
        Holly Furgason is motivated by many things, but comfort isn’t one of them. As the owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates, Holly has learned how to overcome major challenges — from dissolving a business partnership to weathering a major financial crisis.
Listen as she shares what it takes to keep a business running for over a decade and how to build a loyal audience.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Holly: I would say that I’m… first of all, I’m never comfortable. So far, there’s very few time periods, not even a month where I’m like, “Oh, this is so comfortable. I feel really good about where we are.” So I’m always looking at what can I improve.
When I travel, when I go places outside of the Bay Area and within the Bay Area, I’m always doing more education for myself. I’m reading books about business. I read online blogs. I’m looking to other masters in the field of Pilates, like what are they doing in their neck of the woods, and how might that influence what I’m doing?
Dave: Meet Holly Furgason, owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates in San Francisco, California. Like many of the business owners we’ve spoken with during our first two seasons, Holly is motivated by many things. But comfort isn’t one of them.
Today, in our season finale, Holly shares the story of her studio. From the initial inspiration to the trying moments when she wished she could skip town and leave it all behind.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Many of us are consumed with the thought of starting our our business. But what’s the difference between people who think about going off on their own and those who actually do it? As Holly describes the days before owning her business, listen for three important things: conviction, creativity, and commitment.
Holly: I grew up as an athlete, playing soccer, all kinds of things and then found dance and became really sort of pre-professional dancer and traveled all over to compete in dance-type conventions and competitions. And was convinced that I was gonna move to New York and dance professionally.
And somewhere along the way, I found Pilates and Pilates has always been associated with dance because Joseph Pilates’ original studio was really close to Broadway and a lot of dancers found it and realized how much it could benefit their dance career.
And so I found Pilates and completely fell in love with it and knew that I needed to become a teacher. And I’ve jumped back and forth across the country several times but came to California to go to grad school for dance at Mills College just here in Oakland and had started a studio.
Dave: A dance studio?
Holly: Pilates studio, yeah. I did my teacher training in Michigan and when I moved to California, I was already teaching Pilates and I worked for sev...
      

<description>
 Holly Furgason is motivated by many things, but comfort isn’t one of them. As the owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates, Holly has learned how to overcome major challenges — from dissolving a business partnership to weathering a major financial crisis.
Listen as she shares what it takes to keep a business running for over a decade and how to build a loyal audience.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Holly: I would say that I’m… first of all, I’m never comfortable. So far, there’s very few time periods, not even a month where I’m like, “Oh, this is so comfortable. I feel really good about where we are.” So I’m always looking at what can I improve.
When I travel, when I go places outside of the Bay Area and within the Bay Area, I’m always doing more education for myself. I’m reading books about business. I read online blogs. I’m looking to other masters in the field of Pilates, like what are they doing in their neck of the woods, and how might that influence what I’m doing?
Dave: Meet Holly Furgason, owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates in San Francisco, California. Like many of the business owners we’ve spoken with during our first two seasons, Holly is motivated by many things. But comfort isn’t one of them.
Today, in our season finale, Holly shares the story of her studio. From the initial inspiration to the trying moments when she wished she could skip town and leave it all behind.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Many of us are consumed with the thought of starting our our business. But what’s the difference between people who think about going off on their own and those who actually do it? As Holly describes the days before owning her business, listen for three important things: conviction, creativity, and commitment.
Holly: I grew up as an athlete, playing soccer, all kinds of things and then found dance and became really sort of pre-professional dancer and traveled all over to compete in dance-type conventions and competitions. And was convinced that I was gonna move to New York and dance professionally.
And somewhere along the way, I found Pilates and Pilates has always been associated with dance because Joseph Pilates’ original studio was really close to Broadway and a lot of dancers found it and realized how much it could benefit their dance career.
And so I found Pilates and completely fell in love with it and knew that I needed to become a teacher. And I’ve jumped back and forth across the country several times but came to California to go to grad school for dance at Mills College just here in Oakland and had started a studio.
Dave: A dance studio?
Holly: Pilates studio, yeah. I did my teacher training in Michigan and when I moved to California, I was already teaching Pilates and I worked for sev...
 </description>

