaigne. Michel de Montaigne was a 16th-century French philosopher.So here are 8 Ways To Simplify Your Life from the philosophy of Michel de Montaigne-  01. Reject Artificial Desires02. Stop worrying about Public Opinion03. Shrink Your Inner Circle04. Be Authentic05. Establish Your "Arrière-Boutique" 06. Stop Having an Opinion on Everything07. Communicate Plainly and Honestly08. Accept the Natural Rhythm of RealityWe hope you enjoyed watching the video and hope this video, from the philosophy of Montaigne, helps you to simplify your life.Michel de Montaigne was a 16th-century French philosopher who defined ambition not as a virtue but as an unnatural "disease of the soul" because it makes people sacrifice the life they have right now for a future that might never even happen. In 1571, right on his 38th birthday, he walked into his office and permanently resigned from his position as a judge in the Bordeaux parliament. It was exactly the kind of role Renaissance men spent their whole lives networking, scheming, and stressing out to get. He quit, moved back to his family's estate in the French countryside, and set himself up in a stone tower on the property. He built a massive library there and had 54 quotes from ancient philosophers carved into the wooden beams of his ceiling. From that point on, he spent his time studying the only subject he actually wanted to understand: himself. He observed his own habits, flaws, and everyday routines, and wrote down his thoughts about them and he called these writings Essais—which comes from the French word meaning "to try" or "to attempt" and is of course where we get the English word ‘essay'.

In dieser Folge geht es darum, warum Social Media – und insbesondere Instagram – heute einer der stärksten Kanäle für Sichtbarkeit, Personal Branding und Kundengewinnung ist. Tanja zeigt, warum es nicht um möglichst viele Follower geht, sondern um die richtige Community, strategischen Content und einen Social-Media-Auftritt, der auch verkauft. Außerdem gibt sie Einblicke in ihr neues 3-monatiges Programm She Owns Social und erklärt, wie du Instagram Schritt für Schritt zu einem echten Vertriebskanal für dein Business entwickelst.Melde dich hier zum Webinar an: https://workshop.thebrandboutique.at/sos-community-launchInstagram Tanja:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/tanja.kammler⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram the brand. Boutique:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/the.brand.boutique/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Buche dir hier ein unverbindliches Erstgespräch:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://thebrandboutique.at/buchung-erstgespraech

Soul Pitt Media Health & Business Report Episode #119 | Interview with Frankie Harris, Boutique Merchandiser and Special Event Decorator at Ujamaa CollectiveJoin Craig as he discusses with Frankie...1) Frankie, can you talk to our listeners about Ujamaa Collective?2) Recently Ujamaa Collective has relocated. Can you update our listeners about your new location?3) How is your merchandise acquired?Additionally, make sure you listen to our Community Calendar (brought to you by Pittsburgh Regional Transit, PRT) with Debbie Norrell at the end of each of our interviews so you can keep up with what's going on in our Pittsburgh region.Soul Pitt Media's Health & Business Report is sponsored by UPMC, Pittsburgh Regional Transit (PRT), Duquesne Light Co., Allegheny County Health Department, Pennsylvania's Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Central Outreach Wellness Center.

Three months ago, Ari Tuchman walked away from Milbank and billion-dollar deals to hang his own shingle. What he's learned about saying no, building a brain trust, and protecting his mornings is a masterclass for any lawyer who feels stuck on someone else's track.In this episode, Gary sits down with Ari Tuchman, founder of Tuchman Law, APC in Beverly Hills. After more than five years working on nine and ten-figure transactions at Milbank, Ari made the leap into solo practice with intention. This is a candid conversation about what it really takes to bet on yourself, why saying no is an act of freedom, and how to build a law firm that serves your life instead of the other way around.Key takeaways:Recognize the difference between external authority (accolades, prestige, the next milestone) and internal authority (confidence built from within your own competence and character).Build your own brain trust of solo practitioners and peers when you leave a big law bench behind.Filter clients through two lenses: the person and the substance. Trust is the foundation of every attorney-client relationship.Understand how AI is reshaping transactional practice, and why boutiques stand to benefit as the middle gets squeezed.Protect the breaks. Some of your best thinking happens when you step away from the desk.Take one concrete step this week: write down ten qualities of the lawyer you want to be, then check whether your practice reflects them.About the guest:Ari Tuchman is the founder of Tuchman Law, APC, a boutique transactional firm in Beverly Hills advising businesses, real estate investors, and family offices. He previously spent over five years at Milbank LLP in New York, where his work included a $700 million casino portfolio sale, a $1.2 billion take-private acquisition, and a $7 billion LNG joint venture. He holds a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown Law.If this episode moved you, subscribe to The Free Lawyer, leave a review, and pick up a copy of Breaking Free on Amazon. You'll find twelve prisons of the mind and twelve keys to unlock them, including the one Ari names so clearly in this conversation. Learn more at garymiles.net.[00:00] — The accomplished lawyer's trap[01:59] — Deciding to leave Milbank[05:11] — What he left behind[09:35] — Inside a boutique firm[10:53] — Turning work away[13:42] — AI and the road ahead[17:17] — Building his brain trust[26:36] — What freedom looks like[29:19] — One step this weekAri Tuchman is the founder of Tuchman Law, APC, a boutique transactional firm in Beverly Hills advising businesses, real estate investors, and family offices on M&A, joint ventures, real estate transactions, and startup financings. He serves clients who want large-firm capability paired with the responsiveness only a single-principal firm can offer. Before founding his firm, Ari spent over five years at Milbank LLP in New York, where his work included a $700 million casino portfolio sale, a $1.2 billion take-private acquisition, and a $7 billion LNG joint venture. He founded Tuchman Law to build a practice that serves his life rather than the other way around.You can find The Free Lawyer Assessment here- https://www.garymiles.net/the-free-lawyer-assessmentWould you like to learn what it looks like to become a truly Free Lawyer? You can schedule a complimentary call here: https://calendly.com/garymiles-successcoach/one-one-discovery-callWould you like to learn more about Breaking Free or order your copy? https://www.garymiles.net/break-freeAccess this free tool to identify your productivity time drains and move to purposeful strategy- https://upbeat-trailblazer-9238.kit.com/7c3c667ff1Check out the Elite Lawyer's Productivity System  https://www.garymiles.net/productivity

Ashley Alderson and Samantha Conner share why live events, networking, and stepping outside your daily routine can completely transform your business. After attending dozens of markets every year, Samantha reveals the retail trends, customer behavior, and business strategies that the fastest-growing boutiques are using right now. Want to go to SUMMIT? You'll learn: What to expect at Boutique Summit 2026 The newest retail trends heading into 2026 How successful boutiques create unforgettable customer experiences Leadership, staffing, AI, eCommerce, and customer growth Whether you're opening your first boutique or scaling multiple locations, this conversation will challenge you to think bigger and take action. Join The Boutique Hub ALR Virtual Services    ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Farmer Cee Stanley returns to The Herbalist Hour to discuss her new book, The Black Girl's Guide to Building a Boutique Farm and share what she's learned while building Green Heffa Farms into a nationally recognized herbal business. I always enjoy talking with Cee because our conversations go far beyond herbs.  We dive into branding, entrepreneurship, marketing, mindset, fundraising, and what it really takes to build a business that's aligned with your values instead of chasing trends or social media algorithms. In this conversation, Cee introduces her "5 V's" framework for building a boutique brand, explains why market research should come before planting your first herb, discusses the difference between branding and marketing, and shares why she strives to be an impact generator rather than simply a content creator. If you've ever dreamed of starting an herb farm, growing an herbal business, or building something meaningful from the ground up, I think you'll get a lot out of this episode. ~Mason PS - WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE LINKS & RESOURCES Green Heffa Farms | GreenHeffaFarms.com Black Girl's Guide to Building a Boutique Farm | BUY THE BOOK Cee on Instagram | @farmercee

Send us Fan MailThe title of today's podcast is “Uranium, a Rosetta Stone to Modern Physics.”  It is based on an old lecture by Richard Feynman.Uranium has revolutionized the energy business because it served as an experimental window into the energy potential associated with splitting atoms rather than merely oxidizing them. For example,  1 Kg (2.2 pounds) of coal will theoretically produce 30 million times more energy than if you had just burnt the coal in a furnace.  This of course is merely an example, as nuclear power plants never split atoms fully and they attempt to split coal.   Nevertheless,  life was about to change when the mystery of radioactivity was elucidated a little over a century ago.Enjoy!  Tom Neuhaus, Project Hope and FairnessPlease visit www.projecthopeandfairness.org and help us develop a chocolate brand that actually increases the sustainability of cocoa farming by donating to our cause.To listen to this podcast, click---> https://www.buzzsprout.com/1057903/episodes/19584642New Items for Sale!  Check out these five 100g bars featuring people involved in making our chocolate!  You can order them as Christmas presents.  I will be shipping starting October 1.  I will be selling them in packs of 5, tied together with red and green ribbons.  Go to www.chocolatdesvillages.fr and click la Boutique at the top, then on Big Bars for individual 100g bars or Seasons for Christmas presents.  This item will be active by mid-August.Support the showWrite to me at  twneuhaus@gmail.comTo learn more, visit  http://www.projecthopeandfairness.org

Retail shop owner and retail incubator graduate of the Riverwalk Shoppes Carol Chrisman joins Lisa Dent to spotlight both of her businesses and how they contribute to the personality and history of McHenry. Together, they discuss the incubator’s process of allowing business owners to set up a temporary shop along the Riverwalk and test selling […]

