Many creative and spiritual people shy away from starting or growing a business. This is unfortunate because we all benefit when more heart-centered people are active in the marketplace. Some of the reasons business can seem like a “no” have to do with hustle culture, corporate culture, and the general “vibes” of doing business.
Posts tagged #local business
Green Living: The Sustainability Imperative: A Call to Slow Down and the Cost of Convenience in Shopping Small
In a world that often feels like it’s spiraling out of control—where climate crises loom, cities buzz relentlessly, and our pace of life rarely allows for a breath—it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. Amid this chaos, movements like sustainability, slow living, and shopping small have emerged as radical yet simple antidotes. What ties these practices together is the pursuit of a more intentional, connected, and grounded life. Each contributes not only to personal well-being but also to the health of our communities and planet. This interconnected wisdom offers us a pathway to stay sane in an increasingly unstable world.
Kindred Conversations with Hilary Nichols and Curtis Wallace
Curtis Wallace introduced his Be Creative Studio LLC in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 2019 after a lifetime of sharing his art professionally and prolifically. Be Creative Studios honors the honeybee and hexagons in their logo.
Imagine Fitness & Yoga: Getting and Staying Fit with Support and Community
It is not surprising that Dr. Farah got the idea for the name of the fitness and yoga center while on a long run. After all, he has been an athlete and a fitness enthusiast for most of his life. He has run competitive distance races, including more than 100 marathons for decades—19 of them in the famed Boston Marathon. (For several years and last summer at age 79, he ran the Crim which is a 10-mile race in Flint.) He’s also been a sailor, a skier, snowshoer, and bicyclist, and has been leading fitness classes at Imagine Fitness and Yoga ever since it opened in the summer of 2015, less than a year after he got the idea.
Spiedo with Love
Brad Greenhill bought a vertical rotisserie on a whim. As the owner of the James Beard nominated “Best New Restaurant” Detroit’s Takoi, Greenhill wanted to experiment with spit roasting meats. He had the notion that once a new location became available, he might branch out. Last October, along with his team, executive chef Michael Goldberg and General Manager Matthew Ferreira, Greenhil did just that.
Leaps of Faith, Winter 2024, Whitepine Studios
Fast forward to the summer of 2023, and I stood in an elegant gallery in downtown Saline, Michigan looking at a variety of impressive 2D and 3D artwork. I was there to learn how Whitepine Studios went from that upsetting message in 2020 to a thriving women-founded business that had already outgrown its first studio location (opened in 2021). Here is what I learned about their journey from setback to success.
Leaps of Faith, Winter 2024--Grace Proper
When I first heard about Dexter, Michigan’s new boutique gift shop called Grace Proper, a memory passed through my mind. It was from roughly four years ago when I worked at a high-end retail store in Ann Arbor. I was getting to know a fellow employee named Breana Jackson as we worked on what the company referred to as standards—tidying up products to display them perfectly folding t-shirts symmetrically, lining up candle labels, and arranging sizes from smallest to largest. In this memory, Jackson told me where she lived and why she and her husband Dan and their two daughters loved the community of Dexter. She beamed about their country home, great schools, and proximity to Ann Arbor that made them fall in love with the town. She said another reason the Jacksons chose Dexter was that she eventually hoped to open a shop on bucolic Main Street which attracts shoppers and diners from surrounding cities.
Ashes in Art Glass: Encapsulating the Spirit of Remembrance
One local artist has found a way to etch a world of fleeting moments into eternal beauty. Nestled in a studio in Ann Arbor’s Kerrytown district, Chris Nordin, the creative mastermind behind the business Ashes in Art Glass, breathes life into the ethereal by transforming the ashes of loved ones into stunning, sculptural remembrance pieces. At the core of this artistry lies a poignant convergence—the intersection of grief and craftsmanship--where glass encases the essence of a human spirit.
What’s New at Crazy Wisdom, Winter 2024
Many people in southeastern Michigan will be excited to know that after being closed since February 15, 2022, Crazy Wisdom Bookstore reopened on December 1, 2023 under the same ownership of Bill Zirinsky and Ruth Schekter, the couple who have shepherded the store forward over the last 30+ years.
