In Good Company Detroit

Brazelton Floral has served its customers for over 75 in various locations throughout Detroit. Alice Brazelton Pittman remembers them all - from being a young child watching her father grow the business dramatically, to slower seasons when the business struggled to stay alive. Now that she has taken over the reins, she's faithful to keep Brazelton's Floral going for years to come.

Nyasia Bey turns her traumatic teenage experiences while giving birth to her career and mission in life forming Ancient Wisdom Birth Services. As a doula in Detroit, she proposes to make birth services as normal as baby showers in a city where pregnancy-related deaths are 3x the national average.

A Jamaican family’s tea recipe had been passed down from generation to generation. When the oral recipe reached entrepreneur Nailah Ellis’ branch of the family tree, she knew it was her calling to share the tradition with the masses. This episode shares Nailah’s trials and errors mastering the recipe and launching her national brand, Ellis Island Tea.

For Hamissi Mamba and Nadia Nijimbere of Baobab Fare, the business idea came naturally - bring the food and culture from their birthplace of Burundi to Detroit. The story of their new restaurant in Detroit’s New Center area spans the globe, political persecution, separation from family, and struggle to survive. And through it all, they’ve always counted on each other, even when it was the last thing the other wanted to do.

Glimpse inside the nation’s oldest hat retailer and one of Detroit’s most iconic shops.This 127-year-old hatter has outfitted the likes of Steve Harvey, LL Cool J, the notorious Purple Gang, Jimmy Kimmel, and President Dwight Eisenhower, who wore a hat from the shop at his second inauguration in 1957. But just a few years ago, that legacy was threatened and Detroit stepped up to save the beloved retail institution.

Carol Himelhoch is the great-granddaughter of the founder of Himelhoch’s Department Store. Himelhoch’s has a retail history of innovative women’s fashion going back to 1907 in Detroit. When strangers would ask about Carol’s surname, if it were associated with the store, she would confirm and listen to stories of people who loved and missed her family business. Eventually, Carol considered it as a calling to reinvent her family’s legacy.

Gias Talukder knew he was made to be an entrepreneur. He always desired the exploration of entrepreneurship, with all of its uncertainty and limitless opportunity. However, responsibilities, traditions, and circumstances required his focus on career stability. Gias had to take a chance on an unexpected road to find the path that was just right for him.

The idea for Michigan Farm to Freezer is simple - pick fresh produce from a variety of Michigan farms, then freeze the local fruits and vegetables for year-round goodness. Co-founders, Brandon Seng and Mark Coe, talk about their unexpected journey from a northern Michigan farmer's market and school lunch program to their move to Detroit's historic Eastern Market. They even wowed Detroiters with their Farm to Freezer story at Detroit's Demo Day pitch competition. Now they have joined the Eastern Market family in the building with the Big Strawberry on it. Have a taste.

From a young age, Clement “FAME” Brown Jr. has been able to recognize opportunities around him. And his true gift is converting those opportunities into revenue. In this episode, Fame shares his lessons on hustling and how he overcame challenges to create Detroit’s Brand Name - Three Thirteen.

Nieves Longordo is the owner of Diseños Ornamental Iron. When young Nieves is presented with the opportunity to purchase the construction company from her step-father, Tony Martinez, she takes it, unaware of the fire she was stepping into. In this episode, Nieves shares her journey to entrepreneurship in Detroit, and she uncovers many of the lessons along the way. She outlines her challenges as a young woman in the male-dominated construction industry. And explains why she made the decision to take on the responsibility to continue a family legacy.