Collin Price, Co-founder of Indigenous Business Group, Brings Visibility to Native Businesses

In the spring of 2022, a nonprofit organization called the Indigenous Business Group (IBG) was formed by three Native entrepreneurs in an effort to help Indigenous businesses prosper and support economic growth among the tribes in the region. The three founders are Collin Price of the Ho-Chunk Nation; Zoar Fulwilder, who is Salt River Pima-Maricopa; and Rob Pero of the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.

Collin Price, owner of B-Team Strategy and based in the Milwaukee area, sat down for an interview to discuss the development of the group. But before talking about the organization itself, it’s important to understand the challenges tribes and Native businesses owners face – and the motivation to start IBG.

There’s a growing interest among the tribes to have economic diversification, explains Price, but “one thing that hampers economic tribal development is the government structure.”

Wisconsin has 11 federally recognized tribes that are sovereign nations—all of which have their own governing bodies. Each tribe functions differently, but many tribes across the United States rely on casinos as their primary revenue source. This is because of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, a 1988 law that protected gaming for the tribes and established a federal gaming structure.

Finding New Resources

Despite having gambling as a revenue source, many tribes struggle to diversify their earnings because of lack of resources and capacity, remote reservation locations, and other reasons that stem from years of oppression.

The Indigenous Business Group wants to be that solution by providing a network between tribes and Indigenous business owners. Price and his co-founders have extensive connections in the business community and want to connect funders with business owners to bring in investments and foster ideas.

Price’s expertise is in relationship building and connecting the right people across the state. His background in public relations and communications at the Ho-Chunk Nation introduced him to members of tribal governments around the state and helped him understand the importance of developing trusted relationships.

The other co-founders Zoar Fulwilder and Rob Pero bring different strengths to the table. Fulwilder, the managing partner of Mavid Construction, has years of experience in the construction industry. With this expertise, he advises tribes on construction practices and is able to connect Native people to job opportunities in the field.

Rob Pero, founder of Perodigm Media and Canndigenous, has expertise in media, communications, and public relations. According to Price, he takes an aggressive approach to knocking down barriers for budding business owners.

These three ambitious entrepreneurs are using their resources and connections to offer funding solutions, support, and most importantly bring visibility to Indigenous business owners.

What started as networking meet-ups, has since grown into a strong support system. In their first year as an organization, the Indigenous Business Group hosted a conference called the Indigenous Biz Con at Potawatomi Casino this past October. This brought together Indigenous businesses, high-level tribal administrators and elected tribal officials.

“We see Indian Country just getting started in terms of business,” says Price. The organization is young, but they have big aspirations to put Native business owners on the map.

Learn more about the Indigenous Business Group at indigenousbusinessgroup.org.

This article is part of the Hero of the Month column on the Shepherd Express.

Community Organizing Through Food

David Boucher and Stephanie Shipley are celebrating 14 years of connecting people through food with Amaranth Bakery and Café. The pair always shared a love for community organizing and knew that food has a way of bringing cultures together. In 2000, they bought the rundown building at 3329 W. Lisbon Ave. with the intention of building a public meeting space in a neighborhood that needed more access to public places.

The bakery was founded on an idea that change can happen in a community if people are given a space that allows them to feel comfortable and interact with one another. From the beginning, the café was meant to help ideas grow. That’s why the seating area consists mostly of large tables which organically allow people to start conversations. Movements and local initiatives happen through relationship building, explains Boucher, and “none of this happens without trust.”

As their budding business developed, so did their food and Shipley’s knowledge of baking. “I feel like this place created me as the baker, as the food person,” she says, as someone who never had experience in baking previous to the café. She was first inspired by the large red plant she saw being grown by her neighboring Hmong gardeners. “The amaranth plants that grew in the community gardens were strong, anchored and unwilted,” says Boucher. Shipley’s research of the plant led her to discover the many cultures that have a history of cultivating it. That helped her realize the importance food and crops hold in different ethnicities and religions.

So, she intentionally built the menu to be inclusive and healthy. Even though Shipley is vegetarian, she makes a point to add meat into their hearty vegetable-filled soups because meat is so valued in the culture of the neighborhood. By simply adding meat to her soups, she gets more people to try something they wouldn’t normally eat.

Their menu has adapted over the years because of the people from various cultures that they’ve invited into their café. Boucher and Shipley have made a point to hire people wanting to learn the trade who bring their own perspectives on food. By being willing to take extra time to teach those with less experience, the couple, in return, learns from their workforce. They also support neighborhood businesses and budding entrepreneurs who help develop new products that the couple otherwise wouldn’t have thought of. The support they’ve offered has not only created an open safe space in the café, it’s also built up the surrounding neighborhood. Boucher and Shipley view the world in very different ways, but their goal has always been the same: Empower the people in the neighborhood so they can improve their community as well as their own well-being.

Learn more at facebook.com/amaranthbakerycafe. Read this article on the Shepherd Express, part of the column “Hero of the Week.”

Nic Mink’s Sitka Salmon Shares Is Changing How We Consume Seafood

“Seafood is a system that has really lost the trust of the American consumer,” says Nicolaas Mink, founder of the seafood company Sitka Salmon Shares that delivers Alaskan seafood to the doorstep of its Midwestern customers.