This week I'm delivering on a promise from the last episode: a complete walkthrough of my new stereo pedalboard.After years of touring with much larger setups, I've downsized to a rig that gives me incredible flexibility while still producing the huge ambient sounds I've been chasing for years. I break down the entire signal chain, explain why each pedal earned its place, and demonstrate how I build everything from subtle harmonic textures to massive cinematic soundscapes.Along the way I also talk about:* Why I changed from my previous touring rig* The advantages of running a stereo setup* Boutique pedals versus multi-effects units* Creating ambient loops and evolving textures* Using effects as creative tools rather than distractions* Why expensive gear isn't always necessary to make inspiring musicI also share a quick update on my new book, How to Transcribe, the recent release of Quiet Places, and the excitement (and chaos!) of preparing for a house move while getting ready for upcoming performances.Whether you're a bassist, guitarist, producer, or simply fascinated by creative music technology, I hope this episode gives you some ideas for your own musical journey.As always, if you have questions about anything I missed, leave a comment and I'll cover them in a future episode.More soon, Janek Get full access to Janek's Newsletter at janekgwizdala.substack.com/subscribe

What does it take to build a winery that honors both the land and the people who cultivate it?In this episode, we meet Andy Neja, founder and winemaker of Cairjn Wine Cellars, one of Paso Robles' most exciting boutique wineries. Named after the word "cairn"—a carefully stacked pile of stones that serves as both a landmark and a tribute—Cairjn reflects Andy's family's farming heritage and the limestone-rich soils that define the West Paso landscape.Andy didn't simply become a winemaker—he immersed himself in every aspect of the wine industry, from vineyard work and farming to hospitality, retail, and cellar operations. That hands-on experience shaped a philosophy centered on one simple belief: "Winemaking happens in the vineyard; everything else is secondary."Together, we explore how sustainability, meticulous vineyard practices, and relationships with some of Paso Robles' finest growers allow Cairjn to produce small-lot wines of exceptional character.Andy also shares the challenges and rewards of launching his own label, the importance of honoring vineyard workers, and why authenticity remains the foundation of every bottle.Whether you're passionate about fine wine, terroir, sustainable farming, or entrepreneurial journeys, this conversation offers an inspiring look at the dedication required to transform a dream into one of California's most promising boutique wineries.Pour yourself a glass and discover why Cairjn Wine Cellars is quickly becoming one of Paso Robles' hidden treasures.

What if your business could make more money while requiring less of your time? From AI-powered product creation to pre-recorded live sales, automated subscriptions, social media syncing, auctions, and game-changing workflow automation, these new CommentSold features aren't just "nice to have." They have the potential to save hours every single week, eliminate repetitive tasks, reduce burnout, and help your boutique generate more revenue with less effort. Ashley sits down with Ciera Elledge from CommentSold to look at the biggest platform updates yet—and why every boutique owner should be paying attention.  If you're overwhelmed, working too many hours, missing family time, or wondering how successful boutiques are doing more with less, this conversation could completely change the way you run your business. You'll learn: How to grow your boutique without working around the clock Pre-recorded live sales AI product descriptions that save hours Automated collection scheduling Join The Boutique Hub Ciera Elledge & CommentSold: Instagram: @commentsold TikTok: @commentsold Website: try.commentsold.com               ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

https://smokinsoundspod.com/

Summary Kara Maciel always knew she wanted to be a lawyer, and a high school trip to Washington, DC sealed the deal. What she didn't plan for was building her own firm. In this episode, the Conn, Maciel & Carey co-founder talks with Kathryn Rubino about the years she spent paying off law school loans early to buy herself flexibility, and how that discipline let her take a real risk later: leaving a comfortable partnership to start something new. The decision crystallized during back-to-back parental leaves, when Kara and her future co-founder each returned from leave with the same idea. Twelve years later, the firm has offices across the country, and Kara talks through what she wishes she'd known about the business side of running a firm, how she's used technology to standardize billing across offices, and why she believes boutique practice offers something Big Law structurally can't. Key Takeaways Paying down law school loans aggressively in your early career years buys flexibility later, not just debt relief. Opening a firm requires business skills most lawyers never learn in practice; hire for that gap or plan to learn it fast. Complementary practice areas and complementary skill sets among co-founders matter as much as shared values. Firm growth can be organic and still be strategic: expand where clients and trusted partners already are. Boutique firms compete on relationship and rate transparency, not just lower prices. Links and Resources [Above the Law](https://abovethelaw.com/) [The Jabot Podcast](https://abovethelaw.com/tag/the-jabot-podcast/) Keywords boutique law firm, starting a law firm, employment law, labor law, law firm founder, women law firm owners, legal entrepreneurship, law school loans, law firm culture, law firm growth, big law versus boutique, workplace safety law, law firm billing, legal technology, AI in law firms, law firm partnership, career advice for lawyers, women in law, Above the Law, The Jabot Podcast Episode Highlights [00:01:15 - 00:02:00] Kara traces her decision to become a lawyer back to a high school trip to Washington, DC. [00:04:15 - 00:05:00] Why she saved aggressively in her first years of practice instead of spending like a typical young associate. [00:08:00 - 00:09:30] The maternity leave story behind founding Conn, Maciel & Carey. [00:10:30 - 00:11:30] "You're a lawyer, you know how to make rain, but you don't know how to run a business." [00:13:15 - 00:14:45] How the firm's California and Midwest offices came together through existing relationships, not a strategic plan. [00:17:00 - 00:18:30] Why the firm runs a deliberately long hiring process to protect its culture. [00:19:15 - 00:20:15] What boutique practice offers that Big Law structurally can't: rate control and direct client relationships. [00:21:00 - 00:22:00] How the firm is using AI to standardize timekeeping and billing across offices.

On this episode of The Last Resort, host Christina Jelski talks with Amanda Veldman Doyle, owner of AVD Global, about her recent stay at the Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula.Veldman Doyle talks about what sets the adults-only Grand Velas Boutique property apart from its larger, family-friendly sister resort, the Grand Velas Los Cabos, next door. She shares details on the property's more intimate, residential feel and serene adults-only pool scene, as well as standout culinary favorites like Loto Robata Grill's Japanese-Mexican fusion menu. She also weighs in on the resort's wellness programming, the case for an all-inclusive stay versus a traditional European plan property in Cabo, and why she believes that "if you are a luxury hotel junkie and you have not been to Cabo, you are really missing out."Currently in its fourth season, The Last Resort is a monthly hospitality-focused podcast brought to you by Travel Weekly. In each episode, travel advisors share their first impressions of the last resort they visited. The 8th episode of the fourth season will be posted the last week of August.Further resources:Amanda Veldman Doyle Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos A different side of Mexico in Los Cabos (Travel Weekly) Dispatch, Mexico: Self-care in Los Cabos (Travel Weekly) Grand Velas Boutique Los Cabos: For mature audiences only (Travel Weekly) Want to share feedback on the last resort you visited?Email us: TheLastResort@travelweekly.com Theme Song:Beachfront Celebration by Kevin MacLeodLicense See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Buying inventory shouldn't feel like gambling. Sara Burks shares the questions every boutique owner should ask before placing a wholesale order. From understanding prepacks and sizing to shipping costs, return policies, and merchandising, these simple decisions can determine whether your inventory sells—or sits on the rack collecting dust. You'll learn: How to evaluate wholesale vendors Why prepacks can hurt your profits Questions to ask before placing any order Hidden costs that eat into your margins Join The Boutique Hub  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Nemerever Vineyards, Oakville AVA, Boutique winery, No Tasting Fees & interview with Bill Nemerever Vineyards in the Napa Valley. ON THE ROAD with MR CA WINE is about California's cool, aspirational lifestyle and awesome wines hosted by Chuck Cramer, a California native, living in London and is the Director of European & Asiansales & marketing, Terlato Wines. This is a wine journey covering the hottest topics in CA wine, chatting along the way with the experts who make it all happen. This week's episode includes an interview with Bill Nemerever, owner of Nemerever Vineyards in the Napa Valley. 

In this episode of Peachtree Corners Life, host Rico Figliolini sits down with City Manager Brian Johnson — fittingly, at a local restaurant table — to unpack one of the city's most talked-about recent decisions: the $3.2 million purchase of the former CineBistro building and its adjoining parking lot at the Town Center.Johnson walks through how the deal came together, why it was negotiated privately before going to a public vote and how the city paid for it without taking on any debt.The conversation goes beyond the transaction itself, diving into what comes next: a market analysis from real estate firm JLL, three possible development paths ranging from reusing the existing building to a full teardown and redesign and a firm signal from the city council that residential apartments won't be part of the plan.Rico and Brian also address community pushback and transparency concerns head-on, explaining why real estate negotiations happen behind closed doors and what residents can expect from an upcoming public input process.It's a candid, detailed look at how local government navigates an unplanned opportunity — and an open invitation for residents to weigh in on what comes next.