Holly Furgason is motivated by many things, but comfort isn’t one of them. As the owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates, Holly has learned how to overcome major challenges — from dissolving a business partnership to weathering a major financial crisis.
Listen as 

Holly Furgason is motivated by many things, but comfort isn’t one of them. As the owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates, Holly has learned how to overcome major challenges — from dissolving a business partnership to weathering a major financial crisis.
Listen as she shares what it takes to keep a business running for over a decade and how to build a loyal audience.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Holly: I would say that I’m… first of all, I’m never comfortable. So far, there’s very few time periods, not even a month where I’m like, “Oh, this is so comfortable. I feel really good about where we are.” So I’m always looking at what can I improve.
When I travel, when I go places outside of the Bay Area and within the Bay Area, I’m always doing more education for myself. I’m reading books about business. I read online blogs. I’m looking to other masters in the field of Pilates, like what are they doing in their neck of the woods, and how might that influence what I’m doing?
Dave: Meet Holly Furgason, owner of Blue Sparrow Pilates in San Francisco, California. Like many of the business owners we’ve spoken with during our first two seasons, Holly is motivated by many things. But comfort isn’t one of them.
Today, in our season finale, Holly shares the story of her studio. From the initial inspiration to the trying moments when she wished she could skip town and leave it all behind.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Many of us are consumed with the thought of starting our our business. But what’s the difference between people who think about going off on their own and those who actually do it? As Holly describes the days before owning her business, listen for three important things: conviction, creativity, and commitment.
Holly: I grew up as an athlete, playing soccer, all kinds of things and then found dance and became really sort of pre-professional dancer and traveled all over to compete in dance-type conventions and competitions. And was convinced that I was gonna move to New York and dance professionally.
And somewhere along the way, I found Pilates and Pilates has always been associated with dance because Joseph Pilates’ original studio was really close to Broadway and a lot of dancers found it and realized how much it could benefit their dance career.
And so I found Pilates and completely fell in love with it and knew that I needed to become a teacher. And I’ve jumped back and forth across the country several times but came to California to go to grad school for dance at Mills College just here in Oakland and had started a studio.
Dave: A dance studio?
Holly: Pilates studio, yeah. I did my teacher training in Michigan and when I moved to California, I was already teaching Pilates and I worked for sev...

Blue Sparrow Pilates — Small Biz Stories, Episode 15

When Barbara Felix started her business, Felix the Cook, over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved.
Finding her sweet spot with custom-made sugar cookies, Barbara has attracted big name clients like Google Ventures, UPS, and The Four Seasons.
How can your business do the same? Listen as Barbara shares her best secrets for attracting and delighting clients.

