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When the coronavirus pandemic hit, we knew we wanted to find new ways to connect with our customers, to share resources, and to elevate the stories of resilience that we’ve seen from across the small business community. Over the past three months (which has, at times, felt like an eternity), our podcast Brick & Order became a place where we could share stories from the community and refocus on our mission to empower entrepreneurs to chase their dreams.
This season’s stories
We’ve been fortunate to hear from retailers across the country and from a range of industries — beginning the season in conversation with Michelle Macey, owner of the cosmetic shop Beauty Organix in East Aurora, NY and more recently with my friend Sally January, owner of Siempre Viva, an apparel boutique with shops in Norman, Oklahoma and Beaver Creek, Colorado.
We also heard tales of ingenuity and the artist-turned-entrepreneur career path from makers like John Frechette from MADE, Jessi and Kelli Newsome from OKcollective Candle Co.and Cat Seto from Ferme à Papier.
And, most importantly, we heard how all of these businesses are navigating the challenges of COVID-19. Mat Pond from the specialty grocery Epicurean Trader gave us a crash course in reopening his shop safely to the community to offer essentials and Kelly Marie Thompson of Fleur Inc. explained how she introduced curbside pickup for her floral shop. On the season finale last week, Rewined owner Adam Fetsch discussed how the trade show landscape is changing and what alternatives he’s exploring.
A lot has changed over the last three months, but we are so grateful to be on this journey with our customers. We’re excited to continue to build tools and share resources that will help our community succeed despite one of the biggest downturns in retail history. Working together, we believe wholesale and independent retail will come back stronger than before.
Catch up!
You can subscribe and listen to the entire first season of Brick & Order on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, SimpleCast, Spotify, and Stitcher. If you’re interested in sharing your story with us, please reach out to story-tips@faire.com.