An additional Bloodhound to round out the month with August releases.Whilst we take a breather to compile our bumper bonus Weird Worcester episode, John'Tiberius' Kirk - the Blu-Ray Bloodhound - tries to chivvy cash from Shameful Steve's reluctant wallet! Will The Name of the Rose make Steve have a nose? Will the Abominable Snowman bring the dosh from the permafrost? Will The Hotspot spring the ker-ching?!All that's new in Blu and on its way in 4K! Boutique releases listed and ranked PLUS Steve and John tell you what they will be watching - and doing - next!#Hammer! #Arrowvideo #Indicator #Powerhouse #88films #BFI #Criterion #TreasuredFilms #RadianceFilms #TransmissionVideo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Earlier this year, Benjamin Gruenstein left Cravath Swaine & Moore, his professional home for almost two decades, and founded his own boutique, Gruenstein Law. Ben and I first met around the time that he launched his firm, after we were introduced by a mutual friend (but not his brother, former Wachtell Lipton partner David Gruenstein, with whom I used to work). I greatly enjoyed my conversation with Ben and thought that I'd love to have him on the podcast at some point.And now, the time has come. In our conversation, Ben discussed three topics in the news: (1) his departure from Cravath, which has seen higher-than-usual partner turnover this year, and why he wanted to launch his own firm; (2) Fernandez v. United States, an interesting and important case that was recently decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, which Ben argued before the justices; and (3) how AI is transforming the practice of law—and the role it played in Ben's decision to leave Biglaw.Thanks to Ben for his insights—in our interview and more generally—and good luck to him and his colleagues at Gruenstein Law.Show Notes:* Benjamin Gruenstein bio, Gruenstein Law* Cravath Partner Gruenstein Launches Boutique Firm in New York, by Meghan Tribe for Bloomberg Law* Cravath Investigations Partner Launches His Own Boutique, by Ryan Harroff for Law.com* Cravath Partner Launches Corporate Investigations Boutique, by Daniel Connolly for Law360Sponsored by:NexFirm helps Biglaw attorneys become founding partners. To learn more about how NexFirm can help you launch your firm, call 212-292-1000 or email careerdevelopment@nexfirm.com. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit davidlat.substack.com/subscribe

Españoles sufrieron y celebraron la final del Mundial en Praga | Una obra inédita de Havel en Aviñón por su 90 aniversario | Boutique mexicana de diseño y artesanía en Praga

Do you actually need a business plan to run a successful boutique? The answer is yes—but probably not for the reason you think. A business plan isn't just paperwork for investors. It's the roadmap that helps you define your mission, identify your ideal customer, clarify your value proposition, and prepare for the challenges every retailer will face. Whether you're just starting your boutique or looking to grow, having a living business plan keeps you focused on where you're headed and how you'll get there. You'll learn: Why every boutique owner needs a business plan How a business plan helps uncover growth opportunities Why your value proposition matters more than eve How to prepare for funding, expansion, and future growth Join The Boutique Hub  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Evolve Lactation Media is an independent platform for lactation knowledge — rigorous, accessible, and free of commercial influence. We publish, we teach, and we examine the forces that shape lactation care — for clinicians, public health professionals, and families.We connect breastfeeding to its full context — scientific, cultural, political — because the conditions that determine whether an individual breastfeeds are never purely clinical.What Happened?“Boutique” formula manufacturer Bobbie made 2 major announcements this week:* they published their own code of ethics in marketing; it starts by minimizing the WHO Code and contains multiple lies* they announced the rollout of their AI chatbot and “three-layer support system”Understand What This MeansAs explained by Len the RN, IBCLC, “That means the company manufactures the product, builds the AI, employs the clinicians, creates the educational content and defines the pathways through which parents receive support. Regardless of the quality or integrity of the people involved, this represents a fundamental shift in how infant feeding guidance has been organized.”Why Now?Check your calendar. That's right, it's just in time for World Breastfeeding Week and National Breastfeeding Month.That's not a coincidence.Don't keep this a secret - share this with someone else who needs this updateIf you spend any amount of time on Bobbie's website, which is linked above in the What Happened section, you will notice that they make many claims about what they offer moms, which is strikingly similar to what YOU offer the dyads you serve.The implication is strong: that THEY offer this support and that no one else is doing that.Are you not providing wraparound feeding support? Do you not teach formula feeding to moms who want to or need to use formula?Are you not building community for the parents you serve?Have you not been working your whole career on this, only to have a commercial entity swoop in with their venture capital cash to market their products right over the top of you?That's where we are.Please tell me what we are going to do next because I honestly do not know.Love Us or Fight UsSend us your feedback, argue with us about what we're sharing on the podcast, tell us your ideas or request for things we should cover.Evolve Lactation Media is for YOU. And for our listeners who are outside the US, your feedback is most welcome here!!Our global credential deserves a global conversation as much as it deserves a national one. We're here for it all. Hit Reply to this email to tell us what you need to say, and find us both on LinkedIn!Olena - https://www.linkedin.com/in/olena-dobczansky-msn-rnc-mnn-ibclc-c-onqs-lcce-878b8263/Christine - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinestaricka/Thanks for reading Evolve Lactation Media! Subscribe for free right here www.EvolveLactation.org This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit ibclcinca.substack.com/subscribe

Two years ago, Jamaican publicist Lyndon Taylor walked away from a steady paycheck to bet on himself. This month, that bet is starting to pay dividends — and it's bringing a slice of Caribbean glamour with it. Taylor's boutique agency, Lyndon Taylor Associates, is not only marking its second anniversary but also preparing to help stage the inaugural Jamaica Fashion Week in Ocho Rios this November, a debut that could put another Jamaican resort town on the map for style-driven travelers.For anyone tracking how the Caribbean is reshaping its tourism story — leaning harder into culture, fashion, and homegrown creative industries rather than relying solely on sand and sea — Taylor's journey is a useful bellwether. His firm sits at the intersection of travel, lifestyle, and public relations, three sectors that increasingly move together as destinations compete for attention on Instagram and TikTok rather than just in glossy brochures.A Milestone Built on MomentumTaylor launched Lyndon Taylor Associates on July 19, 2024, after 17 years cutting his teeth in traditional public relations, including a long stretch representing Jamaica's tourism interests at the agency level. In a recent conversation marking the anniversary, he described the past two years as a "whirlwind" that included a one-year launch event in London and a steady climb toward financial stability.The agency's tagline — "we are your PR solution" — reflects Taylor's pitch to smaller clients: performing arts groups, visual artists, nonprofits, and small and medium-sized businesses that need publicity but can't afford a large agency's overhead. It's a niche that has quietly become his growth engine, with bigger clients taking notice once they see results with smaller ones.Betting on the Caribbean, Then BeyondWhile the U.S., U.K., and Canada remain his firm's core markets, Taylor is now looking closer to home. Year three plans include deepening the agency's footprint across the Caribbean region, framing the opportunity with characteristic humility: rather than chasing the biggest prize first, he wants to start with smaller regional wins and build from there. Toronto is next on the map, with an event planned later this year to formally establish the firm's presence in Canada — joining the U.S. and U.K. as its third major market.Looking further afield, Taylor has also set his sights on Africa, particularly South Africa, following a personal visit that left an impression of untapped opportunity across sectors including energy, telecoms, and tourism.For travel industry watchers, this kind of Caribbean-to-continent networking mirrors a broader trend: destinations and the professionals who market them are increasingly building South-South relationships — Caribbean nations connecting with African markets — rather than routing every opportunity through traditional Western hubs.The Fashion Week BetThe headline travel news for the region, though, is the agency's role in supporting organizers of the first-ever Jamaica Fashion Week, scheduled for November 19–22 in Ocho Rios at Island Village. For four days, the popular North Coast resort town will host a fashion-forward event, positioning Ocho Rios alongside Kingston and Montego Bay as a destination capable of hosting large-scale creative industry gatherings — not just cruise excursions and all-inclusive stays.This matters for travelers watching the Caribbean's evolving identity. Jamaica has long been synonymous with reggae, Blue Mountain coffee, and beach resorts, but a fashion week signals a deliberate push to diversify the island's cultural exports and give visitors another reason to time a trip around more than sun and surf. Similar moves — think Bahamas Fashion Week or the rise of culinary and music festivals across the region — have shown that event-driven tourism can extend shoulder seasons and draw a different kind of traveler: one motivated by culture and content as much as climate.Taylor's agency also organizes the Jamaica Women Pinnacle Awards, an annual event celebrating women across industries, with its third staging set for next March in Kingston. It's a smaller-scale example of the same philosophy: creating homegrown platforms that generate media coverage, social content, and — crucially — reasons for people to visit.Adapting to an Industry in FluxTaylor's reflections on the past two years also offer a window into how PR itself is changing, particularly for destinations and tourism boards. He pointed to Jamaica's own recent marketing approach — producing short episodic content profiling each resort region — as a smart pivot away from traditional paid advertising toward more authentic, relatable storytelling. Rather than centering only on hotel managers or destination marketing executives, Taylor said the more resonant approach highlights the people behind the scenes: groundskeepers, cooks, and hospitality staff whose work shapes the visitor experience.That instinct lines up with what many travel marketers are finding industry-wide: audiences respond more to short-form video and authentic, on-the-ground storytelling than to polished static advertising. Taylor said reels consistently outperform static posts for his clients, prompting him to blend traditional media pitching with a heavier social content mix.He's also embraced AI tools for research and idea generation, while insisting they remain a starting point rather than a substitute for judgment, fact-checking, and original writing — a distinction increasingly important as travel and lifestyle content floods social feeds.Why Travelers and the Industry Should Pay AttentionFor travelers, agencies like Lyndon Taylor Associates rarely make headlines directly — but their fingerprints are often on the events, campaigns, and destination stories that shape where people decide to go. A first-time Jamaica Fashion Week in Ocho Rios, an expanding awards platform celebrating regional women, and a PR firm actively building bridges between the Caribbean, North America, and Africa all point to a broader shift: Caribbean destinations are increasingly authoring their own cultural narratives rather than outsourcing them.Taylor's ambitions for year three extend beyond fashion and awards shows into sectors like energy, telecoms, and startup ventures — but travel remains, in his words, the space that feels most like home. As he put it, travel and lifestyle work is where he's spent the most time and where he feels most comfortable operating.As Lyndon Taylor Associates enters its third year, the agency's trajectory offers a small but telling case study in how Caribbean PR and tourism marketing are evolving together: less reliance on big-budget advertising, more investment in authentic storytelling, homegrown events, and regional partnerships. For travelers, the practical takeaway is simple — keep an eye on Ocho Rios this November. A fashion week debut, backed by a Jamaican team building connections from Kingston to Toronto to Johannesburg, suggests the island is angling for a bigger seat at the global fashion and lifestyle table, one event at a time. Support the showTripCast360 --- It's all about travel, lifestyle and entertainment.Web: TripCast360.com.Twit: https://twitter.com/TripCast360FB: https://www.facebook.com/TripCast360Insta: https://www.instagram.com/tripcast360/

