Main Street Moxie rolls on with Steve Park of Park Embroidery Design in Greenwood, Indiana! Hosts Troy and Lennon chat with Steve about the starts, stops, and restarts in growing a business, and what he sees as needs for the community.

Park Embroidery Designs contact information here: yellowpages.com/indianapolis-in/mip/park-embroidery-designs-482047410

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected].

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Jeremy VanAndel is the director of professional development and an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the instructor, students, and podcast guests only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

After an editing hiatus, Main Street Moxie is back with Teri Bair from A Trophy Business in Franklin, Indiana! Finn and Jon chat with Teri about her hometown roots, starting the business, and what she likes about working in Johnson County.

Find A Trophy Business on Jeff Street in Franklin, and learn more here: https://www.franklincoc.org/a-trophy-business

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected].

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Jeremy VanAndel is the director of professional development and an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the instructor, students, and podcast guests only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

It's a sweet double feature this week as Nic and Asher sit down with Christina Fletcher of home goods and creative shop Possibilities and Whitney Ackerson of Norma Jean's Pastries, both located in Franklin, Indiana.

Find Norma Jean's here: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Norma+Jean's+Pastries/

Explore Possibilities here: https://shoppossibilities.com/

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected].

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Jeremy VanAndel is the director of professional development and is an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the instructor and students only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

Brayden and Jordan sit down with Johnny Rees of Rees Restoration to talk about the hustle of starting a new business in the trades.

Learn more about Rees Restoration here: https://www.reesrestorationindy.net/

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected].

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Jeremy VanAndel is the director of professional development and is an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the instructor and students only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

This week's guest is found on the literal Main Street — happens to be Jefferson Street here in Franklin; lots of Founding Father names around here — in an antique shop next to a retired train station. Julie Stewart of Salvage Sisters Antique Market is a local establishment unto herself, and Riley and Zach dive into her story with all its twists and turns. (And even a surprise customer visit in the middle!)

Learn more about Salvage Sisters here: https://salvagesistersantiquemarket.com/

And read a local news story from just before the shop turned ten: https://cbs4indy.com/in-your-neighborhood/salvage-sisters-antique-market-bringing-re-loved-treasures-special-sisterhood-to-franklin-for-nearly-a-decade/

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected].

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Jeremy VanAndel is the director of professional development and is an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the instructor and students only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

Episode two is a tour de force of the entrepreneurial spirit with Rye Von of Art Haus Balloon Company, with more "Wait, what!?" moments than I could keep track of. Join students Trey and Joshua as they help weave together the story of the founder who went to a trade convention and quit her job on the spot to try something new.

Learn more about Art Haus: https://arthausballooncompany.com/

Rye Von's feature in St'art-Up 317: https://www.startup317.com/notes/vendor-spotlight-society-of-salvage-n6kxz-34al7-9xt67-865w5

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected]. 

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Jeremy is the director of professional development and is an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the publisher and the students only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

We couldn't have asked for a better first episode than this one where Amirah, Kearsley, and Jacqueline talk with Kari Kermode, Kearsley's mom and founder and owner of Style Dance Academy in Franklin, Indiana.

Learn more about Style Dance Academy here: http://www.styledanceacademy.com/

Kearsley's involvement with the family business has been written about before: https://shelbycountypost.com/local-news/693755

And you may know Kearsley's oldest brother, Keaton, from TV: https://fox59.com/news/shelby-county-native-makes-it-to-top-6-of-sytycd/

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These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected].

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Jeremy VanAndel is the director of professional development and is an instructor of business at Franklin College and publishes this podcast. The views expressed in this recording are those of the instructor and students only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.

Welcome to a new pod series from Franklin College: A small, private, liberal arts school in the heart of America’s heartland, in this in-between world of being just 20 minutes from Indianapolis, one of the country’s 25 largest cities, and what you may lovingly refer to as the middle of nowhere.

Franklin is the second-largest town or city in Indiana’s eleventh-largest county. We’re the county seat — once a very important distinction in Indiana culture — but the nearby city of Greenwood has exploded in population, doubling in size over the last 20 years to more than 65,000 residents. Franklin still dwarfs the other towns in our area — it’s nearly twice the size of Whiteland, New Whiteland, Trafalgar, Princes Lakes, and Edinburgh combined. Include the up-and-coming Bargersville, which is situated nicely between Franklin and Greenwood along the US highway, and only then does the rest of the county overtake Franklin’s population.

Further south of Franklin and Johnson County lies mostly cornfields. The population of the wedge of the state to the south and east from Johnson County is approximately 40% smaller than lives in just Marion County, where Indianapolis is found. The population density in many of those counties is just 30 or 40 people per square mile. 

So we’re in an interesting spot: Tucked neatly between the biggest city in the state — and arguably one of the most interesting and dynamic cities in the Midwest — and… nothing.

Places like this are interesting. Rural America, and, I’d argue, in particular the rural parts closest to Appalachia, are often written off as backward, small-minded, and uneducated or just dumb. Hillbillies. And while literally every place in the world has its share of interesting personalities, that characterization is flat out wrong. Rural America is where you find some of the most creative, resilient, resourceful, and, yes, compassionate people in our great country. And I want you to hear their stories.

Starting with this spring semester, the students in my 100-level entrepreneurship class will find people in small towns who have started a business and record a short podcast with them. I’ve asked the students to ask about the founder’s background, why they decided to start a business, what it’s been like to start a new venture in a small town or far-flung area. 

I’m not in the room for these conversations, and will be publishing the recordings just as they are — audio hiccups and all. 

The series is called Main Street Moxie, a nod to both the small towns we’ll be exploring and the gumption and gusto it takes to start something new.

I love small towns; I love the people who grab on to the wild idea of entrepreneurship; and I hope that through this series you’ll fall in love with them too. And maybe find a kindred spirit or two along the way.

These recordings are made possible by the Engaged Learning team at Franklin College, which includes the offices of career and professional development, global education, the Center for Tech Innovation, and the Kite Shop, our little entrepreneurship program. You can learn more about these programs at FranklinCollege.edu, at theKiteShopFC.com, and you can send ideas, feedback, and questions to [email protected]. 

Thank you for listening. I hope you’ll stick with us, share these stories with your friends and neighbors, and show your support for both the founders and businesses you hear from and the students behind those conversations.

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Jeremy is the director of professional development and is an instructor of business at Franklin College. The views expressed in this recording and these notes are those of the author only and should not be attributed to Franklin College.