By All Means

Megan Tamte was a new mom who wanted help putting together fashionable outfits. A bad experience at a northern California boutique sparked the idea for Evereve, which is now a national women's specialty retail chain with 85 stores, a fast-growing e-commerce business and a subscription service called Trendsend. “I left the store crying," Tamte recalls of that fateful shopping experience more than 20 years ago. "I remember thinking, someone should create a retail concept that helped women like me who wanted help finding items that would fit their body type. I wanted clothing that was modern and versatile…and I wanted connection.”

Five years later, in 2004, Megan and her husband Mike opened their first store in Edina, Minn., called Hot Mama. Their unique proposition: trendy fashion, warm service and a kid-friendly environment with toys in the fitting rooms so moms could take a moment for themselves. That boutique grew into Evereve, which now generates $120 million in annual revenue.

In a wide-ranging conversation, the Tamtes explain how a detailed business plan set them up for success. They reveal why they changed their company name right as the brand was taking off. They talk about balancing parenthood and running a business together, about leading a brand that has grown far beyond their dreams, and about the future of retail.

After the conversation with the Tamtes, we go Back to the Classroom with University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business digital marketing professor Gino Giovannelli, who shares tips on using social media to your brand’s advantage, as Evereve has done. And, from his own personal experience, Giovannelli highlights pros and cons of going into business with a spouse.

John Puckett and his wife Kim had a case of “the Mondays” that struck almost as soon as they landed corporate jobs after business school. “Life is too short to spend Sunday night dreading going in to work on Monday,” John says. “We felt like life is … too precious to not really feel connected to your work and passionate about what you’re doing.” That conviction led to the creation of Caribou Coffee, now the No. 2 coffee chain in the U.S. It's No. 1 in Minnesota—the one market Starbucks doesn’t dominate—and that’s because of several strategic decisions made by the Pucketts. They grew the chain to more than 100 stores before selling in 2000. A year later, John became co-owner of a small but beloved St. Paul restaurant called Punch Pizza. He’s spent nearly 20 years growing Punch slowly, locally and without any outside investors. Puckett explains why he was determined to build a different sort of company his second time around.

Following our conversation with Puckett, we go Back to the Classroom with University of St. Thomas Opus College of Business Professor David Deeds, the Schulze Endowed Chair in Entrepreneurship, who explains the pros and cons of venture capital and why slow growth is under appreciated in business today.

What does it take to build a business? Change an industry? Lead with purpose? Twin Cities Business Editor-in-Chief Allison Kaplan sits down with entrepreneurs and leaders who make business work in Minnesota—and beyond. Learn how they got started and gain insights to apply to your own ventures.

By All Means launches in April and will be available on iTunes Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play Music, Soundcloud, and at tcbmag.com.