My guest is Kurt Johnson Co-author of The Moon Tavern, A Culinary Love Story With Recipes. The Moon Tavern takes the reader on a romantic and culinary journey through the Islands of Croatia, where dark family secrets are revealed, quirky friends and relatives are found, and love is discovered.Vesna, or Ves, is a cookbook writer from Minneapolis who travels to the remote, exotic island of Lastovo off Croatia's Mediterranean coast to reconnect with her biological grandmother. She'd been adopted as a young child after her parents died in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Ves is also fleeing a frayed relationship with her live-in partner, Reed.In Lastovo, she meets Dinko, a single, handsome, and wealthy vineyard owner, and his cute daughter Mia. With his help with the translation, Ves discovers her biological family's history and the dark secrets of what happened during the war. Romance, travel, and cooking ensue. She ultimately learns what matters most to her: simplicity in life, closeness with family, and someone to share love with. And, of course, food!Stephanie [00:00:00]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space and other spaces. All the spaces of all the fun things. Kurt is my spouse, Kurt Johnson, and also the co author of the Moon Tavern, a culinary romance with recipes. It is a fiction book that is available on your bookshelf now. Welcome to the podcast, Kurt.Kurt Johnson [00:00:22]:Hi, thanks for having me.Stephanie [00:00:24]:Thanks for having us. The idea that we should work on a book together. I am, as many of you listening know, a cookbook writer and my husband is a fiction writer. And somewhere along the way, we decided that maybe it would be good to collaborate together. Kurt, was it you or me that had the idea first? I think it was you.Kurt Johnson [00:00:42]:Yeah, probably. I was kind of done with my past book writing about Las Vegas and looking for something different. And we'd been traveling a lot, so going to Croatia, going to Italy, going out west, going to Turkey. So I wanted to incorporate travel with a novel, and I also wanted to incorporate food. And so I thought this would be a lot of fun. Since we're traveling together, we have those shared experiences and you have the food experience and the food writing experience. So I thought it'd be a fun collaboration. And I've always liked the idea of love stories.Kurt Johnson [00:01:18]:Even my thriller books in Las Vegas had kind of a love story element. And it adds a dimension to a novel that, I don't know, makes it cohesive, makes it pull together in an emotional arc that's kind of fulfilling in the end.Stephanie [00:01:33]:Do you think you're a romantic at heart, or what is it about romances that are fun to write for you?Kurt Johnson [00:01:39]:Maybe I'm a romance at heart. I may be more stoic than that, though. I just. I like the idea of seeing people get together, seeing people enjoy the same interests and finding people that can fall in love. Of course, that's always the fun part. The hard part is once you get married and move on from there and have to deal with kids and daily life and work and all the other things that go with living life. And that's not that much fun to write.Stephanie [00:02:07]:Yeah, exactly. We as a couple, I think I can speak for me and you maybe on this one. We've always had great experiences traveling. We are good traveling companions. We like the spirit of adventure. Did you know that Croatia would be the spot for the first fiction endeavor?Kurt Johnson [00:02:24]:Yeah, that was a given since we'd been there five times and four times running a sailboat and visiting the islands. And as you know, Stephanie, I'm just enamored with those islands, I think they're so beautiful. And there was one island we discovered out there, Lastovo, which is the furthest island out. So a lot of the sailors and tourists just never get there. They stay closer to shore. So, you know, going out there the first time, this beautiful bay of Zachlopedia, where, you know, it's a, it's a protective cove which is beautiful turquoise water. And then taking the dinghy in, and then you walk up this path, I think it's about a two mile hike. And then you go over this ridge and this 16th, 15th century town opens up.Kurt Johnson [00:03:10]:You know, at one point maybe it had 10,000 residents. And, and it, it, when we first saw it, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago, it was abandoned. So it was a ghost town of 15th century buildings and churches and apartments in this beautiful valley of lush green foliage. So that's very picturesque. We had an incredible meal there of just simple anchovies and blitfa. And for you, for you people out there that don't know, blitfa is ubiquitous in Croatia. And it's, it's just spring potatoes with Swiss chard, but it's served with everything.Stephanie [00:03:52]:It is served with everything. And they sometimes have spinach, sometimes have like another type of green, but it's sort of like the potatoes are cooked till they're pretty soft, and then it's kind of mashed in a little bit. So it's not fully a mashed potato and it's not fully a roasted potato. It's sort of a combination of both. But it is good.Kurt Johnson [00:04:12]:Yeah, so, yeah, that's so, you know, it seemed such an exotic place, the island of Lastovo in Croatia, that it was a natural to place it there.Stephanie [00:04:23]:Can you tell a little bit of just an introduction of the story, like what people will find when they crack open the book?Kurt Johnson [00:04:30]:Sure. It's about Vesna, who is. Has a breakup with her live in boyfriend, and they'd had a restaurant. She was a chef, a cookbook authority, and had a restaurant, not unlike my dear wife Stephanie. And she has a breakup and she leaves Minneapolis to go to Croatia to uncover her. Her heritage. She had been adopted from Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik, when her parents died in the Serb bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991. So she was adopted out of there and raised in Minnesota.Kurt Johnson [00:05:05]:So then she goes to Croatia and rediscovers her dark family secrets and meets Dinko Radek, who is a winery owner, and, you know, romance ensues. But she has a life still back in Minneapolis that she has to go back to and resolve.Stephanie [00:05:24]:When we talked about putting this first concept together, you know, I see the world through food. Like, literally everything in sort of my life is framed by a meal, an experience, just the way that I see the world. It's always around food, celebrations. And so did you know that that would work for this Croatia book? Because I didn't. When you first brought it up, I was like, I can't be a Croatian grandma here. And writing recipes about what at the time I perceived as, like, dumplings.Kurt Johnson [00:05:53]:Yeah, I wasn't sure either, frankly. You know, so each chapter, there's 25 chapters, and each chapter in it has a description of cooking. And it's all Croatia cooking, Croatia recipes. You know, all food we at over the years where we were there. And then the idea of tagging on recipes was just kind of bringing it home. Like, here's the Croatia experience. Now here's how Stephanie would bring that back to the real world, which is here in the United States.Stephanie [00:06:21]:We have talked about doing a series of books. What is it about this genre that you think lends itself to other titles and other characters?Kurt Johnson [00:06:29]:Well, you know, it's an adventure book on one level, and there's always new places to visit. So the next book is based in Panza, Italy, where we've been a couple times. And it's this beautiful island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean. And, you know, Italian food. You go to Italy and what you remember is the pizza in Naples or the. The pasta in Rome and. And the busteca up in the hills. So, you know, a way to experience a place is.Kurt Johnson [00:07:04]:Is through food. And I like writing about new settings. You know, it. It's not as interesting writing about Minnesota,Stephanie [00:07:11]:but you've written a lot about Las Vegas. You've had how many books about Las Vegas? Three.Kurt Johnson [00:07:16]:Yeah, three. You know, two of the. Of kind of a thriller in. Two thrillers in a series, and then a book about RVing that ends up in. In Las Vegas. And Las Vegas is a interesting place, and I lived there for five years running nightclubs and restaurants. And so two of the books are Underbelly of Las Vegas, which I was a part of in the nightclub scene back in the late 80s. So that's just flat out fun to write about.Kurt Johnson [00:07:39]:And Las Vegas is such a weirdo place that it's fun to bring that to life.Stephanie [00:07:45]:It's interesting to hear you talk about that. The way you choose your stories is about place, because the first book, the Barrens, that you wrote with our Daughter Ellie, inspired by her experiences as a canoe camper in the tundra. That's also based in Place, too. Place is sort of what starts you on these journeys. It seems like, yeah, you know something,Kurt Johnson [00:08:07]:you threw me a curveball because I never really thought about it. But you're exactly right.Stephanie [00:08:12]:All.Kurt Johnson [00:08:12]:All these books start off with a setting, with a place, and then, you know, the plots revolve around. Around that. And there's just so many. So many different. There's a finite number of, really, plots you can choose from. It's kind of like a piano keyboard has all the. The notes that you want to make up a. A music piece the same way with plot structures.Kurt Johnson [00:08:34]:And so to take it to the next level, you really have to search out characters, and the characters are in a setting, so those two are inexplicably, Inextricably. Inextricably linked. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, the two go hand in hand. So character and place really can set a novel apart.Stephanie [00:08:59]:Can you think of other books that you've written or. Excuse me. No, not that you've written, that you've read. Where Place sort of started you off on this adventure?Kurt Johnson [00:09:07]:Yeah, probably. I really love Beautiful Ruins.Stephanie [00:09:11]:Jess Walters.Kurt Johnson [00:09:13]:Walters, yeah. And that starts off in Italy, kind of near Cinque de Terre. And it's kind of the poor version of Cinque de Terre, where the tourists don't go. And it was such a fascinating story. And then they bring that all back to Hollywood in America, and it just works so well. But what really captures your imagination is the description of this little seaside community. Before the whole plot takes over, IStephanie [00:09:41]:kind of think about that book. The Embarrassment of Mangoes.Kurt Johnson [00:09:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:09:44]:When you and I first started sailing and going on these adventures, we read that book. It was about a couple that buys a boat and sails through the Caribbean, and she is discovering spices and fruits and vegetables and things that she's never eaten before. And I just loved that book. It was really what got me into sailing and thinking about how to make that our life and whether or not, you know, we could buy a boat and do that. And that boat really had a huge setting of place. Can you think of, like. I don't know. When I think of other books, there's very few books that I think about character first.Stephanie [00:10:19]:I usually always think about the place. Maybe that's just something.Kurt Johnson [00:10:22]:Or the plot, too. Yeah, they're all just linked together. And you don't think about. Well, you were saying you don't think about character as much.Stephanie [00:10:31]:Not really.Kurt Johnson [00:10:32]:Yeah, it's funny. I think, you know, the best books people say are character driven, but they're inexplicable. What's the word again?Stephanie [00:10:41]:Inextricably.Kurt Johnson [00:10:43]:Inextricably. Trouble with that. Linked. So, you know, you pick a place and you pick a plot and then you build these characters. The characters have to build around that plot and so they kind of naturally flow. And, and I, I think they, if they're well written and honest, you shouldn't think of them. You know, they're interesting characters and you'll say, you know, this is Rabbit and the Rabbit series. And you'll know, but you won't say, oh, that's just a great character.Kurt Johnson [00:11:10]:I, I, I don't know that I certainly, you know, I'm probably deep into it and I look at the craft a lot so I can see where somebody has really spent some time to develop an honest character or where, you know, the narrative voice comes through and, and a character comes to life through this first person narrative voice. So I see that a lot moreStephanie [00:11:30]:people have a real, like they can't believe you can write a book. Like the idea of the literal act of sitting down and writing and how that works. People fantasize about writing it, but then very few people do. What was it that got you over the hump from thinking about writing it to actually sitting down and doing it?Kurt Johnson [00:11:47]:Well, selling our business and all of a sudden being able to free up time. Because for me, novel writing and I think was it Chrisham talked about, you know, writing at 5 in the morning before he goes to work at 7. I just couldn't do that. You know, I just, I'm very focused on one thing and, and so I needed to free up my time from work in order to get going. And then it was, can you put together, you know, a thousand or fifteen hundred words every day so that it links up into a novel and have that, not only that, that discipline, but also have the creative juices to produce scenes almost every day because, you know, like a, a good novel is created from 50 scenes. So I went from, you know, writing a memoir that I probably won't publish just to see if I can get, you know, a thousand words every day and put this together to then writing Las Vegas turnaround. And there I, I, I really just copied a lot of plot structures that I saw that I liked. And so it was easier for me to set up main characters, set up tertiary characters, subplots, because I had a blueprint from somebody else.Kurt Johnson [00:12:56]:And then, and then once, you know, you Keep writing. You get muscle memory for it and it becomes more, more natural and actually more fun because it becomes more organic. You'll follow characters through a town and they'll meet somebody and all of a sudden that person becomes a character in their universe and they say something and all of a sudden that takes off and you have to follow it. Now, you know, the woman's gonna fall in love with a guy at the end. But getting there is the fun part. And now I can do that a lot more organically.Stephanie [00:13:27]:If you are talking to any aspiring novel writers, what kind of advice do you have for them to get started?Kurt Johnson [00:13:34]:Well, you know, you gotta lower your expectations just because publishing is so hard, you know.Stephanie [00:13:39]:Can you elaborate on that?Kurt Johnson [00:13:41]:Well, you know, there's maybe two or three or 400 agents, most of them in New York City and they're all trying to make a buck. And it's hard to make a buck off a debut writer. It helps if you're MFA and you're writing in a genre because, you know, let's say 70% of the books are read by women and 70% of those are romances. And then men, the other 30%, probably 80% of what they read are, you know, thrillers or mysteries. So if you can pick a genre, that always helps. But yeah, it, you have to be more thoughtful about it. And I think, I think so many first time writers, you know, once they get the discipline and put, put the, the words on a page, they write that first personal novel, you know, and I wrote my memoir and it's, it's really 90% of those, they, you know, people have the, they aspire for the great American novel and it's too personal, it's too close to home. They can't break out from the reality of their lives to have fun with the plot and make things happen.Kurt Johnson [00:14:45]:So a lot of times these books, nothing happens. They're deeply emotional books where nothing happens and they're, they're excruciatingly boring. So you gotta get past that phase and then you gotta look at it as a, as a craft. And, you know, a big chunk of it's art, of course, whatever you wanna call that, you know, shedding light on the human experience. But a big chunk is craft. And I don't think you can get to the craft for most people in that first book. So you gotta keep writing, you know, and realize that the first couple books may not get published. So, you know, the barons got published.Kurt Johnson [00:15:21]:That was one, two, that was my third, fourth book, you know, and the, and two, the, the first three, two of them were duds that will never be published.Stephanie [00:15:31]:Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, it's good to chat with you about the book. We are in the marketing process of the book. I feel like books come in three waves. One is the idea that you're thinking about it. The second, the actual writing of it. And then the third is actual the marketing of it.Stephanie [00:15:48]:What do you think's the hardest part?Kurt Johnson [00:15:49]:Well, I mean, it's. The hardest part's finding an agent and finding a publisher. Then if you self publish, the hardest part is marketing. And at least it is for me because writing is so natural and fun for me. But I think for most people, you know, the writing's a hard part. And, and you know, like the Minnesota writer o', Brien, he hates writing, so he forces himself. Tim o'. Brien.Kurt Johnson [00:16:12]:So he forces himself to get those books out there. So probably that's the hardest part for him.Stephanie [00:16:17]:We had, I had a cookbook, two cookbooks out and I had a publisher, but they didn't publish this book because it was a fiction book. I think some people just assume like, oh, well, they've already had books out, but we self published this book. Why did we make that decision from your standpoint?Kurt Johnson [00:16:33]:Well, we couldn't get an A list agent or a New York publisher. There's just not, it comes off as almost a debut book and it's hard for them to make any money. So if you can't get an A lister, then you're, you know, stuck with boutique publishing companies and others and, and they just don't support the marketing of your book. And I've self published books in the past, so I know how to do it. I know how to put a professional product out there. And, and we can, you know, both of us are marketers and, and Stephanie has a large platform, so we can do a lot of our own marketing or, or outsource it, you know, but still we retain most of the profits. So when we do the marketing, we can reinvested or keep those profits.Stephanie [00:17:17]:Yeah, I, when you say profits, it sounds like there's a lot there. I'd like to, I mean, I mean,Kurt Johnson [00:17:22]:maybe, maybe we broke it even at this point, but then now we're looking at a marketing PR firm that's going to set us back another $5,000. But you know, if, if these books succeed and somebody makes a lot of money, it's the, it's the third, you know, book that's going to put them over the top. It's not the first.Stephanie [00:17:40]:I have this idea too that we're going to write these books and then sooner or later someone's going to turn them into a T series because it's going to be like the White Lotus where each season is a different location and a different cast of characters, but sort of the general premise is sort of the same.Kurt Johnson [00:17:56]:I hope so. You know, I hope an A list agent comes along and, and frees us from our servitude or whatever. And, but, and yeah, you know, there's, there's plenty of stories of self published authors that, that get deals or even boutique. Boutique authors that get deals. So you know, we can dream.Stephanie [00:18:16]:One thing that I'd like the listener to hear is what their part is in this because we've. I was leaving the coffee shop today. We're in Ely. That is the vacation backgrounds. But.Kurt Johnson [00:18:25]:Right.Stephanie [00:18:25]:I was leaving the coffee shop today and a woman stopped me and said, Stephanie, I had the opportunity to read the Moon Tavern. It's so good. I loved it so much. And she's telling me about it and telling her friend. And I have that experience a lot where people have really, really enjoyed this book. And I just want the listener to know that leaving reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or Barnes and Noble or wherever you bought the book or if you can' find a book, asking for it at your local bookseller. Cause they can always order it when you're self published. The more buzz you can create about these books, the better chance that someone will hear about it, someone will buy it and eventually a publisher, if they hear about a book and they like it, then they may pick it up.Stephanie [00:19:03]:So I think if you like what you're reading and you want to see more of this type of work in the world and books that you like, that's something that you can do to help us out.Kurt Johnson [00:19:13]:Yes, a 5 on Amazon or top rating on any other Goodreads is good too. Yeah, it's, it's all, it's all good. So yes, those, those help a lot. Just because the more reviews you can get and the more five star reviews you get, the more people will pick up the book, the more buzz you'll get. So yeah, so it helps us immeasurably.Stephanie [00:19:35]:Another thing before we wrap up here, someone asked me about the Cover of the book. Do you want to talk about how you picked the artwork?Kurt Johnson [00:19:41]:Yeah, I was pretty much online Xee Reider, she's in St. Paul and she's a muralist mostly. And I really liked the look that she had. So I reached out to her, and she did the original artwork, and then each chapter ends with a recipe, and there's a pen and ink drawing, and she did those. And I really think that adds another level to the book. And I love a beautiful cover.Stephanie [00:20:10]:Yeah, the cover is really nice. She did a great job. All right, well, that is it for this episode of the podcast. Just want to chat with you and give people a little background. Thanks for being a guest. Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