Mink is from Wisconsin, and while living in Madison for college, he started learning about our broken food system and how industrialized food processing cares more about quantity over quality. But it wasn’t until he moved to Sitka, Ala., for a summer, that he saw firsthand how the commercial fishing industry was crushing small-scale fishermen. Motivated to change the story, he created a community-supported fishery program. Like CSA programs that support local farms, Mink’s “CSF” program supports small Alaskan fishermen by bypassing the supermarkets and bringing high-quality, sustainably caught fish directly to Midwest consumers. Thus, Sitka Salmon Shares was born.

When we buy seafood from a grocery store, about 75% of it is farm-raised and 25% is wild-caught. Some people assume that farm-raised seafood is better than wild-caught because it doesn’t target wild fish stocks, but most farms feed their fish with smaller wild-caught fish, also depleting ocean ecosystems. The vast majority of wild-caught fish in the United States comes from Alaska, which also exports seafood all over the world. 

The industrial fishing industry has a history of causing destruction to bodies of water. Like Alaska, the Great Lakes used to have a massive fishing industry in the late-19th and early-20th century with Jones Island being one of the major ports in the region. But pollution, overfishing and an invasive species called the lamprey led to the steep decline of the Great Lakes fisheries and moved most commercial fishing in the U.S. to Alaska.  Unfortunately, many of those destructive practices are still used in Alaska, which is what Mink is trying change.

Large-scale commercial fishermen often use hazardous fishing methods which involve massive boats dragging miles-long nets behind them. These nets pull anything and everything out of the water, destroying coral reefs and whole ecosystems. In contrast, Sitka Salmon works with small-scale fishermen who mostly use a hook and line to catch their fish. They keep at least eight out of 10 fish they catch, compared to the large boats that throw away about 50% of their catch because they only get paid for the species they’re actually targeting.

To combat this destructive system, Sitka Salmon has created a model where the consumer’s dollar goes directly to these small fisheries. They no longer have to compete with large fisheries because of this direct income. The small fisherman can now focus on safeguarding fish ecosystems and delivering high-quality product.

Hopeful for the future, Mink has seen growth in the number of small, environmentally conscious fishing businesses that are disrupting the commercial fishing market. “Slowly but surely, the big system is being challenged by a bunch of small guys who are trying to do things correctly,” he says. Mink’s journey into the seafood industry started with his desire to create change, and his ambitions only grow with the support of everyday consumers who join his cause.

Learn more at sitkasalmonshares.com. Read this article on the Shepherd Express, part of the column “Hero of the Week.”

Shawna Whitehead Works for Workplace Diversity

Shawna Whitehead has always been an entrepreneur, motivated to make her own path. With a bodacious and outgoing personality, she has a way with people and has dedicated her time to improving the lives of others. In the past, she ran a daycare center, beauty salon, nail salon and recruitment center, but it wasn’t until two years ago that she founded the company that brought all of her passions together. That company is called Destined to Succeed. Her newest business trains people in cultural diversity and job preparation to help them adapt to the workforce. More than that, Whitehead structures the programs to help people find what they are “destined” to do.

The idea to train people in cultural diversity came from Shawna’s personal experience in 2015. When she applied for a human resources job at Northwestern Mutual, Whitehead understood her audience and specifically dressed the part. “My hair was professional, I had my French manicure, short lashes; I had my gold teeth, but I had my suit on,” she explains. The image she put on for the hiring manager was far from how she usually chose to express herself, but she knew she had to appeal to a corporate team. Even with her efforts, her recruiter told her that she likely wouldn’t make it to the second interview because “you have gold teeth. You do not look like our demographic.” Whitehead felt belittled by the situation and chose to pour her frustrations into helping others navigate diversity challenges in the workplace.

After starting Destined to Succeed, she hasn’t looked back. In addition to cultural diversity workshops that teach people how to communicate with others from different backgrounds, she offers certifications for corporate etiquette and customer service. The company also assists people in getting their GED, aids in job placement and hosts mock job interviews. As if that wasn’t enough, Whitehead instituted her Pipeline Program, which helps those coming out of prison to re-enter society and find work.

The Pipeline Program gives previously incarcerated men and women a chance in the job market, especially when there are few resources available for them when they leave prison.  Whitehead was tired of seeing these people in her community struggle, so she began enrolling them in a two-week job preparation program. She contacts local employers that are looking for new hires and are willing to hire these potential employees the moment the program is finished.

Whitehead is not only changing the lives of the participants in the program but is encouraging workplaces to hire previously incarcerated people. She is fighting the stigma associated with incarceration by showing companies that these are hardworking people and they just want to get their lives back on track.

These programs barely scratch the surface of what Whitehead has done to effect change in the city. Her other two business ventures called Second Chance Transportation and her Christian talk show “Walking in Your Destiny” contribute to the work she is doing to give the underrepresented an advantage. And she’s not stopping there.

Read the article in the Shepherd Express.

James Arms on a Mission to Improve Milwaukee

To make an impact on our communities, the first step we must take is to show up for the causes we care about, but James Arms took his passion for helping others a step further: He structured his business to work with companies whose missions involve improving Milwaukee.

Arms is an entrepreneur who has worked from the ground up to grow a successful graphic design and video business. Having lived in Milwaukee his whole life, Arms has been frustrated with the issues Milwaukee carries like inequality and segregation. So, his solution was to use the skills he learned to offer promotional materials to organizations that need assistance with outreach.