Find us on <a class="js-tracked" href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/constant-contact/small-biz-stories?refid=stpr">Stitcher</a>
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by <a href="https://www.constantcontact.com">Constant Contact</a>. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with <a href="https://www.constantcontact.com/email-marketing">email marketing</a>. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at <a href="https://www.constantcontact.com">ConstantContact.com</a>.
Barbara: I’ve spent plenty of time working in offices thinking, “How can I get out of here?” I am not a paper person. I don’t care what industry it’s in, I cannot stand sitting behind a desk.
So with cookies, I just love being the boss and being the creative person. I get physically ill if I cannot create something.
Dave: Meet Barbara Felix, owner of Felix the Cook. Like so many businesses owners, Barbara became her own boss to avoid a boring, cookie-cutter career. Starting a business of her own, Barbara has the freedom to spend her days as she likes — which in her case means delighting customers with custom-made sugar cookies.
If you’ve ever wondered if you have what it takes to start a business — or if you’ve already started and you’re wondering how to take things to the next level, listen up. Today, Barbara shares her secrets for how a one-woman operation can use customer relationships to land big-name clients like Google Ventures, UPS, and The Four Seasons. More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Many small businesses start with a combination of passion and necessity. When Barbara started her business over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved. Listen as she describes her early attempts at finding the right fit and how an early mentor helped point her in the right direction.
Barbara: Well, my dad was a cook. My dad always cooked at home. And I loved to play in the kitchen. I loved making things and my mother let me do whatever I want with butter, sugar and flour. So I have absolutely no fear of sweet stuff.
And I grew up, got married, got divorced and decided I needed a career because I’ve been to high school, of course, but not much college. So there I was, a single mother with two children looking for something to do and I thought well, maybe I can take a cooking class and instead I decided to take the full program at the California Culinary Academy and do 16 months and come out as a chef.
So I worked at a really fine restaurant for a couple years and then found it was just too difficult as a single mother to keep the hours of a kitchen, which were pretty brutal, and mind my kids. So I quit that and got into private chefing after a stint of making desserts for restaurants. There were a couple of small restaurants I worked for that didn’t have the time or the space to do their own pastry. So I’d do that for them.
Again, pastry was always my favorite. And with the kids, I would make cookies with them every holiday like Halloween. I can’t get over it. That Halloween, I made black icing, my son was in heaven with black icing everywhere.
So we’d do that and then one year one of my instructors was at the house for Christmas and she saw my cookies and she said, “Oh my God, Barbra, you have to sell these.” I said, “Really?” So because I trusted her, I pursued the cookies. I was private chefing at the time and I asked one of my clients what she thought. She suggested I get a year of cookies. So that was a great idea.
So I designed 12 collections with 6 designs each to make up a dozen cookies for every month of the year, and got connected with a web designer, who started with that page, our cookies of the month. And from there it just grew. It was very word of mouth, very word of mouth.
Dave: So, just talk us through kind of that inspiration for doing the cookies?
Barbara: Oh! The inspiration was I can do this, and it’s fun and people pay me! That’s what it was. And that having someone whose opinion that I trusted told me they were wonderful. That’s what I needed because I get in my own little bubble where I can’t see outside.
And if you go on cookies websites, it’s amazing what people are doing. They’re total artworks. And if you look at that, and then look at what I do and it’s like, well I’d never measure up. The funny thing is, is that they’re doing the same thing. Everybody is comparing, which is silly.
But I wanted a way to make some money that wasn’t as difficult, as private chefing can be. I wanted to do something that I was entirely comfortable with, which is pastry. And it’s a fun job and it’s a happy job.
People are so happy when they can get on my schedule. They are happy to order their cookies they’re anticipating, and they’re happy when they get them. So I like happy uplifting things. That’s why, I’m not curing cancer but I’m making people happy, nothing wrong with that.
Dave: With cookie-making, Barbara found the sweet spot she was looking for. Now, she had to find something just as important — a loyal customer base.  Luckily, this wasn’t Barbara’s first business. Through her past endeavors, Barbara already had some ideas about her target market, what they wanted, and how best to reach them.
Barbara: Now, I spent some time in Texas for 10 years and I had my own business there as well, making curtains and drapery and shades. And my first customer was a junior-league lady and I had learned very well. You tell a junior league lady, you’re set because they all tell each other, they all call each other.
So with that experience, with the cookies I thought, I got to donate to the junior league. And I did the same thing. I picked a couple different charities and I’d make a significant donation and people started calling. And that’s how it started, with donations, because I had to get the word out.
Dave: Did you set any goals for your business when you were first getting started?
Barbara: Oh, I wish I could say yes! I wish I could say I followed my business plan to the T. I did not. My goal was to make some extra money. I’m a single mother with two kids, money was the ticket.
So, with the help of friends, I thought it was important to get a website together and that was my first goal to get all those 12 months of designs made. Then to set up a photography booth or some way to get…I bought my first camera to do the photographs, my first little instant camera. And, to set up a business account, I set up a checkbook.
The goals were very small and then to find charities where I could donate because I knew that’s where my market was. See, I knew, from my experience of having my business in Texas, I knew what these ladies wanted. I knew what they w...