My guest is Kurt Johnson Co-author of The Moon Tavern, A Culinary Love Story With Recipes. The Moon Tavern takes the reader on a romantic and culinary journey through the Islands of Croatia, where dark family secrets are revealed, quirky friends and relatives are found, and love is discovered.Vesna, or Ves, is a cookbook writer from Minneapolis who travels to the remote, exotic island of Lastovo off Croatia's Mediterranean coast to reconnect with her biological grandmother. She'd been adopted as a young child after her parents died in the Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. Ves is also fleeing a frayed relationship with her live-in partner, Reed.In Lastovo, she meets Dinko, a single, handsome, and wealthy vineyard owner, and his cute daughter Mia. With his help with the translation, Ves discovers her biological family's history and the dark secrets of what happened during the war. Romance, travel, and cooking ensue. She ultimately learns what matters most to her: simplicity in life, closeness with family, and someone to share love with. And, of course, food!Stephanie [00:00:00]:Hello, everybody, and welcome to Dishing with Stephanie's Dish, the podcast where we talk to people in the food space and other spaces. All the spaces of all the fun things. Kurt is my spouse, Kurt Johnson, and also the co author of the Moon Tavern, a culinary romance with recipes. It is a fiction book that is available on your bookshelf now. Welcome to the podcast, Kurt.Kurt Johnson [00:00:22]:Hi, thanks for having me.Stephanie [00:00:24]:Thanks for having us. The idea that we should work on a book together. I am, as many of you listening know, a cookbook writer and my husband is a fiction writer. And somewhere along the way, we decided that maybe it would be good to collaborate together. Kurt, was it you or me that had the idea first? I think it was you.Kurt Johnson [00:00:42]:Yeah, probably. I was kind of done with my past book writing about Las Vegas and looking for something different. And we'd been traveling a lot, so going to Croatia, going to Italy, going out west, going to Turkey. So I wanted to incorporate travel with a novel, and I also wanted to incorporate food. And so I thought this would be a lot of fun. Since we're traveling together, we have those shared experiences and you have the food experience and the food writing experience. So I thought it'd be a fun collaboration. And I've always liked the idea of love stories.Kurt Johnson [00:01:18]:Even my thriller books in Las Vegas had kind of a love story element. And it adds a dimension to a novel that, I don't know, makes it cohesive, makes it pull together in an emotional arc that's kind of fulfilling in the end.Stephanie [00:01:33]:Do you think you're a romantic at heart, or what is it about romances that are fun to write for you?Kurt Johnson [00:01:39]:Maybe I'm a romance at heart. I may be more stoic than that, though. I just. I like the idea of seeing people get together, seeing people enjoy the same interests and finding people that can fall in love. Of course, that's always the fun part. The hard part is once you get married and move on from there and have to deal with kids and daily life and work and all the other things that go with living life. And that's not that much fun to write.Stephanie [00:02:07]:Yeah, exactly. We as a couple, I think I can speak for me and you maybe on this one. We've always had great experiences traveling. We are good traveling companions. We like the spirit of adventure. Did you know that Croatia would be the spot for the first fiction endeavor?Kurt Johnson [00:02:24]:Yeah, that was a given since we'd been there five times and four times running a sailboat and visiting the islands. And as you know, Stephanie, I'm just enamored with those islands, I think they're so beautiful. And there was one island we discovered out there, Lastovo, which is the furthest island out. So a lot of the sailors and tourists just never get there. They stay closer to shore. So, you know, going out there the first time, this beautiful bay of Zachlopedia, where, you know, it's a, it's a protective cove which is beautiful turquoise water. And then taking the dinghy in, and then you walk up this path, I think it's about a two mile hike. And then you go over this ridge and this 16th, 15th century town opens up.Kurt Johnson [00:03:10]:You know, at one point maybe it had 10,000 residents. And, and it, it, when we first saw it, I don't know, 10, 15 years ago, it was abandoned. So it was a ghost town of 15th century buildings and churches and apartments in this beautiful valley of lush green foliage. So that's very picturesque. We had an incredible meal there of just simple anchovies and blitfa. And for you, for you people out there that don't know, blitfa is ubiquitous in Croatia. And it's, it's just spring potatoes with Swiss chard, but it's served with everything.Stephanie [00:03:52]:It is served with everything. And they sometimes have spinach, sometimes have like another type of green, but it's sort of like the potatoes are cooked till they're pretty soft, and then it's kind of mashed in a little bit. So it's not fully a mashed potato and it's not fully a roasted potato. It's sort of a combination of both. But it is good.Kurt Johnson [00:04:12]:Yeah, so, yeah, that's so, you know, it seemed such an exotic place, the island of Lastovo in Croatia, that it was a natural to place it there.Stephanie [00:04:23]:Can you tell a little bit of just an introduction of the story, like what people will find when they crack open the book?Kurt Johnson [00:04:30]:Sure. It's about Vesna, who is. Has a breakup with her live in boyfriend, and they'd had a restaurant. She was a chef, a cookbook authority, and had a restaurant, not unlike my dear wife Stephanie. And she has a breakup and she leaves Minneapolis to go to Croatia to uncover her. Her heritage. She had been adopted from Croatia, specifically Dubrovnik, when her parents died in the Serb bombing of Dubrovnik in 1991. So she was adopted out of there and raised in Minnesota.Kurt Johnson [00:05:05]:So then she goes to Croatia and rediscovers her dark family secrets and meets Dinko Radek, who is a winery owner, and, you know, romance ensues. But she has a life still back in Minneapolis that she has to go back to and resolve.Stephanie [00:05:24]:When we talked about putting this first concept together, you know, I see the world through food. Like, literally everything in sort of my life is framed by a meal, an experience, just the way that I see the world. It's always around food, celebrations. And so did you know that that would work for this Croatia book? Because I didn't. When you first brought it up, I was like, I can't be a Croatian grandma here. And writing recipes about what at the time I perceived as, like, dumplings.Kurt Johnson [00:05:53]:Yeah, I wasn't sure either, frankly. You know, so each chapter, there's 25 chapters, and each chapter in it has a description of cooking. And it's all Croatia cooking, Croatia recipes. You know, all food we at over the years where we were there. And then the idea of tagging on recipes was just kind of bringing it home. Like, here's the Croatia experience. Now here's how Stephanie would bring that back to the real world, which is here in the United States.Stephanie [00:06:21]:We have talked about doing a series of books. What is it about this genre that you think lends itself to other titles and other characters?Kurt Johnson [00:06:29]:Well, you know, it's an adventure book on one level, and there's always new places to visit. So the next book is based in Panza, Italy, where we've been a couple times. And it's this beautiful island off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean. And, you know, Italian food. You go to Italy and what you remember is the pizza in Naples or the. The pasta in Rome and. And the busteca up in the hills. So, you know, a way to experience a place is.Kurt Johnson [00:07:04]:Is through food. And I like writing about new settings. You know, it. It's not as interesting writing about Minnesota,Stephanie [00:07:11]:but you've written a lot about Las Vegas. You've had how many books about Las Vegas? Three.Kurt Johnson [00:07:16]:Yeah, three. You know, two of the. Of kind of a thriller in. Two thrillers in a series, and then a book about RVing that ends up in. In Las Vegas. And Las Vegas is a interesting place, and I lived there for five years running nightclubs and restaurants. And so two of the books are Underbelly of Las Vegas, which I was a part of in the nightclub scene back in the late 80s. So that's just flat out fun to write about.Kurt Johnson [00:07:39]:And Las Vegas is such a weirdo place that it's fun to bring that to life.Stephanie [00:07:45]:It's interesting to hear you talk about that. The way you choose your stories is about place, because the first book, the Barrens, that you wrote with our Daughter Ellie, inspired by her experiences as a canoe camper in the tundra. That's also based in Place, too. Place is sort of what starts you on these journeys. It seems like, yeah, you know something,Kurt Johnson [00:08:07]:you threw me a curveball because I never really thought about it. But you're exactly right.Stephanie [00:08:12]:All.Kurt Johnson [00:08:12]:All these books start off with a setting, with a place, and then, you know, the plots revolve around. Around that. And there's just so many. So many different. There's a finite number of, really, plots you can choose from. It's kind of like a piano keyboard has all the. The notes that you want to make up a. A music piece the same way with plot structures.Kurt Johnson [00:08:34]:And so to take it to the next level, you really have to search out characters, and the characters are in a setting, so those two are inexplicably, Inextricably. Inextricably linked. Yeah, exactly. So, you know, the two go hand in hand. So character and place really can set a novel apart.Stephanie [00:08:59]:Can you think of other books that you've written or. Excuse me. No, not that you've written, that you've read. Where Place sort of started you off on this adventure?Kurt Johnson [00:09:07]:Yeah, probably. I really love Beautiful Ruins.Stephanie [00:09:11]:Jess Walters.Kurt Johnson [00:09:13]:Walters, yeah. And that starts off in Italy, kind of near Cinque de Terre. And it's kind of the poor version of Cinque de Terre, where the tourists don't go. And it was such a fascinating story. And then they bring that all back to Hollywood in America, and it just works so well. But what really captures your imagination is the description of this little seaside community. Before the whole plot takes over, IStephanie [00:09:41]:kind of think about that book. The Embarrassment of Mangoes.Kurt Johnson [00:09:44]:Yeah.Stephanie [00:09:44]:When you and I first started sailing and going on these adventures, we read that book. It was about a couple that buys a boat and sails through the Caribbean, and she is discovering spices and fruits and vegetables and things that she's never eaten before. And I just loved that book. It was really what got me into sailing and thinking about how to make that our life and whether or