Happy Hour Hustle #138: Karen Scarpino: Why business ownership is a wave & your network is what keeps you afloat
Happy Hour Hustle
Kim catches up with Karen Scarpino, co-founder and CEO of Green Giftz, a Michigan-based high design and sustainable branded merchandise agency, over 35 years young. Kim and Karen dig into 35 years of staying in business, how to keep evolving as people and markets change, and everything nobody tells you about owning a business until you're knee-deep in it. Karen's story is a masterclass in staying power: finding your niche, doing things differently than everyone around you, and knowing your own limitations while still loving what you do. She's also one of the most authentic voices in the...
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Happy Hour Hustle #137: Kelsey Orchard: Building your personal brand, avoiding LinkedIn catfish, and f*%k the GPA
Happy Hour Hustle
Kim sits down with Kelsey Orchard, VP of Marketing and Communications at Fifth Wheel Freight, where she leads marketing, communications, and recruitment strategy, including Inside Freight, the podcast she launched to give the industry a voice. Contrary to what you may think, logistics is cool. Really cool. Kim and Kelsey dig into personal branding, Gen Z entering the workforce, misconceptions about logistics, spotting fake LinkedIn profiles, why your GPA doesn't matter anymore, and more. Kelsey’s career path spans logistics, finance, and higher ed, with a focus on shifting public perception,...
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Happy Hour Hustle #136: Meredith Klein: Making a Name for Yourself
Happy Hour Hustle
This week, Kim sits down with Meredith Klein, the woman behind the iconic hat and the Substack everyone in comms actually wants to read. Meredith is a communications executive with nearly two decades of experience at some of the biggest names in the game: Walmart, Pinterest, and Jet.com, to name a few. She's the author of Meredith & The Media, a wildly popular Substack on the latest news, moves, and trends in media, featuring exclusive interviews with leading journalists on what's driving their coverage. She’s a PRWeek 40 Under 40 honoree and regular contributor to Inc. She’s the...
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Happy Hour Hustle #135: Brandon McCraney
Happy Hour Hustle
In this episode of Happy Hour Hustle, Maddie sits down with Brandon McCraney, Air Force veteran and founder and Master Blender behind Olde Raleigh Distillery in Zebulon, North Carolina. Brandon spent fifteen years just thinking about whiskey before he finally opened his doors, and even then it took four more years, a dozen rejections, construction delays, and a global pandemic to get there. Two years later, Olde Raleigh had already won Best Micro Distillery in the US. Brandon shares what it actually took to grow a business through COVID, the military discipline that kept him going when...
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Happy Hour Hustle #134: Being Yourself in the Workplace
Happy Hour Hustle
In this episode of Happy Hour Hustle, Kim sits down with Alyshia Hull, a New York-based freelance journalist who writes for Business Insider, Fast Company, USA Today, Inc., and Entrepreneur. They cover why workplace authenticity matters, how culture is set from the top down, and the personality types that can either help or hurt you at work. The conversation also touches on the real AI risk facing today's workforce and the double-edged sword of freelancing…plus dogs, guilty pleasures, and whether cursive is a lost art. Read Alyshia's . Connect with Alyshia: Website: LinkedIn:...
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Happy Hour Hustle #133: Rachael Kaminski
Happy Hour Hustle
We're back with another cohort spotlight from the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship. Maddie sat down with Rachael Kaminski, Owner/Director of Confidence Beyond Hair Studio in Grand Haven, where she's on a mission to provide wigs and hair toppers to indi
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Happy Hour Hustle #132: Lindsey Potter
Happy Hour Hustle
We're back with another cohort spotlight from the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship. Maddie sat down with Lindsey Potter, Owner/Director of Bright Light Early Care & Education in Battle Creek,
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Happy Hour Hustle #131: Honesty and Communication in the Workplace
Happy Hour Hustle
In this episode of Happy Hour Hustle, Maddie sits down with Grace Gavin, co-founder of Know Honesty, three-time founder, and co-author of the book Know Honesty: Eliminate the Divide, Become a Masterful Communicator, and Connect with Anyone. Through her book, worksh
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Happy Hour Hustle #130: Rebecca Dutcher
Happy Hour Hustle
We're back with another cohort spotlight from the Women's Entrepreneurial Fellowship. Maddie sat down with Rebecca Dutcher, founder and CEO of RED66 Marketing, a Michigan-based marketing agency helping clients build strategies that connect with their audiences throughout the buyer's journey.
They
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Happy Hour Hustle #129: Monica Gauthier's Groovy Donuts Journey
Happy Hour Hustle
In this episode of Happy Hour Hustle, Kim sits down with Monica Gauthier, who has spent the past 11 years co-owning Groovy Donuts, and is now finally catching up on sleep.
She started out studying fish disease and turned that into a successful career of early mornings at the donut shop
info_outlineWhen lawmakers become disconnected from real community needs, it often falls to visionary business leaders to create practical solutions.
That's exactly what Mark Peters, CEO of Butterball Farms, did when he established The SOURCE 20 years ago in Grand Rapids. Kim got the chance to sit down with Mark to talk about the nonprofit, which began as a manufacturer's solution to childcare challenges affecting workplace productivity. It has since evolved into a comprehensive support system connecting community organizations, government resources, and private businesses.
You can read more about the creation of the nonprofit in Mark's book The SOURCE.
You can also check out The Retention Trap, which challenges leaders of small and mid-sized businesses to break free from a cycle that prioritizes costly wages and benefits without addressing the deeper issues that lead to employee turnover.