<description>
 &lt;p&gt;When Barbara Felix started her business, Felix the Cook, over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Finding her sweet spot with custom-made sugar cookies, Barbara has attracted big name clients like Google Ventures, UPS, and The Four Seasons.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;How can your business do the same? Listen as Barbara shares her best secrets for attracting and delighting clients.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p&gt;Find us on &lt;a class="js-tracked" href="http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/constant-contact/small-biz-stories?refid=stpr"&gt;Stitcher&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;You can also read the transcript below:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Small Biz Stories is brought to you by &lt;a href="https://www.constantcontact.com"&gt;Constant Contact&lt;/a&gt;. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with &lt;a href="https://www.constantcontact.com/email-marketing"&gt;email marketing&lt;/a&gt;. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at &lt;a href="https://www.constantcontact.com"&gt;ConstantContact.com&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barbara: &lt;/strong&gt;I’ve spent plenty of time working in offices thinking, “How can I get out of here?” I am not a paper person. I don’t care what industry it’s in, I cannot stand sitting behind a desk.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So with cookies, I just love being the boss and being the creative person. I get physically ill if I cannot create something.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dave&lt;/strong&gt;: Meet Barbara Felix, owner of Felix the Cook. Like so many businesses owners, Barbara became her own boss to avoid a boring, cookie-cutter career. Starting a business of her own, Barbara has the freedom to spend her days as she likes — which in her case means delighting customers with custom-made sugar cookies.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;If you’ve ever wondered if you have what it takes to start a business — or if you’ve already started and you’re wondering how to take things to the next level, listen up. Today, Barbara shares her secrets for how a one-woman operation can use customer relationships to land big-name clients like Google Ventures, UPS, and The Four Seasons.&lt;br&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dave&lt;/strong&gt;: Many small businesses start with a combination of passion and necessity. When Barbara started her business over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved. Listen as she describes her early attempts at finding the right fit and how an early mentor helped point her in the right direction.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barbara&lt;/strong&gt;: Well, my dad was a cook. My dad always cooked at home. And I loved to play in the kitchen. I loved making things and my mother let me do whatever I want with butter, sugar and flour. So I have absolutely no fear of sweet stuff.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And I grew up, got married, got divorced and decided I needed a career because I’ve been to high school, of course, but not much college. So there I was, a single mother with two children looking for something to do and I thought well, maybe I can take a cooking class and instead I decided to take the full program at the California Culinary Academy and do 16 months and come out as a chef.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I worked at a really fine restaurant for a couple years and then found it was just too difficult as a single mother to keep the hours of a kitchen, which were pretty brutal, and mind my kids. So I quit that and got into private chefing after a stint of making desserts for restaurants. There were a couple of small restaurants I worked for that didn’t have the time or the space to do their own pastry. So I’d do that for them.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Again, pastry was always my favorite. And with the kids, I would make cookies with them every holiday like Halloween. I can’t get over it. That Halloween, I made black icing, my son was in heaven with black icing everywhere.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So we’d do that and then one year one of my instructors was at the house for Christmas and she saw my cookies and she said, “Oh my God, Barbra, you have to sell these.” I said, “Really?” So because I trusted her, I pursued the cookies. I was private chefing at the time and I asked one of my clients what she thought. She suggested I get a year of cookies. So that was a great idea.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So I designed 12 collections with 6 designs each to make up a dozen cookies for every month of the year, and got connected with a web designer, who started with that page, our cookies of the month. And from there it just grew. It was very word of mouth, very word of mouth.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dave:&lt;/strong&gt; So, just talk us through kind of that inspiration for doing the cookies?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barbara:&lt;/strong&gt; Oh! The inspiration was I can do this, and it’s fun and people pay me! That’s what it was. And that having someone whose opinion that I trusted told me they were wonderful. That’s what I needed because I get in my own little bubble where I can’t see outside.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;And if you go on cookies websites, it’s amazing what people are doing. They’re total artworks. And if you look at that, and then look at what I do and it’s like, well I’d never measure up. The funny thing is, is that they’re doing the same thing. Everybody is comparing, which is silly.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;But I wanted a way to make some money that wasn’t as difficult, as private chefing can be. I wanted to do something that I was entirely comfortable with, which is pastry. And it’s a fun job and it’s a happy job.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;People are so happy when they can get on my schedule. They are happy to order their cookies they’re anticipating, and they’re happy when they get them. So I like happy uplifting things. That’s why, I’m not curing cancer but I’m making people happy, nothing wrong with that.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dave&lt;/strong&gt;: With cookie-making, Barbara found the sweet spot she was looking for. Now, she had to find something just as important — a loyal customer base.  Luckily, this wasn’t Barbara’s first business. Through her past endeavors, Barbara already had some ideas about her target market, what they wanted, and how best to reach them.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barbara:&lt;/strong&gt; Now, I spent some time in Texas for 10 years and I had my own business there as well, making curtains and drapery and shades. And my first customer was a junior-league lady and I had learned very well. You tell a junior league lady, you’re set because they all tell each other, they all call each other.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So with that experience, with the cookies I thought, I got to donate to the junior league. And I did the same thing. I picked a couple different charities and I’d make a significant donation and people started calling. And that’s how it started, with donations, because I had to get the word out.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Dave:&lt;/strong&gt; Did you set any goals for your business when you were first getting started?&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Barbara:&lt;/strong&gt; Oh, I wish I could say yes! I wish I could say I followed my business plan to the T. I did not. My goal was to make some extra money. I’m a single mother with two kids, money was the ticket.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;So, with the help of friends, I thought it was important to get a website together and that was my first goal to get all those 12 months of designs made. Then to set up a photography booth or some way to get…I bought my first camera to do the photographs, my first little instant camera. And, to set up a business account, I set up a checkbook.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;The goals were very small and then to find charities where I could donate because I knew that’s where my market was. See, I knew, from my experience of having my business in Texas, I knew what these ladies wanted. I knew what they w...&lt;/p&gt;
 </description>