not, you know, we could buy a boat and do that. And that boat really had a huge setting of place. Can you think of, like. I don't know. When I think of other books, there's very few books that I think about character first.Stephanie [00:10:19]:I usually always think about the place. Maybe that's just something.Kurt Johnson [00:10:22]:Or the plot, too. Yeah, they're all just linked together. And you don't think about. Well, you were saying you don't think about character as much.Stephanie [00:10:31]:Not really.Kurt Johnson [00:10:32]:Yeah, it's funny. I think, you know, the best books people say are character driven, but they're inexplicable. What's the word again?Stephanie [00:10:41]:Inextricably.Kurt Johnson [00:10:43]:Inextricably. Trouble with that. Linked. So, you know, you pick a place and you pick a plot and then you build these characters. The characters have to build around that plot and so they kind of naturally flow. And, and I, I think they, if they're well written and honest, you shouldn't think of them. You know, they're interesting characters and you'll say, you know, this is Rabbit and the Rabbit series. And you'll know, but you won't say, oh, that's just a great character.Kurt Johnson [00:11:10]:I, I, I don't know that I certainly, you know, I'm probably deep into it and I look at the craft a lot so I can see where somebody has really spent some time to develop an honest character or where, you know, the narrative voice comes through and, and a character comes to life through this first person narrative voice. So I see that a lot moreStephanie [00:11:30]:people have a real, like they can't believe you can write a book. Like the idea of the literal act of sitting down and writing and how that works. People fantasize about writing it, but then very few people do. What was it that got you over the hump from thinking about writing it to actually sitting down and doing it?Kurt Johnson [00:11:47]:Well, selling our business and all of a sudden being able to free up time. Because for me, novel writing and I think was it Chrisham talked about, you know, writing at 5 in the morning before he goes to work at 7. I just couldn't do that. You know, I just, I'm very focused on one thing and, and so I needed to free up my time from work in order to get going. And then it was, can you put together, you know, a thousand or fifteen hundred words every day so that it links up into a novel and have that, not only that, that discipline, but also have the creative juices to produce scenes almost every day because, you know, like a, a good novel is created from 50 scenes. So I went from, you know, writing a memoir that I probably won't publish just to see if I can get, you know, a thousand words every day and put this together to then writing Las Vegas turnaround. And there I, I, I really just copied a lot of plot structures that I saw that I liked. And so it was easier for me to set up main characters, set up tertiary characters, subplots, because I had a blueprint from somebody else.Kurt Johnson [00:12:56]:And then, and then once, you know, you Keep writing. You get muscle memory for it and it becomes more, more natural and actually more fun because it becomes more organic. You'll follow characters through a town and they'll meet somebody and all of a sudden that person becomes a character in their universe and they say something and all of a sudden that takes off and you have to follow it. Now, you know, the woman's gonna fall in love with a guy at the end. But getting there is the fun part. And now I can do that a lot more organically.Stephanie [00:13:27]:If you are talking to any aspiring novel writers, what kind of advice do you have for them to get started?Kurt Johnson [00:13:34]:Well, you know, you gotta lower your expectations just because publishing is so hard, you know.Stephanie [00:13:39]:Can you elaborate on that?Kurt Johnson [00:13:41]:Well, you know, there's maybe two or three or 400 agents, most of them in New York City and they're all trying to make a buck. And it's hard to make a buck off a debut writer. It helps if you're MFA and you're writing in a genre because, you know, let's say 70% of the books are read by women and 70% of those are romances. And then men, the other 30%, probably 80% of what they read are, you know, thrillers or mysteries. So if you can pick a genre, that always helps. But yeah, it, you have to be more thoughtful about it. And I think, I think so many first time writers, you know, once they get the discipline and put, put the, the words on a page, they write that first personal novel, you know, and I wrote my memoir and it's, it's really 90% of those, they, you know, people have the, they aspire for the great American novel and it's too personal, it's too close to home. They can't break out from the reality of their lives to have fun with the plot and make things happen.Kurt Johnson [00:14:45]:So a lot of times these books, nothing happens. They're deeply emotional books where nothing happens and they're, they're excruciatingly boring. So you gotta get past that phase and then you gotta look at it as a, as a craft. And, you know, a big chunk of it's art, of course, whatever you wanna call that, you know, shedding light on the human experience. But a big chunk is craft. And I don't think you can get to the craft for most people in that first book. So you gotta keep writing, you know, and realize that the first couple books may not get published. So, you know, the barons got published.Kurt Johnson [00:15:21]:That was one, two, that was my third, fourth book, you know, and the, and two, the, the first three, two of them were duds that will never be published.Stephanie [00:15:31]:Yeah. Yeah. All right, well, it's good to chat with you about the book. We are in the marketing process of the book. I feel like books come in three waves. One is the idea that you're thinking about it. The second, the actual writing of it. And then the third is actual the marketing of it.Stephanie [00:15:48]:What do you think's the hardest part?Kurt Johnson [00:15:49]:Well, I mean, it's. The hardest part's finding an agent and finding a publisher. Then if you self publish, the hardest part is marketing. And at least it is for me because writing is so natural and fun for me. But I think for most people, you know, the writing's a hard part. And, and you know, like the Minnesota writer o', Brien, he hates writing, so he forces himself. Tim o'. Brien.Kurt Johnson [00:16:12]:So he forces himself to get those books out there. So probably that's the hardest part for him.Stephanie [00:16:17]:We had, I had a cookbook, two cookbooks out and I had a publisher, but they didn't publish this book because it was a fiction book. I think some people just assume like, oh, well, they've already had books out, but we self published this book. Why did we make that decision from your standpoint?Kurt Johnson [00:16:33]:Well, we couldn't get an A list agent or a New York publisher. There's just not, it comes off as almost a debut book and it's hard for them to make any money. So if you can't get an A lister, then you're, you know, stuck with boutique publishing companies and others and, and they just don't support the marketing of your book. And I've self published books in the past, so I know how to do it. I know how to put a professional product out there. And, and we can, you know, both of us are marketers and, and Stephanie has a large platform, so we can do a lot of our own marketing or, or outsource it, you know, but still we retain most of the profits. So when we do the marketing, we can reinvested or keep those profits.Stephanie [00:17:17]:Yeah, I, when you say profits, it sounds like there's a lot there. I'd like to, I mean, I mean,Kurt Johnson [00:17:22]:maybe, maybe we broke it even at this point, but then now we're looking at a marketing PR firm that's going to set us back another $5,000. But you know, if, if these books succeed and somebody makes a lot of money, it's the, it's the third, you know, book that's going to put them over the top. It's not the first.Stephanie [00:17:40]:I have this idea too that we're going to write these books and then sooner or later someone's going to turn them into a T series because it's going to be like the White Lotus where each season is a different location and a different cast of characters, but sort of the general premise is sort of the same.Kurt Johnson [00:17:56]:I hope so. You know, I hope an A list agent comes along and, and frees us from our servitude or whatever. And, but, and yeah, you know, there's, there's plenty of stories of self published authors that, that get deals or even boutique. Boutique authors that get deals. So you know, we can dream.Stephanie [00:18:16]:One thing that I'd like the listener to hear is what their part is in this because we've. I was leaving the coffee shop today. We're in Ely. That is the vacation backgrounds. But.Kurt Johnson [00:18:25]:Right.Stephanie [00:18:25]:I was leaving the coffee shop today and a woman stopped me and said, Stephanie, I had the opportunity to read the Moon Tavern. It's so good. I loved it so much. And she's telling me about it and telling her friend. And I have that experience a lot where people have really, really enjoyed this book. And I just want the listener to know that leaving reviews on Goodreads or Amazon or Barnes and Noble or wherever you bought the book or if you can' find a book, asking for it at your local bookseller. Cause they can always order it when you're self published. The more buzz you can create about these books, the better chance that someone will hear about it, someone will buy it and eventually a publisher, if they hear about a book and they like it, then they may pick it up.Stephanie [00:19:03]:So I think if you like what you're reading and you want to see more of this type of work in the world and books that you like, that's something that you can do to help us out.Kurt Johnson [00:19:13]:Yes, a 5 on Amazon or top rating on any other Goodreads is good too. Yeah, it's, it's all, it's all good. So yes, those, those help a lot. Just because the more reviews you can get and the more five star reviews you get, the more people will pick up the book, the more buzz you'll get. So yeah, so it helps us immeasurably.Stephanie [00:19:35]:Another thing before we wrap up here, someone asked me about the Cover of the book. Do you want to talk about how you picked the artwork?Kurt Johnson [00:19:41]:Yeah, I was pretty much online Xee Reider, she's in St. Paul and she's a muralist mostly. And I really liked the look that she had. So I reached out to her, and she did the original artwork, and then each chapter ends with a recipe, and there's a pen and ink drawing, and she did those. And I really think that adds another level to the book. And I love a beautiful cover.Stephanie [00:20:10]:Yeah, the cover is really nice. She did a great job. All right, well, that is it for this episode of the podcast. Just want to chat with you and give people a little background. Thanks for being a guest. Stephanie Hansen's @StephaniesDish Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stephaniehansen.substack.com/subscribe