Out of My Comfort Zone: Answering the Call to Rest
At the beginning of this year, I did what many of us do when preparing for another trip around the sun. I set about visioning, but also taking real stock and looking at the reality of the health of my enterprises, my finances, and my body. My approach to the known challenges, I decided, was to bring in freshness of perspective, make some pivots, and then put my head down and work it. My retail business and its educational programming are currently at a critical juncture, and they really needed my undivided attention and energy. Therefore, plans for personal development (i.e, retreats, trainings, coaching), travel, or casual socializing were put on hold. I felt good about this plan. I love my work. I want my business to thrive, and I needed a big turnaround in terms of finances. So, I grabbed my oar. However, a naughty word kept creeping into my thoughts…Sabbatical.*
Gateway Farm: Growing with Permaculture
The mid-January day I visited Gateway Farm in Plymouth was breezy, and the temperature was in the low thirties with faint flurries falling. At the farm’s small, dirt parking lot off Joy Road, I met Bridget O’Brien who, along with her husband Dr. Charlie Brennan, is the farm’s co-director. After we greeted each other, I said, “Not the best time of the year for me to see the farm, I guess.” “It’ll be okay,” she replied cheerfully. “We’ll be able to see everything because there’s no snow on the ground. Plus,” she added, “The sorrel is still green.”
Garden Juju Collective
Water, sun, and soil might seem a simple enough equation for a house plant, but a home garden can be more of an intricate undertaking. Shade or sun, frost or flood, drought or disease—the shifting conditions can challenge any green thumb. That’s when we turn to the experts. Bridget O’Brien and Charlie Brennan of Garden Juju Collective are in a long-term relationship with the earth. “Simple isn’t always quick,” they reminded me. Bridget and Charlie tend the land with both hands and long vision, so that a well-designed fix can be properly applied and nurtured in time. It might take a fleet of earthmovers and months of remediation, but the relationship of the water, sun, and soil can be remedied to become sustainable and self-sufficient, just as nature intended it to be, “on pace with the seasons.”
Argus Farm Stop: Mission Driven
Mission driven in all its disparate pieces, this grocery store, that is so much more, is determined to serve many sectors of our local culture. It could seem confusing, if it wasn’t all so smooth. Argus is a daily farmers’ market, and a local grocery and sundries store. It is a coffee shop and cafe, a tavern, and an entertainment venue. It is an education center offering weekly webinars, classroom curriculum, and full trainings. And Argus Farm Stop is a crucial component that was missing for the growth of our local food system.
Pickleball Is Life-- Fun, Friends, and Finesse at Wolverine Pickleball
Pickleball, said to be the fastest-growing sport in America, has a signature sound: the hollow pop of a hard paddle striking a plastic, Wiffle-like ball. You can’t miss it as you approach a game in progress. You’ll also hear the squeak of sneakers, whoops of delight and amazement, laughter, the occasional groan of defeat, and a light clack as players head to center court at the end of a game to tap each other’s paddles and say, “Thank you.” Christy Howden and Leslie White, co-owners of Wolverine Pickleball, never tire of this soundscape. To them, it signals pure joy and is a siren call to come and play.
Leaps of Faith :Tales of Local Businesses--Carosello Pasta
This column is a look at two brave souls who took a leap of faith to open their own business. What follows is a personal profile of Chelsea and Mike Carosello who are following their dreams and thriving despite the odds—and Covid.
Feeding the American Dream
Almost everyone has eaten in an American style diner where burgers, fries, and homemade pies are the best sellers. A place where everyone knows one another, coffee breakfasts for groups of friends start many people’s mornings, and dinner take-outs end the workday. In Ann Arbor there is a diner that mixes classic diner fare with a bit of Korean flair. Around 1990 Bell’s Diner started serving Korean food as an addition to the already traditional all-American favorites.
Great Tastes in Local Food: Winter 2023
Downtown Ann Arbor is home to a diverse landscape of breakfast, brunch, and lunch restaurants. Stray Hen Cafe, located at the corner of Washington and Division, has been a wonderful addition. The prices are moderate, and the portions are large!
Brush Monkeys and TreeTown Murals--Beautifying Ann Arbor & Beyond
Ann Arbor has long had a tradition of downtown businesses featuring window paintings on their store fronts during the holiday season. When in 2006 local artist, John Copley noticed a break in that tradition, “I mentioned to Jim Hart of Seyfried Jewelers, that I had enjoyed the holiday window painting that someone had been doing downtown for a while. That year it was not happening. I asked him why and he said, ‘Well, he died. You want to do it?’ And that is where it all began.”
How York Helped Forge a New Way of Dining Out
When the pandemic started in March 2020, restaurants had to close their doors for a bit of time to re-group. Most were able to provide delivery, no contact pickups, and take-out options. During this time, mobile food folks had an edge. It was truly amazing how food businesses, from farms to restaurants, figured out new ways of operating in a short period of time. York Food and Drink (and many other alternative eateries) made the change successfully and super-fast.
Amy Garber — Promoting Holistic and Psychic Realms for a Quarter of a Century
The Ann Arbor Holistic Psychic Fair became the largest of its type in Michigan as it gave a common arena for holistic practitioners and psychic intuitives to assemble in a mutually respected village for one or two days. Many of the practitioners highlighted in Crazy Wisdom articles have had booths, done readings, or attended informative lectures through these fairs.