When Barbara Felix started her business, Felix the Cook, over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved.
Finding her sweet spot with custom-made sugar cookies, Barbara has attracted big name client

When Barbara Felix started her business, Felix the Cook, over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved.
Finding her sweet spot with custom-made sugar cookies, Barbara has attracted big name clients like Google Ventures, UPS, and The Four Seasons.
How can your business do the same? Listen as Barbara shares her best secrets for attracting and delighting clients.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Barbara: I’ve spent plenty of time working in offices thinking, “How can I get out of here?” I am not a paper person. I don’t care what industry it’s in, I cannot stand sitting behind a desk.
So with cookies, I just love being the boss and being the creative person. I get physically ill if I cannot create something.
Dave: Meet Barbara Felix, owner of Felix the Cook. Like so many businesses owners, Barbara became her own boss to avoid a boring, cookie-cutter career. Starting a business of her own, Barbara has the freedom to spend her days as she likes — which in her case means delighting customers with custom-made sugar cookies.
If you’ve ever wondered if you have what it takes to start a business — or if you’ve already started and you’re wondering how to take things to the next level, listen up. Today, Barbara shares her secrets for how a one-woman operation can use customer relationships to land big-name clients like Google Ventures, UPS, and The Four Seasons.

More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Many small businesses start with a combination of passion and necessity. When Barbara started her business over ten years ago, she was looking for a way to provide for her family, while doing something she loved. Listen as she describes her early attempts at finding the right fit and how an early mentor helped point her in the right direction.
Barbara: Well, my dad was a cook. My dad always cooked at home. And I loved to play in the kitchen. I loved making things and my mother let me do whatever I want with butter, sugar and flour. So I have absolutely no fear of sweet stuff.
And I grew up, got married, got divorced and decided I needed a career because I’ve been to high school, of course, but not much college. So there I was, a single mother with two children looking for something to do and I thought well, maybe I can take a cooking class and instead I decided to take the full program at the California Culinary Academy and do 16 months and come out as a chef.
So I worked at a really fine restaurant for a couple years and then found it was just too difficult as a single mother to keep the hours of a kitchen, which were pretty brutal, and mind my kids. So I quit that and got into private chefing after a stint of making desserts for restaurants. There were a couple of small restaurants I worked for that didn’t have the time or the space to do their own pastry.