It's time once again for our Best of the Midwest feature for 2026! Are you trying to come up with some quick getaway ideas that are only a quick trip from the Chicago area? Well, John Williams has some great recommendations for your trip! Today, we take a drive towards the picturesque Starved Rock State […]

It's time once again for our Best of the Midwest feature for 2026! Are you trying to come up with some quick getaway ideas that are only a quick trip from the Chicago area? Well, John Williams has some great recommendations for your trip! Today, we take a drive towards the picturesque Starved Rock State […]

Artificial intelligence is transforming hospitality, but independent hotels may have the biggest opportunity of all. In this episode, Cody & Meagan explore how boutique properties can leverage AI to save time, improve operations, enhance guest communication, and compete with larger brands—without sacrificing the personalized experiences that set them apart.

How can boutique consultancies scale, diversify, and prepare for exit without losing the culture that made them successful?In this episode, Professor Joe O'Mahoney speaks with Martin Mehalchin, a former Lenati leader who helped build the Seattle-based customer strategy and experience design firm into a nationally recognised consultancy before its 2018 merger with PK. Martin reflects on the growth journey from a locally anchored boutique to a broader North American player, including the role of clear positioning in customer experience, the importance of client diversification, and the value of developing a more productised niche around loyalty.The conversation explores how Lenati's employee-first culture supported client retention, internal promotion, and low churn. Martin also discusses the firm's PE-backed acquisition, why the fit with PK and Carlyle worked, and how a careful approach to integration helped preserve momentum. The episode closes with Martin's view on AI in consulting, especially its impact on junior roles and why firms should build AI capability through experimentation rather than top-down mandates.In this episode you will learn:Why clear specialist positioning can drive both sales and talent attractionHow Lenati reduced dependence on Microsoft by building new verticalsHow employee-first cultures can support client outcomes and firm valueWhat made the PK and Carlyle acquisition a positive experienceHow boutique firms should approach AI through team-led experimentationChapters:(00:00) Introduction(07:22) Building an Employee-First Consulting Culture(09:00) Scaling From Local to National(13:00) Turning Local Case Studies Into National Growth(19:10) Low Churn and Promoting From Within(20:55) Choosing a PE-Backed Acquisition(24:50) What Made the Private Equity Experience Work(29:30) Lessons Learned From Growth and Exit(33:50) Keeping the Fundamentals While Adopting AI(35:15) Final ThoughtsFollow Martin on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/mehalchin Follow Joe on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/Follow Joe on Twitter:https://twitter.com/joeomahoneyVisit Joe's Website:https://www.equitysherpa.comSend us Fan MailProf. Joe O'Mahoney helps boutique consultancies scale and exit. Follow Joe on LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeomahoney/Follow Joe on Twitter:https://twitter.com/joeomahoneyVisit Joe's Website:https://www.equitysherpa.com