View fullsize

Arms grew up in central Milwaukee on 28th Street and began his career on the press floor at Quad Graphics. In those early years, he remembers traveling home from his factory job and being laughed at because of his dirty clothes. One day, Arms walked past a neighbor sitting on his porch who told him to ignore the insults and continue to work hard. The man said his hard work will be worth it. Arms remembered those words and held onto them when he needed encouragement.

Keeping that work ethic front and center, Arms eventually worked his way up through the company, taking every opportunity he could to learn extra skills and ask questions. In 2005, he left Quad Graphics to start his own business with the help of Debbie Lassiter, co-founder of the Convergence Resource Center (CRC). The nonprofit is focused on helping women in human trafficking find resources and now works nationally to help the cause. But at the time, the organization was new and in need of funding. Lassiter and Arms connected and built an image for the organization that showcased their dedication to the victims of human trafficking.

Arms was inspired by Lassiter’s vigor for her work and made it a goal to put that same energy into showcasing the CRC. In that process, he created his first logo, along with other promotional materials like brochures, print materials and videos. Everything he was creating was aimed at finding donors that would help the CRC with the funding it needed.

Early on, Arms learned the importance of connecting with his clients and understanding the problems they are working to solve. “You kind of just connect with the pain that they feel for what’s going on in the city,” he says. That connection is what gives his promotional products a strong message, helping nonprofits attract supporters.

Arms’ company, JL Promotions, continues to grow, and before accepting any new work, he asks himself, “Is this going to help somebody?” Since 2005, he has aided countless nonprofits by building an image for them that demonstrates the work they are doing for the city.

You can learn more about JL Promotions by visiting jlpromotionsonline.com.

Read the article in the Shepherd Express.

Stacey Williams-Ng: Finding Opportunities for Local Artists

Stacey Williams-Ng is a mural artist who has found her calling as an organizer. When asked why she is inspired to bring street art to the buildings of Milwaukee, her response was simply, “the empty walls.” Originally from Memphis, Williams-Ng moved to Milwaukee and saw a blank canvas waiting to be filled with color. Her background in illustration and chalk art led her to painting murals, but her life changed when Tim Decker, an animation lecturer at the UW-Milwaukee Peck School of the Arts suggested they convert a dirty alley into an art festival. That alley is now Black Cat Alley.

View fullsize

The transformation of Black Cat Alley was an important change in Williams-Ng’s life because it allowed her to do more than create art; she was able to provide opportunities for other artists. In the two years it took to bring Black Cat Alley to life, she learned the intricacies of fundraising, legal paperwork, marketing and everything in between. “The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I like helping other artists better than I like painting the murals myself,” she says. “I feel like if I stop and paint one wall, it’s a waste of my time. I could do so much more work to help the other artists.” The hype that followed Black Cat Alley opened doors for her to develop more street art throughout the city.

Williams-Ng’s next venture came in 2017 when she was approached by the Kinnickinnic Avenue BID to decorate Kinnickinnic Avenue with five murals. Painted by female artists from Bay View, the murals start at Café Lulu and go as far south as Sprocket Café. With this project, Williams-Ng founded her company, Wallpapered City, and her new career was officially born as an organizer for street art.

Since the Bay View mural project, Williams-Ng and her new company have only gained momentum and they have big plans for the future.  She is currently working with the Wauwatosa neighborhood to adorn the walls of North Avenue. Her goal is to connect the city with murals along North Avenue from Wauwatosa to Black Cat Alley on the East Side by 2021. “Public art, and murals in particular, bring communities together and create conversations,” explains Williams-Ng. She envisions completing this project neighborhood by neighborhood, allowing each one to tell their unique story and history through art. Eventually, those stories will build a bridge across Milwaukee, helping Milwaukeeans discover their affinity.

One thing Williams-Ng stresses is that street art does so much more than beautify a wall, “it gets people talking.” In the case of Black Cat Alley, it reinvigorated the area, brought in new business and became a destination for portraits. “I want to help elevate the discussion and help people realize that what [mural artists] are doing is going to have a much greater impact.” Street art represents culture, it opens conversation and it brings life to a colorless space.

Learn more at wallpapered.city

Fyxation Bicycle Company

Those of you that have strolled into the Fyxation bicycle shop in Riverwest, may not know the whole story behind the company that designs their own bicycles and parts.  The concept for the brand and their original product first came to light in 2009 when owners Nick and Jessica Ginster were living in Taiwan.  An idea popped into Nick Ginster's head to design a bicycle tire for fixed gear bikes that had both sturdy tread and was available in multiple colors; a niche in the market.  He was originally contracted by a company to make the tire, but they backed out.  So, with the encouragement from his wife Jessica, they decided to invest in the brand and take the tire to market.  At the same time, Nick's brother Ben Ginster came on the team to run the accounting and logistical side of the business.  With a perfectly balanced group of people driven to succeed, the company was born.  

View fullsize

Originally from Milwaukee, Nick and Jessica first met over 20 years ago while working together at a bike shop.  Nick worked as a mechanic and Jessica was the store manager.  They were brought together by their love for bicycling, health and spreading adventure.  Nick was always mechanically inclined and an avid biker since a child, and at the age of 13, he disassembled a snow blower engine to create a gas-powered bicycle.  His mom looked at his dad and said "engineer."  The rest is history.  Jessica, however, has a background in health, science and community engagement.  She has a natural talent of adapting to rapidly changing circumstances and understanding the needs of Fyxation’s customers. 

