PDX Small Business Network

Marketing seems like that kind of thing where if you do a little something here or there, you’ll eventually find success, right? Well… you’d be wrong about that, and I’m not the only one here today who will tell you that!

This week, I sit down with Elyse Stoner of Fresh Perspective Consulting and Coaching talk about her business. She’s, well, just what her business would suggest: a marketing consultant, but she prides herself on building a relationship with her clients to tailor her strategies specifically to them as well as bringing a unique set of skills to the table: she has a long history of working in sports and arena marketing!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

Just what she does and who she wants to work with. Elyse says she wants to share her enthusiasm for marketing with people who can appreciate a smart, strategic, and multifaceted marketing program. She even talks a little bit about her perfect client: someone smart enough to know they can’t do it all on their own.

What makes a good marketing plan. A coach she used to work with said this about a good team: It’s like a living being, an amoeba, always growing and changing. That’s also the mark of a good marketing plan!

What Elyse is bringing to the table that other marketing experts do not. Not only are you getting her unique experience, but you’re also getting her incredible network. As she says, if she doesn’t know someone who can do something, someone she knows does.

Why she insists on a minimum four-month contract and what her multi-faceted plans consist of. For her, it’s all about building a solid relationship so she can tailor a plan to you and the audience you’re targeting—which means she’ll pursue whatever avenue is necessary for that audience, even if that means getting you a billboard.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Elyse Stoner

Fresh Perspective Consulting and Coaching

Biz Journals

The 5-29 Group

BLC Events

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Elyse would be an awesome addition to your team, so long as you’re looking for someone to give you more than just a plan. She offers so much with her services, from her experience to her vast network. If you’re curious for more about what she does, you’re gonna wanna listen to this episode. Oh, also, her favorite spots? Forest Park for a nice bike ride and a Cena in Sellwood for date night.

When you’re a tourist in a very popular city area, people will try to pull you towards a million things they think are quintessential to your trip. Instead, show them what you’re about with a trip on the Portland Short Bus! A fun way to experience the city, Nicole Pittman talks to us about how she got started and what it is she can offer.

Portland Short Bus Service:

Together with her husband, Kyle, the two of them started an amazing journey of the idea that they wanted to have fun, and enjoy something they both love to do—wine tasting! With their guided tours taking people all around Portland, it’s no wonder why they’re such a success, and in our interview, Nicole happily breaks that success down for us.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

All about Portland’s Short Bus, Lucille (named after Lucille Ball!), how she came to be, and what kind of tours Nicole can offer you a ride on, ranging from private events to bachelor and bachelorette parties.

The PDX Urban Wine Tour, their most popular attraction, and why Nicole thinks it does so well. With a unique twist on a typical wine tasting, the Short Bus brings you to fifteen different wineries with a goal of trying and tasting as many goodies as you can—and for a low cost, too! Nicole also explains how the idea came to fruition, and what exactly you can expect to taste while you’re on the road.

The easy-to-use and fully stocked website, portlandshortbus.com! Nicole tells us how simple it is to look up travel times for various tours, find all needed booking information for private events, and the simple process of purchasing tickets for wine tours (and others) online with one simple click! Additionally, she tells us how flexible they can be when planning for private events, and how Nicole ensures safety for her passengers with designated drop off locations at the end of each tour.

Nicole breaks down exactly how this small “mom and pop shop” got started back in 2012, and she further explains where the idea for starting the company came from. She also tells us how the company has grown over these past 5 years, and how she plans to expand moving forward into the winter season.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Portland Short Bus

Oregon Wines Blog

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

Nicole has worked extremely hard to create such a unique and fun atmosphere for people in the city, whether they be residents or people who’ve never been to Portland before. Curious to know more? Make sure you get their information from the Short Bus Website and keep an eye out for Facebook Events, and their Instagram page for things you can look forward to!

Portland Short Bus in Pictures:

When life is crazy busy, finding the time and energy to cook a full meal can be hard. It’s so much easier to just order in, right? Wrong! It is possible to get awesome, home-cooked meals in just thirty to forty minutes, and this week’s guest explains how.

Meal Kit Delivery Service

I sat down and talked to Frank Manning of StayinPDX. StayinPDX is similar to Blue Apron in the sense that you’ll get a meal kit delivery service that has all the ingredients you need to create an awesome, delicious meal—but they’ll deliver it right to your office using fresh, locally-sourced ingredients so dinner is ready to be made as soon as you get home.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

His business, StayinPDX. His goal was to get people to connect over food and make it really easy by providing locally-sourced ingredients for a meal you can make in thirty to forty minutes. We also talk about when the company got started; November 2016, in case you were curious, but he took some time off to revamp the idea and eventually turned it into what StayinPDX is today.