Emily Brooker is the creative director and owner of Esme and Elodie, a women's and plus size boutique in Renton, Washington. Esme and Elodie is known for being size inclusive, sex positive and humor filled. Emily guides her vision of social entrepreneurship and the modern woman into a community focused retail space.In this episode, Emily shares how she built a thriving boutique by doing things differently. From creating an inclusive shopping experience and staying unapologetically authentic online to balancing entrepreneurship with motherhood, she opens up about the realities of running a modern retail business and why putting people before sales has been the key to her success.What's Inside:Building an authentic, inclusive brand that customers genuinely connect withCreating thoughtful retail experiences that put people firstGrowing a successful business while balancing motherhood, leadership, and entrepreneurshipEsme & Elodie WebsiteInstagramTiktokSupport the show

Ever feel like you're working harder than ever, yet still being mistaken for "just another photographer"? The difference between an amateur and a boutique photographer isn't talent, gear, or experience. It's the way they think, serve, and run their business. In this week's Joycast, Sarah Petty breaks down the 8 habits that separate thriving boutique photographers from everyone else. These simple shifts can completely change how clients see you, what they're willing to invest, and how much joy you find in your business. • Why saying "no" to the wrong inquiries creates space for your best clients • The overlooked conversations that turn price shoppers into lifelong fans • How small details, from consultations to packaging, dramatically increase perceived value If you've been wondering what professional photographers do differently, this episode gives you a clear roadmap. Pick one idea, implement it this week, and start building the business you've been working toward. RESOURCES:  Photography Business Tools to Get Started 37 CLIENTS WHO CAN HIRE YOU TODAY https://info.photographybusinessinstitute.com/37-clients-optin   INSTAGRAM – DM me "Conversation Starters" for some genuine ways to strike up a conversation about your photography business wherever you are. https://www.instagram.com/sarah.petty   FREE COPY: NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLING BOOK FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS www.photographybusinessinstitute.com/freebook    BOUTIQUE BREAKTHROUGH – 8-WEEK WORKSHOP www.photographybusinessinstitute.com/boutiquebreakthrough   FREE FACEBOOK GROUP: Join and get my free mini-class: How I earned $1,500 per client working 16 hours a week by becoming a boutique photographer. https://www.facebook.com/groups/ditchthedigitals    YOUTUBE: Check out my latest how to videos:  https://www.youtube.com/photographybusinessinstitute   LOVE THE SHOW? Subscribe & Review on Apple Podcasts https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/worth-every-penny-joycast/id1513676756

Can a boutique really survive for more than 50 years? Starting with just three pieces of jewelry in 1970, Linda Winter built Accessories With a Flair and Hair into a unique business that combines apparel, accessories, hair services, wigs, skincare, and personal styling. In this conversation, she shares the mindset that has helped her navigate every retail challenge—from economic downturns to the rise of online shopping and AI. You'll learn why diversification matters, how community involvement creates loyal customers, why relationships always outperform price, and what today's boutique owners can learn from more than five decades in business. You'll learn: How Linda built a thriving boutique after starting with just three pieces of jewelry Why diversifying your business protects your revenue How to build customer loyalty that lasts decades The importance of serving your community   Join The Boutique Hub Linda Winter & Accessories With a Flair and Hair: Instagram:@AccessoriesWithaFlairandHair Website: accessorieswithaflairandhair.com  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Steve, Renee and Jeremy talk to their friends Luke and Lucas Otero, owners of Santa Fe, New Mexico based distributor Santa Fe Boutique Wines & Spirits. The Bourbon Show music (Whiskey on the Mississippi) is by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com).   Important Links: YouTube: https://bit.ly/3kAJZQz Our Club: https://www.abvnetwork.com/club Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theabvnetwork Check us out at: abvnetwork.com. Join the revolution by adding #ABVNetworkCrew to your profile on social media.

More traffic won't fix a boutique that's speaking to the wrong customer. Ashley sits down with Josh Orr, CEO of Capital Commerce, to break down what separates seven-figure boutique brands from everyone else. They discuss why identifying your perfect customer changes everything—from your website and social media to your product selection and marketing strategy. If you've been creating content, posting consistently, and still struggling to grow online, this conversation explains why attracting the right customer matters far more than attracting more customers. You'll learn: Josh's framework for building a high-converting website Why successful boutiques know their customer inside and out Why boutique owners need to think like media companies How to attract your ideal shopper while repelling the wrong one Join The Boutique Hub Get Swym Josh Orr & Capital Commerce: Instagram:@retailjosh Website: madebycapital.com                  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube

Watch Us On YouTube! Announcing a new, ongoing benefit for annual subscribers of our Slack community. Annual subscribers receive a free Points Path Alerts subscription OR a 30% discount on Points Path Pro. Richard is back, fresh off a World Cup match at the Meadowlands, and he's got plenty to say about the experience—from the surprisingly smooth transportation operation to the electric atmosphere inside the stadium. Meanwhile, Ed finally checks JetBlue Mint off his list and shares why the experience reinforced one of the biggest challenges facing the legacy carriers: delivering a premium product that feels worth the price. The conversation also dives into Bilt's newest transfer partner, Preferred Hotels, bringing the program back to 25 partners and opening up a new collection of boutique and luxury properties for point redemptions. Plus, a look at Air Canada's little-known airport cafés, why loyalty programs continue marching toward higher prices, and a potentially lucrative Pays promotion that listeners may want to jump on before it disappears. Get hydrated like Ed in Vegas with Nuun Use my Bilt Rewards link to sign-up and support the show! If you enjoy the podcast, I hope you'll take a moment to leave us a rating. That helps us grow our audience! If you're looking for a way to support the show, we'd love to have you join us in our Travel Slack Community.  Join me and other travel experts for informative conversations about the travel world, the best ways to use your miles and points, Zoom happy hours and exciting giveaways. Monthly access Annual access Personal consultation plus annual access We have witty, funny, sarcastic discussions about travel, for members only. My fellow travel experts are available to answer your questions and we host video chats multiple times per month. Follow Us! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/milestogopodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@milestogopodcast Ed Pizza: https://www.instagram.com/pizzainmotion/ Richard Kerr: https://www.instagram.com/kerrpoints/ ✈️  What We Cover in This Episode ✈️ Richard attends a World Cup match • France vs. Senegal at the Meadowlands • New Jersey Transit's surprisingly smooth operation • Why the overall experience exceeded expectations ✈️ Ed finally flies JetBlue Mint • A321 Mint experience review • Seat, service, and onboard Wi-Fi • Why JetBlue continues to stand out ✈️ The state of airline Wi-Fi • American Airlines free Wi-Fi rollout frustrations • JetBlue's connectivity advantage • Why reliability still matters ✈️ The power of points and miles • Using miles to stay for an All-Star game • Last-minute flight changes • Why flexibility remains invaluable ✈️ Admirals Club vs. Delta Sky Club • A tale of two lounge experiences • Food quality differences • How the products continue to diverge ✈️ Air Canada's airport cafés • Complimentary access for elite travelers • Why the concept stands out • Comparing loyalty investments across airlines ✈️ Bilt adds Preferred Hotels • Transfer partner number 25 • One Bilt point to two Preferred points • Boutique hotel redemption opportunities   ✈️ Accor Voyager membership • Discounted membership opportunity • Elite night credits • Whether the math works ✈️ Are loyalty programs becoming too expensive? • Inflation in award pricing • The future of airline and hotel currencies • Where value still exists ✈️ A Pays promotion worth watching • Bonus points opportunities • Why it may not last long • Getting value before the offer disappears ⏱️ Episode 442 Timestamps 1:06 – Richard's World Cup experience at the Meadowlands 7:06 – Ed reviews JetBlue Mint 11:15 – American's free Wi-Fi rollout frustrations 12:44 – Using points and miles to save an All-Star game trip 15:37 – Admirals Club vs. Delta Sky Club 19:36 – Discovering Air Canada's airport cafés 23:31 – Are loyalty programs headed in the wrong direction? 28:07 – Bilt adds Preferred Hotels as partner #25 29:57 – Accor Voyager membership opportunity 32:54 – Pays promotion and bonus points opportunity                

Send us Fan MailOB/GYN Dr. Cheruba Prabakar ditched employed medicine, went cash-pay, and built a boutique surgical practice in the Bay Area from scratch. Dr. Una breaks down how she overcame fear, bootstrapped without a loan, and hit her first revenue milestone in year one.Dr. Cheruba Prabakar spent 7–8 years in employed medicine before she admitted something felt off. Her dream of owning a practice had been buried under the assumption that private practice simply didn't exist on the West Coast. She joined the EntreMD Business School not with a plan, but with a question: is there another way? A year later, she opened her doors.She bootstrapped entirely, no loan, no outside funding. She answered her own phones, hand-wrote appointments, and stood at a dark outdoor event in a ski jacket handing out cards to strangers. A patient showed up from that event two and a half years later. The work was always working. She just couldn't see it yet.By the end of year one, she had already hit a revenue number she once thought was ridiculous to even write down. The milestone didn't make her comfortable. It made her hungry. She introduced membership programs, raised her surgical prices, and hired a second physician so her practice could run while she's on vacation. Now she's writing a book on fibroids, due out July 2026, because she wants every woman to know they don't have to wait eight months to see a surgeon.

Why do some employees take ownership while others just go through the motions? The answer isn't usually more rules, more checklists, or more micromanagement. The most motivated teams understand the purpose behind their work, know how success is measured, and feel empowered to contribute to the outcome. Sara Burks shares 3 PRACTICAL WAYS to motivate your team, increase productivity, and create a workplace culture where employees feel invested in the results—not just the work. You'll learn: Why giving employees ownership creates better performance How to connect daily tasks to bigger business goals A simple example of motivating staff through merchandising What open-book management is and why it works   Join The Boutique Hub  ____________________________ Ashley Alderson: Instagram     The Boutique Hub: Website | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | TikTok | YouTube