Before moving back to Milwaukee in 2009 to start Fyxation, the couple lived in Taiwan for five years because of Nick’s job that involved overseas production of bicycle products.  He later took that knowledge to start his own company (still in Taiwan), doing product design and product sourcing overseas for U.S. companies.   When Nick and Jessica came back to the United States, they first presented their fixed gear tire with Ben at the world’s largest bicycle trade show.  “Fyxation has always been a Milwaukee company and Milwaukee is our home,” says Nick.  

The business took off when they found distributers to sell their product through bike shops around the U.S. and globally, but this did not happen by luck.  It was a "very tactical approach," explains Jessica.  Their well laid-out plan combined with years of experience allowed the company to grow quickly.  Soon after their tire was on the market, other companies began making competitive tires so Fyxation started diversifying their products to include pedals, parts, accessories, frames, and then bikes. 

“That has developed into the product line that you see today," says Nick.  "We are quick to change when we need to.  But from the beginning of our brand, we always made quality affordable products and we still do that.”

The time came when they needed a local warehouse.  The natural choice was to use the Pedal Milwaukee building in the Silver City neighborhood. The building was formerly owned by Tom Schuler of Team Sports but Fyxation just bought the space.  Until that point, Fyxation only sold their products through other bike shops, but when people started knocking on the door of the warehouse looking for a Fyxation store, the team decided it was time to open a public storefront, so they could better connect with their Milwaukee customers. “We had never been very good at telling our story locally," explains Nick, "and when we opened the store, we had a public front and decided to change that.”  So, in 2014, the company opened the store you now know in Riverwest.  

View fullsize

View fullsize

View fullsize

Fyxation has continued to grow over the years, both in their production and community outreach.  One of their first local projects was designing a custom bike for Colectivo and have since expanded that by designing custom bikes for Lakefront Brewery, Milwaukee County Parks, Wisconsin Bike Fed, Goose Island, Nike and many other partners.  Nick's favorite project they've done recently is their custom-designed bike for the Milwaukee people's flag.  The bike was in such high demand that they decided to do a limited run of 40 bikes, which sold out in under a year. “We really believe in cycling and trying to help out in our communities as much as we can," says Nick.  It's impossible to list all of the ways Fyxation gives back in a short blog post, but to name a few, they host and support local organizations like DRAFT Milwaukee and Black Girls Do Bike.  Fyxation also donates to organizations outside of biking like Lymphoma & Cancer Society, Progressive Community Health Centers and Feeding America.

Everything they do as a company comes back to their core mission: to deliver adventure.  Fyxation wants to be a place where people of all ethnicities, backgrounds and experience levels feel comfortable to get on a bike and ask questions.  “One of the strongest suits that I bring is the fact that I am a female in a male-dominated industry and I’m also a woman of color," states Jessica. "For me, it’s all about empowering the consumer, empowering the community.  Knowledge is power so let’s share the knowledge I’ve gained with people who are intimidated."  Biking is for everyone, whether you're the urban commuter, the mountain bike adventurer or the person that occasionally wants a little wind in your hair.  Stop by their shop so they can find the perfect bike to fit your style and help you discover your adventure. 

Visit Fyxation's website to get in touch or see their product line. 

Urban Guesthouses and B&Bs: A New Way to Experience Milwaukee

I recently wrote an article for the Shepherd Express about Milwaukee's guesthouses and B&Bs, highlighting the uniqueness of these businesses and why people would want to stay at this type of accommodation.  You can read the article here or see it on the Shepherd Express website.

The accommodation industry is shifting toward small cozy guesthouses and Milwaukee is picking up on the trend. When most of us imagine a bed and breakfast (B&B), we think of a remote cottage in the countryside, but Milwaukee has urban guesthouses and B&Bs that offer easy access to the city and a comfortable, welcoming place to rest your head at night. With the rise of the “sharing economy” through sites like Airbnb and Couchsurfing, people in the industry are realizing that travelers are looking for a “home away from home.”

Imagine for a moment that you are visiting a new city for a few days, and when you first arrive to your accommodation, you are greeted by a friendly face—the owner of the house. Rather than walking into a generic lobby, you enter what feels like home, with a personalized touch. You sit down in the common room with a warm cup of tea to have genuine conversation with the other guests, and suddenly this city doesn’t feel so strange.

As travelers, we are drawn to these small, unique businesses when looking for accommodations because we want a story. The structure and design of a guesthouse tells the story of its neighborhood, just as much as its owner does. By staying in a family-run guesthouse or B&B, you get the chance to meet the people who run it and see Milwaukee through their eyes. Not only will they reveal the hidden corners of Milwaukee, but they take the time to learn about you and your interests before suggesting the perfect outing. When traveling, the place where you stay should be as much a part of the experience as the rest of the city.

Milwaukee has six small, family-run guesthouses or B&Bs that are all notably unique. From Victorian-style bed and breakfasts to a guesthouse in the midst of flourishing gardens and a cozy gallery space, each place adds a unique accent to the urban neighborhoods of this city.