Felix the Cook  — Small Biz Stories, Episode 14


        What am I doing to make the world a better place? 
That’s the question that motivated Brian Beckon to leave the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy.
As a securities lawyer and Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital, Brian has the knowledge and passion necessary to help entrepreneurs raise funds from both wealthy and community investors.
Listen as he shares the most challenging parts of enacting change — from overcoming skepticism to applying solutions that have never been done before.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Brian: And there’s something kind of amazing that happens when you really believe in what you’re doing. If you’re just doing a job, and you’re working hard for a long time without a break, you can burn out.
But if you’re doing something you’re passionate about, you almost never burn out. You may get discouraged, but you keep on going. Whereas, if it’s just a job you get discouraged you quit, you find another job.
That is probably more than anything what has gotten us through difficult times. It’s just that focus on something much bigger than any one of us or even bigger than the firm itself. It’s something really huge. We feel at the risk of sounding cocky or arrogant, we feel that we need to keep doing it because if we don’t do it who will?
Dave: That’s Brian Beckon, Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital — a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs raise funds from both wealthy and community investors. Like so many business owners and entrepreneurs, Brian strives to make a difference by doing work that he believes in. As a securities lawyer, Brian left the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy. Today, he shares the most challenging parts of enacting change — from overcoming skepticism and growing an audience to applying solutions that have never been done before.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Have you ever felt like you’re not living up to your potential? In Brian’s early days out of law school, this became the rock in his shoe. Rather than sticking to a clearly laid out career path, Brian tried a few different directions to find something more meaningful. Listen as he describes how he discovered his passion for building a more democratic economy.
Brian: How far back can I go? I’m a lawyer. I’ve been practicing in law for about 25 years. I went to law school back in the late 80s because I was trying to figure out what can I do to you know, make the world a better place. And I didn’t really know what else to do with a humanities degree, and I figured well, I’ll go to law school.
And I came out of law school, and did the obligatory Law Firm. I was in the law firm for about five and a half years, kind of burned out I said,
      

<description>
 What am I doing to make the world a better place? 
That’s the question that motivated Brian Beckon to leave the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy.
As a securities lawyer and Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital, Brian has the knowledge and passion necessary to help entrepreneurs raise funds from both wealthy and community investors.
Listen as he shares the most challenging parts of enacting change — from overcoming skepticism to applying solutions that have never been done before.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Brian: And there’s something kind of amazing that happens when you really believe in what you’re doing. If you’re just doing a job, and you’re working hard for a long time without a break, you can burn out.
But if you’re doing something you’re passionate about, you almost never burn out. You may get discouraged, but you keep on going. Whereas, if it’s just a job you get discouraged you quit, you find another job.
That is probably more than anything what has gotten us through difficult times. It’s just that focus on something much bigger than any one of us or even bigger than the firm itself. It’s something really huge. We feel at the risk of sounding cocky or arrogant, we feel that we need to keep doing it because if we don’t do it who will?
Dave: That’s Brian Beckon, Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital — a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs raise funds from both wealthy and community investors. Like so many business owners and entrepreneurs, Brian strives to make a difference by doing work that he believes in. As a securities lawyer, Brian left the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy. Today, he shares the most challenging parts of enacting change — from overcoming skepticism and growing an audience to applying solutions that have never been done before.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Have you ever felt like you’re not living up to your potential? In Brian’s early days out of law school, this became the rock in his shoe. Rather than sticking to a clearly laid out career path, Brian tried a few different directions to find something more meaningful. Listen as he describes how he discovered his passion for building a more democratic economy.
Brian: How far back can I go? I’m a lawyer. I’ve been practicing in law for about 25 years. I went to law school back in the late 80s because I was trying to figure out what can I do to you know, make the world a better place. And I didn’t really know what else to do with a humanities degree, and I figured well, I’ll go to law school.
And I came out of law school, and did the obligatory Law Firm. I was in the law firm for about five and a half years, kind of burned out I said,
 </description>

What am I doing to make the world a better place? 
That’s the question that motivated Brian Beckon to leave the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy.
As a securities lawyer and Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital,

