Small Business Profiles
How Sarah Wells Bags Uses AI to Serve Breastfeeding Parents and Compete With Bigger Brands
In 2011, after the birth of my first daughter, I needed a functional and stylish bag for carrying a breast-pump and keeping milk fresh. To my surprise, no such bag existed. Realizing that millions of other moms had the same need, I decided to launch my own business, Sarah Wells Bags, in 2013. Fast-forward to…
There’s No Way We’d Be Where We Are Without These Tools.
3C talks to Jeff Davis, founder of Maine Fly Company, about building a Maine-based global brand — and why AI and digital tools are so important to small businesses Tell us about Maine Fly Company. What does it do, and what inspired you to start it? I spent years working in corporate environments. Then, about…
Twin Cities Restaurateur Uses Digital Ads To Reach Local Diners
Restaurateur Erik Forsberg has been running restaurants in the Twin Cities since 2012. Over the years, he’s learned that success in the restaurant industry takes more than providing great food and service — it also requires finding affordable, effective ways to reach customers. Erik uses digital ads, including on social media, to reach new customers…
Maryland Laundry Business Helps Busy Families Across the DC Area
Five years ago, Hyacinth Tucker earned $20 helping a friend with her family’s laundry. Word of her services quickly spread among friends and neighbors, and within months she had a steady stream of customers. Realizing she’d tapped into a major need, Hyacinth in 2022 launched The Laundry Basket, a Bowie, Maryland-based business offering full-service laundry…
If You Don’t Speak Up, Policy Decisions Will Be Made Without You.
Tell us about your business. What do you do, and how did you get started? I spent decades working in corporate communications. When my job was eliminated in 2015, I decided to turn that apparent setback into a new beginning. In 2017, my daughter and I opened The Nourish Spot — a quick-service restaurant offering…
AI Empowers us to Compete on a Level Playing Field With Much Bigger Companies
3C: Tell us about Sarah Wells Bags. When and why did you start it, and how has it grown? SW: In 2011, after my first daughter was born, I needed a stylish bag for carrying a breast pump and keeping milk fresh. I spent weeks looking for something, but there just wasn’t anything on the…
“The Big Guys’ Technology Helps Little Guys Like Me Punch Above Our Weight”
3C Talks to Neil Abramson, Co-Founder of Leominster, Massachusetts-based ECi Stores, About Digital Tools’ Role In His Business’s Growth and Success 3C: Tell us about your business. What do you do? Neil: My wife and I run a small chain of consignment stores in Leominster, Massachusetts. We sell gently used clothes, furniture, and home decor.…
North Dakota Sisters Bring Better-For-You Pasta to Stores Nationwide
When North Dakota natives Mollie Ficocello and her sisters returned to their family’s Grand Forks-area farm, they helped introduce a new protein- and fiber-packed wheat variety into the farm’s crop rotation — and saw an opportunity to use it to create a better-for-you pasta that delivered the taste and texture of traditional noodles. In 2020,…
Lavender Farm Restores Former Coal Land — And Creates New Jobs in Appalachia
A longtime academic and research-program manager, Jocelyn Sheppard never expected to become a farmer. But in 2016, she worked on a project demonstrating that lavender could thrive in the rocky soil atop West Virginia’s reclaimed coal mines. Recognizing the project’s environmental and economic potential, Sheppard in 2018 founded Appalachian Botanical Co. — a social enterprise…
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