Here they are in alphabetical order:

The Brumder Mansion

www.milwaukeemansion.com

View fullsize

The Brumder Mansion brings a different experience to the Concordia neighborhood. Built on Wisconsin Avenue in 1910 by George Brumder (1839-1910), the building has a theater in the basement and five bedrooms, most of which have a Jacuzzi and fireplace. Nine years ago, Tom and Julie Carr came from California, bought the Brumder Mansion and rebuilt the basement theater. Some guests come for romantic escapes in the bed and breakfast, while others come specifically for the theater.

“This isn’t a bed and breakfast; it’s a Hollywood set,” says Tom Carr. Stay a night during one of the performances, and you will be taken away into another world of fantasy and imaginary characters. The Brumder’s theater puts on four to five shows per year, made possible by production manager Amanda Hull, artistic director Tom Marks and Milwaukee Entertainment Group. Whether you are trying to solve a murder mystery or you are being swept up into the madness of the Hatter in Alice’s Wonderland, you won’t be bored. Don’t miss their upcoming shows including Dancing with Hamlet.

Kinn Guesthouse

www.kinnmke.com

View fullsize

Originally from Chicago, Charles and Connie Bailey moved their family to Milwaukee in 2015 when they bought the Cream City brick building on Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View. After a year-and-a-half of restoring the building, the couple opened Kinn Guesthouse in March of 2017. The name Kinn comes from Charles’ father and grandfather who ran the Drake hotels in Chicago and passed the trade down to him. The eight-room guesthouse has a chic modern feel with large windows in every room, making the rooms seem twice their actual size. All but one of the rooms and the spacious common area are on the second floor of the building, above the restaurant, Kindred.

Before you get to your room, you will be stopped by the stunning kitchen and living room space that is free for all the guests to use. Along with the deep-cushioned couch, gallery wall and fully outfitted kitchen, the Baileys have a Nespresso machine, bottle of wine and popcorn waiting for their guests. “People care to live in a different way,” says Charles. “They want something that’s more cozy and comfortable and feels more like home than the big hotels.” If you stay at Kinn, you will most likely meet the charming couple and be treated to the Honey Pie pastries that they offer every weekend.

Manderley Bed & Breakfast

www.bedandbreakfastmilwaukee.com

View fullsize

For the last 17 years, Marie and Andrew Parker have been running Manderley Bed and Breakfast, making it the oldest running B&B in Milwaukee. Originally from the Milwaukee area, the couple decided to open the bed and breakfast once they discovered the elaborate mansion on Wells Street in the Concordia neighborhood. “Even in its dilapidated condition, it had charm and appeal,” explains Andrew. After seven years of rebuilding the structure and designing the interior with hand-made stencils and hand-painted art, they finally opened their dream business. Because there were no other Milwaukee B&Bs at the time, the couple helped the city write the laws pertaining to bed and breakfasts, making Concordia the official Bed and Breakfast District of Milwaukee.

When you first walk up to the Manderley mansion, you will most likely be greeted by one of the friendly cats waiting for you on the porch. As you pass through the door into the house, you will be taken back in time to a Victorian era filled with old books, ornate wall décor and a warm fireplace. Andrew and Marie will make you feel right at home with friendly conversation over fresh breakfast from their backyard chicken coop and vegetable garden. There is no doubt these two are dedicated to their guests and to Milwaukee.

Muse Gallery Guesthouse

www.themuseguesthouse.com

View fullsize

When you choose to stay at the Muse Gallery Guesthouse in the heart of Bay View, you may spend hours sitting and talking with Mary Ellen Hermann and Andrew Meechan—the owners of the place. The novelty of this guesthouse comes from the Milwaukee art hanging on its walls and the dedication the couple has for the local artists. All of the art changes quarterly, thanks to the curating of Renée “Luna” Bebeau. To see the work on display, stop in during one of their gallery events or during the Bay View Gallery Night.

As experienced travelers, Hermann and Meechan see the value in bed and breakfasts because of the well-traveled people they often meet in such places. “When you have breakfast with them, you learn so many things, particularly the next two dozen places you want to go visit,” explains Mary Ellen. The guesthouse is meant to be an experience and a welcoming place for travelers to relax and feel like they are part of the city.

Sanger House Gardens

www.sangerhousegardens.com

View fullsize

While walking up the front stairs to the Sanger House Gardens through the lush greenery, you can look over the vast array of plants at the beautiful cityscape of Milwaukee. If you continue on the winding pathways through the arching branches and multitude of colors, you will reach the carriage house in the back of the garden. There is only one bedroom in this urban getaway, but it is a luxury space with two floors, kitchen, laundry machines and double doors that open to the gardens. Steve Bialk and Angela Duckert bought the Brewer’s Hill property in 1985 and have been enhancing the gardens ever since.

About five years ago, they decided to start a wedding and event business in the space. Along with formal events, the couple has also hosted neighborhood garden clubs and participated in Doors Open Milwaukee 2017. After getting repeated requests for a guesthouse, Bialk and Duckert finally renovated the carriage house and opened the guesthouse last April. There is no breakfast included with your stay, but when you arrive, you’ll get a personal tour of the gardens and personal suggestions for your Milwaukee stay. One of the best things about Sanger is that pets are allowed. It’s a place where you get the best of both worlds: close proximity to the city and a hideaway amidst blooming flowers.