What am I doing to make the world a better place? 
That’s the question that motivated Brian Beckon to leave the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy.
As a securities lawyer and Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital, Brian has the knowledge and passion necessary to help entrepreneurs raise funds from both wealthy and community investors.
Listen as he shares the most challenging parts of enacting change — from overcoming skepticism to applying solutions that have never been done before.
Find us on Stitcher
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Brian: And there’s something kind of amazing that happens when you really believe in what you’re doing. If you’re just doing a job, and you’re working hard for a long time without a break, you can burn out.
But if you’re doing something you’re passionate about, you almost never burn out. You may get discouraged, but you keep on going. Whereas, if it’s just a job you get discouraged you quit, you find another job.
That is probably more than anything what has gotten us through difficult times. It’s just that focus on something much bigger than any one of us or even bigger than the firm itself. It’s something really huge. We feel at the risk of sounding cocky or arrogant, we feel that we need to keep doing it because if we don’t do it who will?
Dave: That’s Brian Beckon, Vice President of Cutting Edge Capital — a consulting firm that helps entrepreneurs raise funds from both wealthy and community investors. Like so many business owners and entrepreneurs, Brian strives to make a difference by doing work that he believes in. As a securities lawyer, Brian left the corporate world in the hopes of building a more democratic and just economy. Today, he shares the most challenging parts of enacting change — from overcoming skepticism and growing an audience to applying solutions that have never been done before.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Have you ever felt like you’re not living up to your potential? In Brian’s early days out of law school, this became the rock in his shoe. Rather than sticking to a clearly laid out career path, Brian tried a few different directions to find something more meaningful. Listen as he describes how he discovered his passion for building a more democratic economy.
Brian: How far back can I go? I’m a lawyer. I’ve been practicing in law for about 25 years. I went to law school back in the late 80s because I was trying to figure out what can I do to you know, make the world a better place. And I didn’t really know what else to do with a humanities degree, and I figured well, I’ll go to law school.
And I came out of law school, and did the obligatory Law Firm. I was in the law firm for about five and a half years, kind of burned out I said,

Cutting Edge Capital — Small Biz Stories, Episode 13


        When Susie Coliver started ARCH Art &amp; Drafting Supply at 24 years old, she never could have anticipated how her business would evolve over the next 38 years.
From skyrocketing rent prices in San Francisco to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie keeps her store going by facing trends head on and maintaining strong relationships with her customers and staff.
Listen as she shares how to stay relevant in a changing market and how she’s built a dedicated customer base that keeps her business going.
Find us on Stitcher
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Susie: For me, I think that we have all learned to be so efficient in the way we transact our days. We’re able to multitask so completely. We’re able to do so much from our desktop or our laptop or our telephone that you can actually go through days and days and days of never actually talking to anybody. From my inexperience, but long-term perspective, we all lose out in that equation. That being human, we need and want the connection.
Dave: You just heard from Susie Coliver, an architectural designer and the owner of ARCH Drafting Supply. Since starting her business over 38 years ago, Susie has faced challenges within an evolving San Francisco and architectural community. From skyrocketing rent prices to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie’s store remains a cherished part of her community because of the connections she’s developed with her customers and staff.
Today, she shares how to stay relevant in a changing market and how she built a devoted customer base.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Susie’s path to becoming a business owner is an interesting one. While many people start a business to pursue their passion, Susie initially started her store as a way to finance the work she loved to do. Listen as she shares how she decided to start ARCH Drafting Supply at just 24 years old.
Susie: I came out of a very people-focused architectural education. Right out of school, I started doing architectural community organizing in an underserved neighborhood in San Francisco called Bernal Heights that was starting to undergo gentrification.
And there was an effort being made to provide opportunities for families who had always live...
      

