Small Business Profiles
Having spent most of her adulthood working in retail, New York City-based entrepreneur Caroline Weaver noticed that while many people understood the importance of shopping locally, few incorporated the habit into their daily lives. Wanting to change this, Caroline trekked over 2,000 miles through the five boroughs, visiting every small business she could find.
Sharon Kalenzi always envisioned herself as an entrepreneur. Growing up, Sharon was inspired by her mother, a small business owner who was very involved in their community. And while she and her husband were already co-owners of Rock Creek Veterinary Hospital in Broomfield, Colo., Sharon always wanted a small business of her own.
Although Jessi Burg loved her career in seasonal industries like environmental education, outdoor guiding and agriculture, she faced a big problem.
“I wanted to make a living wage,” she said.
With that goal in mind, the future Colorado entrepreneur thought about the small business owners she knew. They seemed to have more control over their wages, work schedule and life. This realization led her to found a landscaping business, Pears to Perennials, in 2016.
This blog is adapted from Small Business Majority Founder & CEO John Arensmeyer’s conversation with small business owner Mo Johnson in the video series Inside Small Business Policy.
Gustavo Garcia Jr. contracted life-threatening viral meningitis as a child and ended up in the hospital as a result. But for Gustavo, something good came out of this experience: It inspired him to pursue a career in medicine and research. After studying immunology at the University of California, Berkeley, he went to work at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), during the Zika virus epidemic of 2015-2016, and played a vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic. His work at that time was instrumental to his career because it allowed him “to see the gap in preventative measures to combat these viral diseases,” Gustavo said.
Shawna Wells never predicted she’d be the founder and CEO of two small businesses. While building a career in education as both a teacher and a principal, she became involved in business and executive coaching, which led to an important realization. Shawna’s aha moment led her to launch 7 Gen Legacy Group, where she coaches non-profit executives and CEOs who are doing social good and want to make a difference. She found that people in these professions often intertwine their personal identity with their professional identities. By conflating them, leaders can easily experience burnout and forget to live a full life. Shawna helps them “name and claim” their personal legacies, and then use them to align their lives toward realizing their goals.
Karla Yatckoske always thought she’d become a classroom teacher because of her passion for education. But while following her dream, she encountered a problem. While teaching, she noticed that students in a classroom of 25 were at wildly different academic levels. Karla said “some couldn’t read at all and others were bored with the curriculum and needed to be challenged more.” Karla began tutoring students and adults in various subjects so she could help them learn faster. She later determined that running her own educational company would allow her to serve clients by being more responsive to their educational needs.
Caitlin Copple never thought she’d become a small business owner. “In college, I wasn’t a business major and didn’t take a single business class,” she said. “I was into activism and making the world a better place. But I’ve learned that if you start your own business, you have the freedom to do it differently than how it’s been done before even if there are not a ton of role models out there. One reason why I try to be visible as a queer single mom is because that was never an example of what a business owner could be.”
Evera Ivy never planned to take over the family business. In the early 1970s, her parents moved the family from Chicago to rural Pembroke Township, Ill. to start Ivy League Farms. Evera and her siblings initially didn’t want anything to do with the farm. However, another farmer in the area once told her that “Land is the one thing that cannot be produced or reproduced.” That wisdom stuck with her and opened her eyes to the value of her family’s land and business.
Danny Caine never thought his job at a small bookshop in a college town would lead him down a path of entrepreneurship and antitrust advocacy. However, the community the previous owner of Raven Book Store in Lawrence, Kan. fostered really resonated with Danny who feels as though the bookstore is a vehicle for positive change and community enrichment. In 2017, he was able to purchase the shop through a seller-financed loan.
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