Rooted and Reaching

This week host Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Mike Keen, Founder of Hometowne Development LLC. Mike discusses his work in the Near Northwest neighborhood of South Bend, Indiana and the upcoming opening of Ward Baking Company. He shares his journey from being a college professor to becoming a small-scale developer and the principles of urbanism and sustainability that guide his work. Mike shares how incremental development and collaboration between the public, private, and nonprofit sectors create a thriving community. He also talks about the small-scale development movement and highlights the need for multifamily housing to address the affordability crisis.

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

• "So what we find is that to make this small-scale development work, whether it's in our neighborhood across the city, or we now do consulting with other cities, you need to bring together a set of champions that come from these different sectors and who want to collaborate" -Mike Keen [06:29]

• “What I would say for anybody doing anything, and this includes small-scale development, is see if you can find yourself a mentor and begin to talk with them and find other people who have done it." -Mike Keen [08:57]

TIMESTAMPS

03:30 Renovating a flower shop

07:39 Lessons learned: Take action and start small

10:42 What Mike is most proud of in his work

13:47 The need for increased housing density

17:46 South Bend town makers group and supporting local businesses

19:08 The South Bend Elkhart Partnership

RESOURCES

South Bend Elkhart Partnership: https://southbendelkhart.org/ 

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ 

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This week host Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Austin Cabello from Haunt of Hounds and ZR Investments. Austin shares his experiences in real estate development, and what it's like being a co-owner, navigating the day-to-day challenges of running a business with your friends. He also discusses the unique ways he has approached the restaurant and hospitality industry, and how he and his wife hope to continue to make a positive impact on South Bend. 

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

• "The ups and the downs are very high and very low. There can be a week where it just feels like this is going to work for decades and then there can be a week where it's like, we may not be here next week. So I think understanding how you ground yourself, learning to take time for yourself, and learning how you can kind of control those emotions is important." -Austin Cabello [13:25]

• “On the restaurant group side, these are all new concepts, none of them have been open for three years yet. So we know that takes time because they are startups. And so we have to continue to build that brand and continue to be efficient.“ -Austin Cabello [16:26]

TIMESTAMPS

02:17 Rebuilding in South Bend

05:39 Austin’s entrepreneurial journey

11:13 Haunt of Hounds origin story 

16:05 South Bend startups

19:06 What Austin is most proud of

RESOURCES

Haunt of Hounds

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Phil Smoker, Vice President of Sales at Smoker Craft Boats. Phil shares the history of the family-owned business and how the company transitioned from a lumber company to building boats and eventually merged with StarCraft to create a larger and more innovative product line. He also highlights the cooperative spirit in the South Bend Elkhart region and the company's focus on innovation and technology, including the use of robotics in their manufacturing process. Phil shares his own entrepreneurial experience and emphasizes the importance of creating a thriving community for future generations.

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

•  "We found that there wasn't any magic formula or there wasn't a way that you had to do everything exactly written out for you. You had to just find a way to make it work. And I think if there's anything I learned, it was that you just went out and found a way to get it done." -Phil Smoker [09:18]

• “Especially with the last two years, it's been challenging with materials and supply chain. As challenging as it is, we've had to adapt. So you never followed the exact order in which you scheduled things. You did it based on what you had materials for. So our schedule would change within the week and now production tracking allows us to know exactly what boat is running at what time and where.“ -Phil Smoker [13:02]

TIMESTAMPS

00:23 The history of Smoker Craft Boats

03:49 Cooperative spirit and competition in the South Bend Elkhart region

10:17 Innovation and problem-solving at Smoker Craft

11:14 Implementation of industry 4.0 and automation in the manufacturing process

13:45 The increase in boat sales during the pandemic

RESOURCES

Smoker Craft

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Nate Miller, Founder of Consensus Networks, a startup that aims to simplify cryptocurrency and blockchain wallets. Nate shares his experiences in the Navy and how he transitioned into entrepreneurship through Notre Dame's ESTEEM program. He also discusses the challenges of building a startup in the crypto space, the importance of building trust in the industry, and the potential of blockchain technology beyond finance.

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

•  "Web3 is this data provenance, where you can start to own your data, you can transact digital value, you can send money to people natively, and you don't need a third party controlling it to do that." -Nate Miller [14:05]
• “The federal government is going to implement most likely I think within the next five to ten years, central bank digital currency that is going to digitize the United States dollar. And so whether you like it or not, you're going to be in the world of digital currencies. Everybody will be“ -Nate Miller [18:25]

TIMESTAMPS

00:32 Nate Miller's background in the Navy |

04:27 Importance of creativity in the military and entrepreneurship

11:54 Definition of Web3 and digital ownership of the Internet

14:05 Consensus Networks launching a product for easy interaction with digital assets

19:30 Consensus Networks' website and upcoming product launch 

RESOURCES

Consensus Networks

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Annie Johnson, Founder of Take Care, South Bend, a business connecting the South Bend community with the gifting industry. Annie curates care packages, gift baskets, and subscription boxes using products from various vendors in the South Bend area. She shares her founding story, how she finds the people she works with, and the most surprising part of running her own business. Annie also talks about the challenges of being an entrepreneur and shares her vision for the future of Take Care, South Bend.

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

•  "My favorite thing to make are gifts for people who are in need of comfort." -Annie Johnson [04:37]

• “I get a lot of people time in my work, but I also really appreciate my friends. I have friends who have been key in supporting the business either by purchasing or sharing online on social media, telling their friends about my business. I am really thankful for them.“ -Annie Johnson [07:36]

TIMESTAMPS

02:25 Take Care, South Bend founding story

04:44 Annie’s favorite part of running her business

06:05 South Bend’s renaissance 

07:26 Finding support and community as an entrepreneur

RESOURCES

Take Care, South Bend

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ 

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Kathy Burnett, the owner of Brain Lair Books. Kathy shares her experiences of owning a bookstore that focuses on uplifting marginalized voices,  highlighting authors and illustrators from underrepresented communities. She discusses navigating challenges during the pandemic, implementing revenue streams, and seeking advice from other entrepreneurs.

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you’ve been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

•  "Knowing when to pull back, knowing when to push, and being on the forefront of what's happening in the book business is to know what I should be doing next basically." -Kathy Burnett [08:25]
• “I feel as if the store is something that's necessary, especially in the climate that we are now. The biggest thing that I say is we wanna help people build empathy and build community. And you do that through reading about other people's studies showing that fiction helps people be empathetic toward other people.“ -Kathy Burnett [06:44]

TIMESTAMPS

01:06 Brain Lair Books

07:22 The day-to-day of owning a bookstore

11:17 Investing and Revenue Streams 

16:27 Building community

18:52 Defining success

RESOURCES

Brain Lair Books

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/

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For the first live episode of the Rooted and Reaching Podcast hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Ramal Taylor, CEO of Millennia Strategies, and Joel Neidig, the Director of Research and Development at ITAMCO. Joel and Ramal share the beginnings of their entrepreneurial journeys and how they found success in business through their family and community support. 

South Bend business owners and entrepreneurs, if you have been in business for five years or less reach out to us to be featured on the Rooted and Reaching Podcast!

QUOTES

• “I took inventory of what was going on and made sure I kept good books and I kept the data that I needed to make decisions. I think a lot of entrepreneurs, they may not do that very well, is keeping the data and making decisions based off of the data“ -Ramal Taylor [14:15]

• “Any agency that spends over a billion dollars has to be part of a percentage of their spend, has to go to small business. There's a roadshow that comes to every state. You can go meet all the people that are buying, that are saying, hey, I need this item. Can you develop it or does your product offer that? And that's great but to Nick's point, you have to go out and research where all these things are happening.” -Joel Neidig [37:45]

TIMESTAMPS

02:25 Ramal Taylor on Her Upbringing and Impactful Family Lineage

06:00 Business Growth and Leveraging

10:47 Partnerships to Develop Innovative Technologies in Manufacturing and Childcare

25:48 Entrepreneurship and Balancing Work and Family Life

32:29 Grant Writing, Bank Funding, and CDFI Model for Entrepreneurship

37:21 Exploring the World of Small Business Incubation

RESOURCES

ITAMCO: https://itamco.com/ 

Millenia Strategies: https://www.facebook.com/CFORamal/ 

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ 

Ramal Taylor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brightbeginningschildcare/ 

Joel Neidig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelneidig/

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Ray Fraser, Entrepreneur in Residence at The IDEA Center at the University of Notre Dame. Ray explains how he got into medical technology and how VitalView helps visualize patients' data to prevent hospital visits. He shares his passion for the future of medical technology and talks about the importance of collaboration and working together to discover innovative technologies that focus on prevention and early diagnosis. 