How StayinPDX works. The gist is a company, such as an office, can sign up with StayinPDX and pay a small, monthly delivery fee. Then, the employees of that company can go onto the StayinPDX website and order their meals and have them delivered directly to their office—and you can order up until 1PM day of delivery!

Why they cater to businesses. With services like Blue Apron, there’s something called the “last mile commute”—where the package of ingredients has to travel that last bit of distance from the delivery’s Portland place of origin to your house. By delivering to businesses instead, it cuts the amount of emissions needed for a delivery significantly, since the customer is going to make that last mile commute themself.

How to get StayinPDX in your office! They usually work with HR folks, but just suggest it to someone in your company and see if it’s something they’d be interested in signing up for. If they ARE interested, make sure you do it fast; StayinPDX only takes on one new client per week!

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

StayinPDX

Frank Manning

Forbes

F6s.com

Instagram

Twitter

Frank is an awesome guy with a great vision. It’s admirable to want to use food to bring people together for a sit-down meal. If you’re interested in more about StayinPDX, make sure you check out StayinPDX and their Instagram. Oh, and his favorite place? Fire on the Mountain—or, if you’re not into buffalo wings, you can always enjoy a stroll in Overlook Park.

This week’s guest is hard to introduce—but only because she’s got her hands in so many different pies! Jala Smith-Huys sat down with me to talk about her various business ventures. She calls herself a “serial idea generator,” so needless to say, she’s got a lot going on!

Travel-inspired Knit Cotton Throw Blankets in Portland

By day, she runs a social media consultancy company called Embark Creative, and by night, she runs Seek and Swoon, where she designs and sells throw blankets based upon all the places that she’s traveled—and before all that, she was the eighth employee hired to work for New Seasons, where she did much of the company’s graphic design. Needless to say, Jala is just as creative as you think she is!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

New Seasons—how Jala got her start with the company, what she did, and what her experience was like over those nine years. She recounts opening two (that’s right: TWO!) stores during the fall and winter one year.

Embark Creative and how that all came about. Jala left her comfortable job at New Seasons in the middle of a recession because she knew it was time—and she found great success after word got out that she was doing social media.

Jala’s perfect client. She wants to work with people (or companies) who have a story to tell, aren’t afraid to try new things, and understand that social media isn’t a full-on problem solver and that solutions don’t happen overnight.

Seek and Swoon—Jala’s newest company and creative endeavor. She tells the story of how she and her family traveled Europe for two full months in 2015 and how that, along with a little throw blanket in her home, inspired her to create these pieces inspired by the places she’s been.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Seek and Swoon

Jala Smith-Huys

Embark Creative

Jala on Soundcloud

Jala on Angle.co

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

This is just a small snippet of all the things Jala and I talked about. She has so many great stories to share, considering she’s been a part of many business ventures so far. Oh, but one last thing I did ask her: her favorite place in Portland is either Jade Bistro & Patisserie, a Thai restaurant, or Relish Gastropub, both in Sellwood.

When you think of French food, you probably think of expensive cuisine served in high-end, exclusive restaurants—right? In movies, French restaurants always seem to be the pinnacle of high society, but I’m here today to tell you that’s not the case. There are awesome restaurants out there that serve authentic French comfort food, and they won’t break the bank.

Bergerac Bistro French Restaurant in Portland

This week, I sat down with Gisella Barbaray of the Bergerac Bistro here in Portland to talk about this awesome little French restaurant. Not only does the food look incredible, but Bergerac Bistro is also a small, cozy, and intimate setting that you or me, or any average Joe, could go to for date night. It’s owned and operated by Gisella and her husband, Joris, who grew up in southwest France—so you can be sure all of their menu items are truly authentic!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

The origin of the name Bergerac. Bergerac is actually the town Gisella’s husband grew up in and where they got married! It’s smack dab in the middle of wine, duck, and foie gras country, and the Bergerac Bistro draws a lot of inspiration for its dishes from this area!

The restaurant’s journey. The bistro is just under two years old, and before that, Gisella and her husband spent eighteen months looking for the right location. Originally, the space they settled on was a Lebanese restaurant that they completely transformed.

Some of Bergerac’s popular dishes. There are a lot of awesome offerings on their menu, but Gisella cites escargot, pâté maison, confit de canard, and lamb navarin as some of their most popular starters and main dishes. For dessert? Crème brûlée is always popular, but Gisella is partial to the pot au chocolat!

