Rooted and Reaching

This week hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley have a conversation with Jess Koscher, Founder of Write Connections, a design, marketing, and strategic services company. After losing her job and being unemployed for 12 hours, Jess was overwhelmed with requests from her network to discuss her next move. Although concerned about paying her rent, her network supported her by offering various tasks which led to the launch of Write Connections. Jess discusses her work in the nonprofit sector, the power of community, and how her mindset has helped her build a successful business.

QUOTES

• “I think coming from nonprofit to for-profit has been interesting in that for-profit is a lot looser in many ways, but the penalties, if you screw it up are scary. So that's been a continual learning curve for me. Doing the work and then creating a solid business is a fine balance.“ - Jess Koscher [05:10]

• “What has been really gratifying is helping our clients do better. We have strategic clients, and the rest are marketing clients. Helping a restaurant that is just trying to keep its doors open, by having a strong branding and presence is gratifying. Helping a corporation create a strategy for diversity, equity, inclusion that works throughout all their channels, is gratifying.” - Jess Koscher [16:07]

TIMESTAMPS

01:22 Jess Koscher on Transitioning from a Nonprofit to Entrepreneurship

03:10 The Surprises of Being a Business Owner

05:09 Balancing Doing the Work and Creating a Solid Business

12:43 Paying it Forward and Helping Others Succeed

14:11 How Jess Built a Successful Marketing Firm During a Global Pandemic

RESOURCES

Write Connections

CONTACT

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

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

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Hello Home

In this episode of the Rooted and Reaching podcast, hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley speak with Johan Vazquez, Founder of Guac N’ Squat, a food business based in Goshen, Indiana. Johan’s passion for serving people, his pride in his Mexican heritage, and his entrepreneurial spirit have driven him to create a successful business from the ground up. He talks about the valuable role community plays in the support of business owners and shares how he is educating customers about Mexican cuisine through his products.

QUOTES

• “I wanted to do food and serve people. I love serving people. I love inviting people into my home. I think that is hospitality, part of my background, and part of being Mexican. I just love taking care of people.“ - Johan Vazquez [00:29]

• “You can't do everything by yourself. Seek help. I like the idea of community-building relationships. Whatever I can't do, they can help me get there. Whatever my skill set allows them to do, we can trade. Connect yourself with a good community and group of friends.” - Johan Vazquez [13:16]

TIMESTAMPS

1:25 Guac, Peanut Butter, and Popsicles

2:49 Overcoming Challenges and Sourcing Quality Ingredients

6:57 Guac N’ Squat and Johan’s Entrepreneurial Spirit 

12:49 Community Building, Obedience, and Perseverance

RESOURCES

Guac N’ Squat

CONTACT

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

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

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Hello Home

In this episode of the Rooted and Reaching podcast, hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley speak with Kevin Craig, Chief Executive Officer at Tessellated, a company developing high-strength polymer films in partnership with The University of Notre Dame. Kevin shares his journey from the Air Force to working with Tessellated to create graphene. He also discusses how military veterans have the same skill set as entrepreneurs: being able to be decisive in the face of imperfect information and the ability to get punched in the face and keep moving forward. 

QUOTES

• “Properly tabulate wins and losses. Two examples: When I was in the military, I had all the stripes, and people would walk in and go, this person must have been a success. But what I would tell them is my win-loss record. The Air Force actually told me no then told me yes on promotion. So I had a losing record, but ultimately I was successful. ” - Kevin Craig [12:38]
• “Sometimes success means more hard work. So even when you get a win, cheer a little bit and get back at it.” - Kevin Craig [13:34]

TIMESTAMPS

[00:01] Kevin Craig’s Entrepreneurial Journey

[05:10] Translating Military Experience into Business Success

[06:21] Tessellated: Material Science and Graphene Technology

[10:26] Developing Graphene-Based Ballistic Materials

RESOURCES

Tessellated

CONTACT

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

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

Kevin Craig: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-craig/

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Hello Home

In this episode of the Rooted and Reaching podcast, hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley speak with Paul Anthony, CEO and Co-founder at OpStart, a South Bend based company managing accounting, finance, and other back-office functions for startups. Paul talks about his background in venture capital and how deviating from the traditional career path can bring value to your life and your community. He also discusses the unique ethos of South Bend and the vast opportunity it presents for successful and impactful startups.

QUOTES

• “What we're really focused on is providing the best advice and execution to companies that are looking to scale quickly. Because when you are scaling really quickly, that's when things can break more easily. And you need to be laser focused on your metrics. You need to be really well informed on how you're doing financially because a small slip up can be catastrophic.” -Paul Anthony [14:43]

• “I'd love South Bend to be an ecosystem where people can work on interesting things that have a social component to them and that make the world a better place. And I think that would be a really great way to match what the community's ethos is in general. This is a very passionate kind of collective community.” -Paul Anthony [23:01]

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:17] Growing up in South Bend and Paul’s experiences in investment banking
• [05:35] Working with a local community in the Dominican Republic
• [10:44] The need for financial function as a service for startups
• [15:30] OpStart's journey 
• [21:40] Leveraging South Bend's strengths to put it on the world map

RESOURCES

OpStart: https://www.opstart.co/ 

CONTACT

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

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

Paul Anthony: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-anthony-8a256087/  

Mentioned in this episode:

Hello Home

In this episode of the Rooted and Reaching podcast, hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley speak with Jared Bell, Founder of Myco Mushrooms, a specialty mushroom farm based in Goshen, Indiana. Jared shares how Myco Mushrooms began with a vision to bring specialty mushrooms to local restaurants, farmers markets, and wholesale distributors. He also discusses why mushrooms are more than just a delicious ingredient, and how they can be used to make packaging materials, clean up radioactive material, and even help repair neural networks in the brain.

QUOTES

• “You can eat any mushroom at least once. But the thing about the specialty mushrooms is all the different uses that they have and the nutritional value that comes with some of these mushrooms. They all have their different tastes, they're different textures, and they're different smells. And it's like you take a king trumpet mushroom or a blue oyster or a lion's main mushroom, and comparing these mushrooms is kind of like comparing an apple to a head of lettuce.” - Jared Bell [02:15]
• “I would definitely say there should be some more community outreach, especially youth programs for younger people so that way they can know at a younger age and possibly get started earlier than I did in life towards something more than what they are born into or what their viewpoint is on what they're destined for.” - Jared Bell [12:29]

TIMESTAMPS

• [00:27] Jared Bell and the origin story of Myco Mushrooms 
• [03:04] The nutritional benefits of specialty mushrooms
• [06:54] The business model of a vertical farm
• [09:01] Running a specialty mushroom business
• [12:29] The need for community outreach programs

RESOURCES

Myco Mushrooms

CONTACT

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

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

Jared Bell: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-bell-ab4aa9246/

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Hello Home

In this episode of the Rooted and Reaching podcast, hosts Nick Kuhn and Bethany Hartley speak with Derald Gray, also known as DG, Owner of DG Visionary, an Elkhart-based business offering upscale video production and mobile DJ services. DG talks about his professional journey as a photojournalist and how his entrepreneurial spirit led him back to Elkhart to start a business in a community he felt connected to. He also shares his passion for music and video and how he believes it has the ability to unify people.

QUOTES

• “I called the business DG Visionaries because I'm DG and it's my vision. Yes, but it's also about the visionaries, plural. And that's the people who work with us, I don't call them contractors or just DJs, just videographers, but they're visionaries. They have their own passions and their own dreams and desires and if I can do my part to help them reach those goals, then that's what it's all about. It's more than my vision, but it's theirs and also the people that we serve.” - DJ [13:09]
• “We can share the work, we can collaborate, we can come together to create new opportunities. And that's just been the most exciting thing for me is just being able to be on this podcast, to be able to be a participant in Founder Factory and Network and meet with other not only entrepreneurs but high schoolers who are getting into it, who are coming up and people who just have aspirations for it. And so just being able to just get people together, to connect, to network, to bridge the gap is what I'm most looking forward to.” - DJ [14:08]

TIMESTAMPS

• [01:53] From card games to video production 
• [06:02] Going back to Elkhart
• [09:17] Working with creative partners in the region
• [13:02] Bridging the gap between communities with entrepreneurship
• [15:34] Elkhart county partnership

RESOURCES

DGVisionaries

CONTACT

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

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

Derald Gray: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deraldgray/

Mentioned in this episode:

Hello Home