Schuster Mansion Bed & Breakfast

www.schustermansion.com

View fullsize

In that same Concordia neighborhood, you will find Schuster Mansion Bed and Breakfast, run by Rick and Laura Sue Mosier. They’re known for their Victorian-style high tea and exceptional hospitality. If you want coffee or tea delivered to your room in the morning, a choice of breakfast from their menu that has not changed in 10 years and freshly-ironed sheets every night, then the Schuster Mansion is the place for you. As you wander through the halls of the mansion, you get lost in the relics adorning the walls and the hand-made decorations throughout the house. The attention to detail is unreal, even down to the shower curtain rings covered in fabric so they don’t make a sound.

The moment you meet Rick and Laura Sue Mosier, you already feel like old friends. “It is so fun to meet people and learn about their lives and why they’re here. We’re part of people’s lives,” says Laura Sue. After talking with the couple for what could be hours, they will give you customized suggestions about the city based on your interests and their own secrets spots in Milwaukee.

Moxxy Group

If you need a kick-ass marketing strategy and someone to tell you the truth about your business, then call Katherine Juergens and Alice Stephens of Moxxy Group. Katherine met Alice after working together at Aurora and after deciding to start her own business, Katherine founded Moxxy Group in February 2017. These two complement each other's skill sets perfectly. While Katherine is the creative big picture thinker with grand ideas and ambitious goals for the future, Alice keeps clients grounded by focusing on building long term marketing strategies that best align business objectives and the road map for getting there. "What we can bring together is a really cool combination," says Juergens, "plus we happen to represent two industries that are massively underrepresented by women.” Katherine brings more than 15 years of health care industry experience to the table while Alice is equally as knowledgeable about the financial services industry.

View fullsize

Having worked in corporate companies for most of their careers, the two women offer a different perspective to marketing, which is the opposite of corporate America. Juergens and Stephens know first-hand that corporations spend millions of dollars on research trying to find out who their consumer market is, when "it's really quite simple," states Alice. "It’s just not simple to the people who are cutting the checks in leadership positions for a lot of these corporations. And that is a huge problem. A lot of what we do is bringing that customer voice to the forefront.” Moxxy Group works with senior leadership teams to develop a marketing plan that is actually relevant to the consumers, who in these industries are majority women. When proposing necessary improvements, they don't hold back and explain the reality of the company's product. Katherine attests, "My reputation was the girl in the room who is going to say what everybody is thinking but nobody says." And that was the driving idea that motivated her to start this business.

This dynamic partnership works with an array of companies internationally but many of their clients are also based in Milwaukee. Both women have lived in Milwaukee for over 20 years and in that time, they have seen the increasing development of small entrepreneurs. From their perspective, the Milwaukee entrepreneur is unique because they are more vested in developing an idea versus using it as a financial element. They are seeing all kinds of extraordinary ideas pop up around Milwaukee but these inventors don't know where to start and "that's where we come in and help," says Alice. The Moxxy Group feels they are among these start-ups, looking at things in a fresh new way.

View fullsize

A large motivator for Alice and Katherine is girl power and they want to share that message. "We have both lived and grown up in industries where there just is not enough girl power," says Alice. Applying that experience, they make sure to keep a balance in their marketing strategies to ensure all potential clients are being reached. These two have a passion for Milwaukee and are using their unique point of view and no-nonsense attitude to make big changes in this city.

To connect with Katherine and Alice, visit their website: www.MoxxyGroup.com

Kinn Guesthouse

As you walk into the entrance way of the Kinn Guesthouse, you’ll find a beautiful open kitchen that faces a large couch, conveniently placed next to a cozy fireplace.  As you enter, you instantly feel as though you’ve walked into a close friend’s home.  Decorating the wall behind the couch is a broad collection of art displayed in a gallery style.  If you look close enough, you’ll find two black and white portraits of men hidden among the colorful bustle of art.  These men are the grandfather and father of Charles Bailey, the same men that ran The Drake Hotel in downtown Chicago and The Drake in Oakbrook, respectively.  Now that Charles has opened his own guesthouse with his wife Connie Bailey, they thought it fitting to name their business Kinn (adding the extra “n” because the building is on Kinnickinnic Avenue in Bay View).

View fullsize

Originally from Chicago, Charles was a floor trader for years.  But as the industry changed, he started looking at other career options.  “I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of hotels because I’ve been around them my entire life. I never thought I’d be in the business but it always intrigued me,” says Charles.  The couple lived in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood until they decided it was time to move as their son, Quinn was getting older.  The family moved their life to Milwaukee and soon after that, found a beautiful brick building in Bay View for sale.

“The building presented itself and our dream started to take shape,” Connie explains. “The concept was all Charles, but we did work together to perfect the idea and execution.”  The couple put in a great deal of work to get the building to where it is now.  It started out as a masonic lodge then a series of bars and restaurants that didn’t take care of the space.  Connie and Charles gutted the entire thing and brought the building back to life, while keeping the original flooring (110-year-old maple) and exposing the cream city brick walls.