How she and her family ended up in Portland. Gisella talks about how they have family all along the West Coast, including in the Portland area, and how as a child, she grew up all over the world. She wanted her children to have the opportunity—to see different cultures and other ways of life.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Gisella Barbaray

Bergerac Bistro

Open Table

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

Gisella and I talk about so many other things, from marketing to the restaurant itself to the catering services Bergerac Bistro offers, but I don’t want to give everything away! You’re just going to have to listen to the full episode to learn more about the bistro yourself. Oh, but I will tell you: Gisella’s favorite Portland spot? Westmoreland Park! It’s the perfect place to bring a picnic, hang out, and enjoy nature.

Bergerac Bistro French Restaurant in Pictures:

Are you expecting a little one? Maybe you aren’t, but you know someone who is. Maybe you’re like me and you just enjoy good photography when you see it. No matter what your situation is, you’re going to really enjoy this week’s episode of the PDX Small Business Podcast! I sit down with Stella Rausch Scott of Stella Maris Photography to talk about her business: how she got her start, what she does, and all that jazz.

Portland Family Photographer

Stella Rausch Scott is a birth story and Portland family photographer that caters to the northwest area of Portland, as well as southwest Washington. She calls herself a boutique photographer—meaning she takes the time to customize the session for her clients as much as possible. Stella offers a really unique experience which is part of what makes her and her work truly remarkable!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

The origin of Stella’s name, Stella Maris. She tells me that “Stella Maris” means “Star of the Sea,” which was given to her by her grandfather. Apparently, her parents met on the sea after her mother’s ship caught fire and was sinking; her father’s ship answered the distress call and rescued everyone on board.—a serious fairytale start for them!

What being a boutique photographer is all about. Stella prides herself on making her photography not just a single session, but an awesome experience for the whole family. She gets to know her clients, understands fully what they want to do with their photos, builds a relationship, and shows them that the investment they’re making is truly worth it.

The kinds of sessions she offers. Though she does family and life sessions, her real bread and butter is what she calls the “Fresh 48”, which is where she comes in and takes photos of your newborn within the first forty-eight hours of their life, and “Botanical and Milk Bath Sessions,” which is where Stella pampers moms in a beautiful, floral milk bath and takes photos of this relaxing time.

The way Stella markets herself. A huge component of her success is networking, specifically with people in the industry she shoots for—meaning, birth services.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Stella Maris Photography

Photography Portfolio

IAPBP - Birth Photographers 

Facebook

Instagram

Pinterest

LinkedIn

My conversation with Stella was so great; it was a real treat to learn more about her and her business and what sets her apart from other photographers in the Portland area. Oh, and her favorite place in Portland? A hole-in-the-wall restaurant called Out Aza Blue in Gales Creek. Most people brush it off, but to her and her husband, it’s the #1 choice for date night!

Stella Maris Photography:

Here in Portland, we’re so lucky to have access to so many women-friendly groups and organizations. Today, I’m talking to the founder of one such organization: Nina Roberts of Women With Brilliance. WWB is a group meant for the “modern woman”: moms who are doing all the mom things, making dinners, taxing their kids, and so on, but also have a deep desire and passion to have a business for themselves.

Nina’s kids are grown and out of the house now, but she was that “modern woman” herself! And when she told her husband she had a deep desire to mentor and coach other people, he encouraged her to pursue it. Women With Brilliance grew from that to become an awesome community for female entrepreneurs all over Portland!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

What WWB is all about. Nina sums it up perfectly: when you work from home, sometimes you just want to hang out with your girlfriends at the end of the day. WWB gives you that chance, and bonus: they’re all driven, like-minded women who will inspire you!

What events are like—though it’s hard to describe since no two events are alike. These meetups happen one to three times a month—whatever the group is feeling like!

Being a guest versus the paid membership. Since it is a closed group, there is a membership fee, but there are tons of perks that come with it. For example, as a guest, you can only go to two events without paying, but as a member, you get unlimited access.

A little bit about Nina’s coaching business and what her perfect client is like. She tells a story about how when she was working for White House Black Market, they had their perfect customer so finely tuned that they had given her a name. She also notes that your perfect customer is often similar to yourself.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Nina Roberts

Women With Brilliance

MeetUp

EventBrite

Youtube

Facebook

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Twitter

I know I say this a lot, but Nina and I have an awesome conversation, so if you’re curious at all about Women With Brilliance and how it all works, you’re not going to want to miss this episode. Oh, and her favorite places in Portland? The rose garden and Cannon Beach!

Women with Brilliance in Pictures:

This week, we’ve got the perfect entrepreneur dream in real life here on the PDX Small Business Network Podcast. Marcus Harvey, the brains behind Portland Gear sat down with me to tell the story behind his successful business, Portland Gear—and trust me, it’s a pretty incredible story.

