Finding a Niche, Remaining Debt-Free: How Kari Miller Built Tiny Dog Press
We Built This Life
Episode 35 with Kari Miller of Tiny Dog Press is about growing a small business at your own pace, and more. When a friend asked Kari Miller to print his wedding invitations, she saw that his fiancé at the time had created an illustration of Baltimore’s “Greatest City in America” bench for their RSVP card. Kari thought the image would make a great card, and this was the beginning of Tiny Dog Press. In this episode, Kari talks about: · How she discovered her niche in cards even though she doesn’t consider herself a “word person”; ...
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From Family Recipe to Small Business: How Tiera Chin Built Yorktown Spice
We Built This Life
Episode 34 with Tiera Chin of Yorktown Spice is about when a family recipe inspires a small business. In 2021, Tiera Chin was working full-time in the healthcare industry while raising two little daughters, the youngest of which was 4 months old at the time. This is also when she launched her new small business, Yorktown Spice, featuring her crab sauce that was inspired by family recipes. In this episode, Tiera talks about: · The actual steps she took to get her food product-based business off the ground, from food safety and thinking about how to make...
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From Hobby Podcast to Small Business: How Erin Scott Built the Believe in Dog Podcast and Erin Scott Podcasts
We Built This Life
Episode 33 with Erin Scott from the Believe in Dog podcast and Erin Scott Podcasts is about when a hobby leads to a small business. In 2019, Erin became a cancer survivor and decided to start saying yes to the ideas that excited her. She started the Believe in Dog podcast to tell heartfelt stories about the powerful connections between people and their dogs. Believe in Dog is now a top 5 podcast globally, and Erin went on to co-host a second show, The Alternative Dog Moms podcast. Now, Erin is focused on leveraging the skills she’s learned as a podcaster into a small business, Erin Scott...
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Mental Challenges & Triumphs in Entrepreneurship: How Rebekah Murray Built Dare & Co.
We Built This Life
Episode 32 of We Built This Life with Rebekah Murray from Dare & Co. is about mental challenges in entrepreneurship—and the rewards that come with getting through them. In 2014, Rebekah Murray, an entrepreneur throughout her adult life, was looking to transition from international wedding photography to something new. Her parents suggested she start a clothing line. Three years later, Rebekah launched Virginia Dare Dress Co. with a line of timeless, high-quality women’s dresses. In 2020, she added heartfelt gift boxes to her offerings. And today (May 18th, 2023), she unveiled her...
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From Educator to CEO: How Ashley Williams Built Clymb
We Built This Life
Episode 31 of the We Built This Life podcast with Ashley Williams from Clymb (@clymb_up) is about persistence and mindfulness and how these two skills were assets as Ashley built her own company. In 2018, Ashley Williams, a former educator and school leader in Baltimore City, founded Clymb (then known as Infinite Focus Schools), her company that produces emotional health software for school-aged children. In this episode, Ashley talks about: · The steps she took and resources she used to build Clymb from an idea to a thriving small business; ...
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6 Small Businesses to Support for Earth Day 2023
We Built This Life
Welcome to Episode 30 of the We Built This Life podcast! I’m your host, Jennifer Walker, and I’m talking this week about six small businesses that make low waste or sustainable products and that you can support for Earth Day 2023. I’ll share my favorite products from these businesses or the products I am hoping to try in the categories of personal care, reusable items, cleaning, clothing, and planners. You can also check out the We Built This Life podcast archive for more ideas. Thank you so much for listening! 6 Small Businesses to Support this Earth Day: ...
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How Mandy Memmel Built The Well and Hon's Honey
We Built This Life
Episode 29 of We Built This Life with Mandy Memmel of Hon’s Honey is about building relationships and community and helping women rise through social enterprise. After spending a decade serving the community of Curtis Bay in Baltimore, Mandy Memmel founded Drink at the Well (The Well) to provide an opportunity to build relationships, as well as a range of support services, for women experiencing trauma, including addiction, abuse, and/or generational poverty. Five years later, Mandy took the next step for her nonprofit and opened Hon’s Honey, a social enterprise business. Hon’s...