View fullsize

Charles was always interested in the idea behind Airbnb and foresees the company changing the hotel industry.  “To me, the success of Airbnb means that people care to live in a different way.  They want something that feels more like home than the big hotels,” he says.  Charles found the perfect mix between that homey concept and the luxury feel of hotels: comfy but not too personal.  “Usually you just want to live like you do at home [when traveling],” says Charles. “I didn’t have to prove that concept, I just had to build it.”  The idea was to keep overhead low by making the building totally self-sufficient so that Charles and Connie could focus on enriching the rooms as much as possible.  When you book a room with Kinn Guesthouse, you receive a code for your room that becomes active the day you check in.  When you arrive, your room is ready, there’s community wine in the common room, and if you happen to be there on a Saturday morning, Charles is most likely there to greet you with fresh muffins from Honey Pie (the bakery next door).

Kinn Guesthouse opened in March of this year but it is already very involved with theMilwaukee community.  On all the walls in the guesthouse, you will find artwork from local Milwaukee artists that Connie handpicked herself.  The exception is the gallery wall in the common room, which is part of Charles and Connie’s personal art collection.  Connie plans on swapping the artwork in the rooms to display more local artists. On the Kinn website, you can find links to these artists.  Kinn is also working with the restaurant Kindred, located on the first floor of the building.  “We are starting to create events that bring local vendors in for conceptual dining experiences,” explains Connie.

Kinn makes it easy for travelers to instantly connect with Milwaukee.  Guests can enjoy the luxurious day-lit rooms while feeling like they’re at home with access to a kitchen and a bottle of wine waiting for them on the counter.  And the best part is that Charles and Connie take the time to get to know their guests.  View their website and take a peek into the Kinn Guesthouse.

View fullsize

View the full blog at www.MKEinFocus.com

Kathy Papineau and MKE Kitchen

View fullsize

It's hard to capture all of the things that Kathy Papineau does for the community in one blog post.  The best way to describe Kathy Papineau is that she puts her community before herself.  She runs three businesses that all work together: MKE Kitchen, Localicious and Soup in a Jar.  On top of all that, she is a huge advocate for the local food movement in Milwaukee and a role model for composting and eating local.

Kathy first became interested in food at a young age.  She grew up in Manitowoc, WI with 5 siblings, an unhealthy father, and a mother that didn't have much time to cook.  Kathy's childhood fueled her motivation to eat healthy and learn to cook by watching cooking shows on TV and reading magazines like Home & Garden and Good Housekeeping.  Years later as a stay-at-home mom, Papineau started her catering company Localicious around 2007.  She started small in her home kitchen, but the business kept growing until 2012, when she opened MKE Kitchen, her commercial kitchen in Riverwest. Soup in a Jar is her food truck you may see around town that she uses to sell her homemade soup and meet new customers. Naturally, Kathy thought of others before herself. “If I was going to build a kitchen for my business, I thought I should build a kitchen big enough so that other people could build their businesses too," she explained.

View fullsize

But that's not all the kitchen does, not even close.  Kathy teaches cooking classes to kids, and the classes incorporate the importance of composting and the benefits of a local market.  “Schools need to find room in their curriculum to cover stuff like that,” she says.  At the same time, the kitchen acts as a meeting place for local food groups such as volunteers from the Urban Ecology Center advocating for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs.  Papineau has created a welcoming place for ideas to spread and for the local food community to grow.

Kathy moves fast and doesn't sit still for very long which means she has a million ideas for the future.  She wants to teach a course about starting your own business to teach people about all the business technicalities they don't consider at first.  Whether she planned it or not, Kathy has become a guide for the new entrepreneurs that rent from her and she's willing to share her experience.  One of those new entrepreneurs, Collin Wallace of Chillwaukee, talked about how helpful Kathy had been to his new business.  “She’s very accommodating and gives us the space we need, and puts us in touch with people and news stations,” he said.

With every new idea, Kathy stays true to her core goal: “I want people to eat healthier. I want them to understand the relationship between their food, their health and the environment. That’s what I want.”

View fullsize

Chillwaukee

View fullsize

On a calm sunny afternoon, I walk through the open door of MKE Kitchen in Riverwest to meet Danielle Dahl and Collin Wallace, owners of Chillwaukee.  I find them chopping rhubarb and juicing buckets of fresh vibrant lemons in the welcoming commercial kitchen that they rent from Kathy Papineau.  This was definitely not what I was expecting when meeting a couple that makes local popsicles.  But what do I know about making popsicles?  I was pleasantly surprised to learn that Dahl and Wallace hand-make all of their pops from scratch using fresh ingredients and once the growing season starts, they plan to work with local farmers and use all local produce.  Some of their flavors include Strawberry Rhubarb, Lavender Lemonade, Chocolate Covered Coconut, Arnold Palmer and my personal favorite Bananas Foster.  Trust me, they taste even better than they sound.

View fullsize

Chillwaukee is all leg power.  Once Dahl and Wallace prepare all their popsicles, they load them into their bicycle/freezer and ride their business to the next event.  “That’s what we’re committed to, we can’t flake out. We gotta prove to people that biking is a viable means to getting where you need to go, even if you run a business," declares Danielle.  They mentioned that one of the hardest parts of running their business is when you reach a large hill and have to get the fully-loaded bicycle up that hill.  Sometimes it takes two people to push it over.  But the benefits far outweigh the struggles.