Marcus started his adventure with an Instagram showcasing all the best parts of Portland, which eventually grew into his business. Two and a half years later, he’s got a retail store on SW 19th Avenue, and the entire journey was nothing but an incredible success.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

The full origin story of Portland Gear. Marcus leveraged his 70,000 followers on the Portland Instagram when he launched the Portland Gear website, which started with two shirt designs that had a stock of thirty-six shirts each. He sold out within half an hour and made five grand on the first day alone!

The power of Instagram. Though Marcus and Portland Gear exist on all kinds of social media, Instagram is truly their bread and butter and the reason why Portland Gear has been so successful.

Their favorite event they’ve done, “Brand Camp”. They brought in a few high schoolers and college kids to sit in on some lessons about business and entrepreneurship to learn about Portland Gear and how they could be successful as well for a three-day event during this past summer. It was so successful, they are intending to do it again next year!

What’s in store for the future. Portland Gear is focused on Portland right now, and Marcus knows they have much more to learn. One thing he did mention was the possibility of an airport store “when it feels right”.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Marcus Harvey

Portland Gear

LinkedIn

Instagram

Facebook

Twitter

There are so many more incredible details to Marcus’ story, so you’re just going to have to listen to his episode and find out more for yourself. Oh, and his favorite place in Portland? Tea Bar, run by his friend Erica! Check out his episode and his unbelievable story to success today—you definitely won’t want to miss it!

There’s so much stigma surrounding mental health, and it can be hard to go and get the health you need. However, once you actually take those steps, you will be amazed by how great you can start feeling. This week, I sat down with Harini Sukumaran from the MindTree Holistic Counseling and Wellness Center Portland to find out how she helps her clients navigate the hardships of their mental illnesses.

As you might be able to glean from the name, MindTree has been treating their clients in a holistic way for about two years. Harini believes that body and mind work together, should not be separated, and should be treated in the same way. After all, your emotional well-being constantly affects your physical well-being!

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

What goes into a holistic approach to counseling. Harini tells me it’s a bit more than just encouraging you to get out there and jog (though that’s part of it). For example: she is a yoga practitioner and often brings tools of meditation and yoga into the room with a client.

How Indian herbal medicine fits in. Harini is trained in this and includes lifestyle coaching and nutrition advice, among other things.

What Harini’s perfect client is like. She says it’s someone who has anxiety or significant stress, and can be either a child as young as three or a woman, particularly a mom. Anxiety and stress are Harini’s specialties, but she is bringing in additional providers that specialize in other things like relationships, families, and adolescence, and so on.

How MindTree can help new and expecting moms who might be struggling. Harini cites specific examples of moms who might not have had great parents and keep thinking, “What if I can’t do this? I don’t know what I’m doing,” among so many other things.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Harini Sukumaran

MindTree Holistic Counseling and Wellness Center

Therapists Psychology

LinkedIn

Facebook

Google Plus

Instagram

Twitter

There are so many ways MindTree can help you feel better. If you think you might be in need of help, you will definitely want to check out this episode, and if you don’t, you should listen anyway and find out how a holistic approach to mental wellness works.

Everyone get ready because this week’s episode of the PDX Small Business Network Podcast is going to warm your heart so much it might burst! I sat down and interviewed Kylie Cole of the Capes and Crowns Foundation.

The Capes and Crowns Foundation is a non-profit that offers complimentary, custom photography services for families and children who have gone through an extreme hardship: cancer, other serious illnesses, foster care, special needs, and more. Kylie is doing some really incredible things with this foundation and is helping families that need it most, so you definitely want to check this episode out in its entirety.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU WILL LEARN:

The origins of the Capes and Crowns foundation. The moment that changed her was when she took an incredible photograph of a boy who had just overcome a serious disease and moved his mother to tears. However, the actual idea for the nonprofit came about on a flight to San Diego Comic-Con with her husband.

The three kinds of sessions Capes and Crowns offers. The main service are Inspire sessions, which is where they take whatever the child’s inspiration is and base the experience around it.

How Capes and Crowns have grown over the last two years. It started with just her, but now she has about twenty-five volunteers total and are expanding to a new location in Northern California in January.

How getting the chance at a Capes and Crowns photo shoot works. Families can apply themselves on their website, or if you know someone who would benefit from the foundation’s services, you can nominate them as well.

LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

Kylie Cole

Capes and Crowns Foundation

Everyday Heroes

Facebook

Instagram

Twitter

My family is going through something like the situations this foundation tries to bring light to, so needless to say this interview hit pretty close to home for me. You’re definitely going to want to learn more about this awesome foundation and find out how you can contribute.

Capes and Crowns Foundation in Pictures: