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Mersina opened Lion's Heart Family Martial Arts in Ancaster when she was 21 years old — with no business background, no financial cushion, and a school that had been open for exactly one year before COVID tried to take it all away.

She's been running it for seven years. She has a 4th degree black belt, has represented Team Canada at the World Championships, and has built a school around one principle she will not compromise: make money to do karate. Don't do karate to make money.

In this conversation, we get into what it actually cost her to stay true to herself when every school around her was pivoting. We talk about surviving COVID a year in, building radical inclusion into the DNA of the school, the parent who called expecting to be turned away because her daughter is deaf, and a solo trip to South Africa that gave the school its name.

And we close with the question we ask every guest: what do you want to be remembered for in your community?

Find Mersina at Lion's Heart Family Martial Arts on Instagram and Facebook, or in the business park in Ancaster. Listen to the Lions Den podcast with the kids.

The Loew Down drops every two weeks. Find us on Instagram @theloewdown.co — because your story matters

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Kristi Grove has been running Tundra Leather on King Street East in Hamilton since 2015. The shop has been there since 1991. Her dad, Peter, built it. When he got sick and passed away, Kristi walked away from a stable finance job at McMaster University and took the reins — even though they never once talked about whether she would.
In this conversation we get into how Peter started the shop, the moment Kristi knew she couldn't let it close, and what it actually felt like to step into a business she'd grown up inside of but never run. We talk about learning leather work from Sean — her dad's original hire — who learned it from Peter. About keeping a physical craft shop alive in downtown Hamilton in 2026. About the workshops that sell out every two months and what they've meant for the business and the community. And about what it's like to be a woman running a trade that still occasionally asks if the man is in.
And we close with the question we ask every guest on The Loew Down — what do you want to be remembered for in your community? Kristi's answer is worth waiting for.
Find Kristi: @tundraleather on Instagram · tundraleather.ca · 313 King St E, Hamilton · Open Tues–Fri 9–5:30, Sat 9–5
The Loew Down drops every two weeks. Find us on Instagram @theloewdown.co 

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The best business advice Cassidy ever got didn't come from a book, a course, or a morning routine. It came from another small business owner who'd been exactly where she was and gave it to her straight.
That's what's missing. So that's what she's building.
Before you meet anyone else, meet Cassidy — former soapmaker, lip care and gift box creator, legal assistant, mom, and the quiet one in a group who somehow keeps finding her people. In this pilot episode she tells you who she is, why The Loew Down exists, and what you can expect every time you hit play.
She gets into the rebrand from Allan Soaps to Loew and Co — what shifted, what stayed, and why her maiden name meaning lion in German had everything to do with it. She talks about moving to Hamilton before her first child was born, not knowing anyone, and finding that the small business community was the thing that finally made her feel like she belonged somewhere.
And she answers the question she will ask every single guest before she ever asks anyone else.
What do you want to be recognized for in your community?
No guest today. Just the real story of why this show exists.
The Loew Down — Real talk with Hamilton small business owners. Starting here and growing from there. Because your story matters.