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How Emma Reisinger Built Yellow House Farm
We Built This Life
Episode 28 with Emma Reisinger of Yellow House Farm is about finding your place in the industry that interests you, even if the road is slightly winding to get there. Since 2017, Emma has owned Yellow House Farm, her small business that started as a tiny farm and CSA outside of her yellow house in Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood. Today, the business has evolved to focus on ecological gardening and landscaping. In this episode, Emma talks about: How she found her place within agriculture and built Yellow House Farm while working as a line cook (which she describes as essentially working one...
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How Kate Christian Built Bliss Woodworks
We Built This Life
Episode 27 is a small business story about saying yes to opportunities and having the courage to follow new paths. After moving to Baltimore in 2014, Kate Christian—who had worked as a business analyst, a boat captain, and as chief operating officer for a company that made at-home STD tests—got a gift certificate to the Station North Tool Library from her wife. She took a cutting board class, fell in love with working with wood, and ultimately found a new career path. Today, Kate owns Bliss Woodworks, which specializes in custom woodworking projects and furniture like vanities,...
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2022 Small Business Holiday Gift Guide
We Built This Life
Welcome to Episode 26! For this episode, I'll talk you through a fun holiday gift guide highlighting 10 small businesses in a few categories: jewelry, planners and stickers, skincare/body care, photos and related products, wood creations, clothes for kids and adults, gift boxes, and, briefly, home goods. For the most part, I’ve either already purchased amazing products from these businesses or I plan to this month. You can also check out the We Built This Life podcast archive for more ideas. Thank you so much listening! Mentioned in this Episode: (the...
info_outlineFor about a decade, Aaron Dante was one of the hosts of an annual party called No Pix After Dark. So in 2018, when he was planning to start a podcast to tell positive stories, he used the same name. Back then, the people who came to his parties—which had grown to about 1,000 attendees, including his college friends and their friends—naturally became his audience.
Today, the No Pix After Dark podcast has nearly 200 episodes, and Aaron has several corporate partners and sponsors and just celebrated his third consecutive Reader’s Choice Award for “Best Podcast” from The Baltimore Sun.
(Photo cred: Schaun Champion)
In this episode, Aaron talks about:
- How No Pix After Dark’s focus shifted to Baltimore, and how he’ll be expanding to include areas outside of the city in episodes to come;
- Boundaries and how Aaron balances working full-time and being a dad to two young kids with his regular podcast schedule;
- How Aaron managed the time when he wasn’t sure he should continue his show—a common feeling after doing a project like podcasting for a while—and the experience that made him want to keep pushing forward;
- How he got his first sponsors and developed relationships that led to corporate partnerships;
- What’s next for the No Pix After Dark podcast, including the new season in the fall and some hints into a Patreon page that Aaron plans to launch; and more.
Follow No Pix After Dark on Instagram
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Mentioned in This Episode:
- No Pix After Dark podcast
- Episode 35, “Mrs. Robinson, We Need to Talk” – Aaron interviews his mom, a breast cancer survivor
- Episode 37, “Family and Fatherhood Part I” – Aaron and his cousin Demetrius talk about being fathers and how this role has changed them.
- Episode 57 “Aaron, I Have COVID” – Aaron interviews Karen, who at the time was recently diagnosed with COVID-19. This episode dropped on March 20, 2020, at the very beginning of the pandemic.
- Episode 76 NoPixAfterDark Round Table Part I and Episode 77 Part II - Four guests talk about race, Black history, and the police.
- Episode 79: “The Camera Always Eats First” – Aaron interviews Simone, a Baltimore-based food blogger with CharmCityTable
- Episode 84: Florida COVID-19 Whistleblower Story Featuring Rebekah Jones
- Episode 90: New Era of Black Podcasters
- Episode 105: CAnE Collective
- Episode 108: The Notorious Stoop Storytelling Series Featuring Jessica Henkin and Laura Wexler
- Episode 178: Ashish Alfred, Owner of No Way Rosé and Duck Duck Goose
- Episode 185: Baltimore Pride Week Featuring Unique Robinson and Kenneth Morrison
- Baltimore Beat – A Black-led, Black-controlled nonprofit newspaper and online outlet
- Charm City Media Collective
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or listen on my website, follow and get in touch on Instagram (where I am most active), like on Facebook, or email [email protected] (but getting in touch through IG DM is better!)!