<description>
 When Susie Coliver started ARCH Art &amp;amp; Drafting Supply at 24 years old, she never could have anticipated how her business would evolve over the next 38 years.
From skyrocketing rent prices in San Francisco to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie keeps her store going by facing trends head on and maintaining strong relationships with her customers and staff.
Listen as she shares how to stay relevant in a changing market and how she’s built a dedicated customer base that keeps her business going.
Find us on Stitcher
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Susie: For me, I think that we have all learned to be so efficient in the way we transact our days. We’re able to multitask so completely. We’re able to do so much from our desktop or our laptop or our telephone that you can actually go through days and days and days of never actually talking to anybody. From my inexperience, but long-term perspective, we all lose out in that equation. That being human, we need and want the connection.
Dave: You just heard from Susie Coliver, an architectural designer and the owner of ARCH Drafting Supply. Since starting her business over 38 years ago, Susie has faced challenges within an evolving San Francisco and architectural community. From skyrocketing rent prices to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie’s store remains a cherished part of her community because of the connections she’s developed with her customers and staff.
Today, she shares how to stay relevant in a changing market and how she built a devoted customer base.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Susie’s path to becoming a business owner is an interesting one. While many people start a business to pursue their passion, Susie initially started her store as a way to finance the work she loved to do. Listen as she shares how she decided to start ARCH Drafting Supply at just 24 years old.
Susie: I came out of a very people-focused architectural education. Right out of school, I started doing architectural community organizing in an underserved neighborhood in San Francisco called Bernal Heights that was starting to undergo gentrification.
And there was an effort being made to provide opportunities for families who had always live...
 </description>

When Susie Coliver started ARCH Art &amp; Drafting Supply at 24 years old, she never could have anticipated how her business would evolve over the next 38 years.
From skyrocketing rent prices in San Francisco to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie k

When Susie Coliver started ARCH Art &amp; Drafting Supply at 24 years old, she never could have anticipated how her business would evolve over the next 38 years.
From skyrocketing rent prices in San Francisco to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie keeps her store going by facing trends head on and maintaining strong relationships with her customers and staff.
Listen as she shares how to stay relevant in a changing market and how she’s built a dedicated customer base that keeps her business going.
Find us on Stitcher
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
You can also read the transcript below:
Small Biz Stories is brought to you by Constant Contact. Constant Contact is committed to helping small businesses and nonprofits connect to new and existing customers with email marketing. You can be a marketer, all it takes is Constant Contact. Find out more at ConstantContact.com.
Susie: For me, I think that we have all learned to be so efficient in the way we transact our days. We’re able to multitask so completely. We’re able to do so much from our desktop or our laptop or our telephone that you can actually go through days and days and days of never actually talking to anybody. From my inexperience, but long-term perspective, we all lose out in that equation. That being human, we need and want the connection.
Dave: You just heard from Susie Coliver, an architectural designer and the owner of ARCH Drafting Supply. Since starting her business over 38 years ago, Susie has faced challenges within an evolving San Francisco and architectural community. From skyrocketing rent prices to the rise of digital drafting tools, Susie’s store remains a cherished part of her community because of the connections she’s developed with her customers and staff.
Today, she shares how to stay relevant in a changing market and how she built a devoted customer base.
More than fifty percent of small businesses fail within the first five years. These are the stories of those who beat the odds. My name is Dave Charest and I’ll be your host as we share the stories of some of the bravest people you’ll ever meet, small business owners. You’ll hear how they got started, their biggest challenges, and their dreams for the future.
Dave: Susie’s path to becoming a business owner is an interesting one. While many people start a business to pursue their passion, Susie initially started her store as a way to finance the work she loved to do. Listen as she shares how she decided to start ARCH Drafting Supply at just 24 years old.
Susie: I came out of a very people-focused architectural education. Right out of school, I started doing architectural community organizing in an underserved neighborhood in San Francisco called Bernal Heights that was starting to undergo gentrification.
And there was an effort being made to provide opportunities for families who had always live...

ARCH Art & Drafting Supply — Small Biz Stories, Episode 12

Small Biz Stories introduces you to the bravest people you’ll ever meet — small business owners. From the initial spark that fueled their decision to get started, to the days where they questioned if it was all worth it, we’ll take you behind-the-scenes to hear how these businesses beat the odds to achieve their dreams.

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