QUOTES

• “One of the things we found was that it is about building the relationship along the way. Instead of going in and saying, hey, here's our idea, please buy it, we made sure to make them a partner in the beginning. At first, they were hands-off. But as we kept coming back, kept asking for their feedback as well, wanting their input, actively listening, we found that they were an awesome partner to pilot with.“ -Ray Fraser [03:58]

• “When you look at heart failure patient care today, a lot of hospital readmissions is one of the biggest issues, and part of that reason is because of fluid buildup, and care teams simply today do not have a good way of monitoring change in fluid volume when the patient is discharged from the hospital.” -Ray Fraser [15:54]

TIMESTAMPS

00:15 Ray Fraser Intro

01:23 Building Relationships with University Partners for Entrepreneurial Ventures

05:07 The Benefits of Working in Startups and Consulting

14:45 The Impact of Contactless Sensing Platform for Heart Failure Patient Care

17:03 Medtech and Chronic Illness

RESOURCES

VitalView 

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ 

Ray Fraser: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rayfraser/

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Ambrose Kamya, Founder of Kinga Safety, a South Bend startup working to keep communities and campuses safer. Originally from Uganda, Ambrose discusses a project involving the entire agricultural value chain of his home country and how he was able to connect farmers to exporters with organic produce. He also shares what led to the creation of Kinga Safety and why he is passionate about creating safety for others. 

QUOTES

• “I was also running ideas on how to end sexual assault because that was a personal story, a personal attachment because my mom is a sexual assault victim. I was always looking out for ways of making sure that I come up with something that makes sure that doesn't happen to someone else's mother.“ -Ambrose Kamya [08:47]
• “We are multilayered because we believe for sexual assault to reduce, you have to educate so that the student knows how to avoid, de-escalate, or call for help. But you also need to empower them so that when the situation happens they have an easier way of getting out.” -Ambrose Kamya [15:22]

TIMESTAMPS

01:43 The Education System in Nigeria and Ambrose’s Journey to South Bend

04:20 Transitioning from Notre Dame to the International Agricultural Value Chain

08:47 Exploring Solutions to End Sexual Assault

13:44 The Kinga Safety Widget

15:22 Empowering Students to Reduce Sexual Assault on College Campuses

RESOURCES

Kinga Safety

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/ 

Ambrose Kamya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ambrosekamya/

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This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley talk with Alex Sejdinaj, Co-founder of Code Works, a digital product studio based in South Bend that designs and develops tech solutions for clients with digital needs. Alex talks about the importance of tech literacy and how it gave her the skills to start her own business. She shares how Code Works is offering coding classes, internships, and other resources to the community, as well as the Give Grove initiative, which matches local volunteers with nonprofits to help them reach their goals.

QUOTES

• “Anyone can learn how to code. We have had students of all ages as young as three. We've had a woman in her 70s learning how to code with us. So I think that there's not one particular type of person who's going to be good at coding. A lot of times I think we think, if we aren’t good at math, then we probably can't code. That is the furthest thing from the truth because there are so many different languages out there.“ -Alex Sejdinaj [07:51]
• “A lot of things can be really cumbersome if you're a small organization and part of a small team. With Give Grove, we've made it really affordable with no contracts and no hidden fees. We don't make money until you make money. So it makes it a lot easier for organizations of all sizes, to be able to just test out ideas for fundraising to benefit their works.” -Alex Sejdinaj [11:21]

TIMESTAMPS

02:55 Alex’s Journey from Pre-Med to Co-Founding South Bank Code School

07:22 Innovating During the Pandemic

09:26 Code Works, Give Grove, and the Digital Storefront Grant Program

13:18 Exploring the Benefits of Chat GPT for Small Businesses

RESOURCES

Code Works

Give Grove

CONTACT

Nick Kuhn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kuhnnick/ 

Bethany Hartley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bethanyhartley/

Alex Sejdinaj: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-sejdinaj-205aa26a/

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