Danielle and Collin officially launched their business in May of this year.  The idea dawned on them when they were walking through a festival last fall looking at the vendors and thought, "we can do that."  The two of them were tired of working inside so they quit their jobs in hopes of spending the summer outside, “hanging out with people and connecting,” says Collin.  Previously a Milwaukee chef, Collin brings a professional food perspective to the business and fixes the bikes, while Danielle's history in photography and graphic design allows her to do outreach and run the website and social media.  Together they create the recipes. Can you say power couple?

View fullsize

Although it's been a steep learning curve, these two have a solid business plan and are already taking on Milwaukee.  They are passionate about the local food movement and dedicated to their sustainable practices. “Keep it really really simple. Keep it local as much as possible. Be good role models for composting. Bike as much as possible. If you want to be in the food scenes, you don’t need to buy a $40,000 food truck and have a generator running all day long…You can keep it small and simple,” explains Collin.  If you want to see where they will be this summer or want to get in touch with them about catering, take a look at their website: www.chillwaukee.com

Flying Squirrel Pilates

Jaime Hayden is an outgoing and engaging pilates instructor that runs a small studio in the Third Ward called Flying Squirrel Pilates. Jaime is a busy woman, teaching a wide variety of classes along with running the business on her own.  She first became certified in pilates 12 years ago while working a surprising mix of other jobs.  Originally from Houston Texas, Jaime moved to Milwaukee to be closer to family.  She started her business seven years ago out of her home with a little support from her dad and it has been growing ever since.  She now has bragging rights for winning the best Milwaukee pilates studio in 2013, 2014 and 2016 according to Milwaukee A List.

View fullsize

When describing her path of how she got here, Jaime described her love of athletics and history as a softball player and gymnast.  Later in life, she had two knee surgeries and consequently found pilates.  She quickly fell in love with the new sport and pursued the idea as a career.   Pilates was "designed to make your body feel good doing everything else you do," she explains.  "It is meant to strengthen your core and keep your vertebrae decompressed."

View fullsize

Jaime sees pilates not just as a sport, but as a healing practice.  She began telling me about her very first client, Terri, who has taken her classes in every location she's taught for 7 years now.  The two met at the occupational therapy clinic where Jamie was working at the time. Terri has severe rheumatoid arthritis and used to have a very limited range of motion, but has been taking Jaime's classes twice a week ever since she started the business. Now Terri "can do planks better than anyone. What it's done for her rheumatoid arthritis is amazing," says Jaime with a proud smile on her face.

If you talk to Jaime for more than 30 seconds, you can tell that she is passionate about her business and her clients. "My clients are amazing, they've become super good friends," she mentions and adds that she would much rather be doing this than anything else.  So talk to her yourself or better yet, take a pilates class.

You can view her website at http://fspilates.wixsite.com/flyingsquirrel.

View fullsize

Voyageur Book Shop

One morning on my day off, I was wandering down Kinnickinnic Avenue just after grabbing a cup of coffee from Stone Creek.   I figured I would check to see if there was anything new on the main street when I stumbled across Voyageur Book Shop, a hidden little book store at the end of the block with an impressive collection.  I thought that surely I must have walked by this place a thousand times, but after walking in and talking to co-owner Blaine Wesselowski, I learned that he and Jeremy Mericle just opened the shop in spring of 2016.

View fullsize

Blaine and Jeremy met while working at Renaissance Book Shop a few years back.  Once the shop closed, they bought a large collection of the books and art (now hanging on Voyageur's walls) in order to open their own place.  Blaine, originally from Kansas and Jeremy, originally from Wisconsin are a perfect match for going into business together.  They both have a love for rare books and a knack for finding unique copies.

View fullsize

So how does one acquire books to fill a small book store?  Well, you have to do your homework.  Blaine explains that it's about knowing the right type of places like certain estate sales or specific library sales.  "Often you get referrals from people that have a library they want to sell out of" and those can be gold mines.  But there's more to it than simply finding the books, you also have to know your customer base and carry the books that people will buy.  Popular authors like Edgar Allen Poe always sell out.  "The earlier in life people experience the author, the more broadly known they are," says Blaine.

You might be wondering what book shop owners Blaine and Jeremy are currently reading so lucky enough, I thought to ask.  Jeremy is deep into  The Adventures of the Black Girl in Her Search for God by George Bernard Shaw while Blaine just finished a biography of Lewis Carroll and has now moved onto Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.   And yes, conversations with these two are as unique as their book choices.  So take a stroll over Voyageur and venture through the boundless collection of stories.

View fullsize

Mobcraft Brewery

View fullsize

Mobcraft Brewery brings a new business model to small breweries: crowd sourcing.  Anyone can go on their website to submit an idea or recipe for a beer.  Every month, the top ideas go on to the website and anyone can vote for their favorite by pre-ordering their choice.  The voting closes after a month and the brew master Andrew Gierczak perfects the recipe.  Mobcraft has a new beer featured every month that is chosen by their customers.

View fullsize

Once the new building opened in Milwaukee last year, I met with the founder Henry Schwartz to photograph the brewery. It is a large beautiful building with top-of-line brewing equipment, but the brewery didn't start this way. Before Mobcraft was even a business, it started as a few friends home brewing in Madison. They would brew beers based on requests from their friends. They soon realized that this would be a great idea for a business and officially started the company in 2012.

Now that they are located in Walker's Point, I can't stay away. I subscribe to their monthly beer subscription and frequent the brewery for their bustling atmosphere and local bands that often play. Check out their website and drink up!  www.MobcraftBeer.com