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Apr 29 2009

American Entrepreneurs | Alex Wander & Adam Thuerer

Hillsboro, Missouri

Welcome and congratulations to Adam Theurer and Alex Wander, founders of Lone Oak Organics, the first certified organic hydroponic greenhouse in the St. Louis area – today is the company’s official grand opening.

Adam and Alex see themselves as stewards of the environment. They are promoting organic food as a way to get St. Louis eating healthier and more nutritious food. Lone Oak Organics is very conscious of the effects of traditional agriculture on the land and have incorporated environmentally conscientious practices into their business.

Lone Oak currently focuses on growing locally grown organic culinary herbs. They grow peppermint, chives, sage, oregano, savory, arugula, parsley, dill, cilantro and of course, basil. Offering a locally grown, organic alternative eliminates the need for grocers to fly culinary herbs from Southern California.

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Hydroponic watering in action.

Like Paul Scheiter of Hedgehog Leatherworks, Adam and Alex graduated in 2008 from St. Louis University’s Center for Entrepreneurship at the John Cook School of Business, facing one of the worst years in decades for business major graduates. Adam had a background in agriculture and access to his family’s land. Alex has a background in marketing. They met in the SLU Entrepreneurship Program, and joined forces to start their own company, launching Lone Oak Organics ten months ago.

Adam sees the recession as being a key component to the sucesss of their start up. Building the greenhouse was less expensive than it would have been a few years ago. They were able to purchase equipment secondhand at a discount. The higher cost of gas has actually worked in their favor, driving up the cost of purchasing organic herbs from out of state.

Maintaining a healthy environment is important to both Adam and Alex. They see green business as the place to be, and are ready to position Lone Oak ahead of the local St. Louis market. They plan to eventually be in downtown St. Louis, developing an urban organics center for fresh produce. The stacked hydroponics growing system maximizes the use of space and during the cold winters of St. Louis when the temperature can drop to near zero, the Lone Oak greenhouses are heated with a wood-burning furnace, using a renewable fuel source.

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Adam Thuerer and Alex Wander stand amongst the basil, at the Hillsboro based Lone Oak Organics, that supplies locally grown organic culinary herbs to St. Louis.

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Adam Thuerer, co-founder and Operational Manager of Lone Oak Organics, changed his shirt, and began harvesting some basil for us to sample.

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Alex Wander, co-founder and marketing specialist of Lone Oak Organics, shows us some fresh mint in the Hillsboro greenhouse.

Alex says that although Lone Oak is in start up mode now, the business has the potential to thrive. Alex and Adam are invested in building a strong client base in their community. Lone Oak is actively available to their customers: offering booths at Farmer’s Markets, demonstrations in local supermarkets and building a stockpile of herb-based recipes on their Website.

Adam and Alex are thrilled to be working in sustainable agriculture and providing healthy food for St. Louis. Currently, Lone Oak is looking for additional financing to expand their greenhouses and connect with other growers. They are working on creating streamlined systems to grow their business efficiently, and bring their local market what it wants. Lone Oak is also actively looking for a botany and horticulture consultant. Please contact Alex Wander directly at alex(dot)wander(at)loneoakorganics(dot)com if you are interested in learning more about Lone Oak Organics.

An Intimate Portrait of the American Entrepreneur Project is sponsored in part by the automated marketing gurus at Infusionsoft

and is championed by the spirited zeal of The Toilet Paper Entreprenuer and TPEs across the universe.

Apr 27 2009

American Entrepreneur | Paul Scheiter

St. Louis, Missouri

Hedgehog Leatherworks

Embrace the wild. It’s the first covenant of Paul Scheiter’s business, Hedgehog Leatherworks. It’s also the way he lives his life. On the surface Hedgehog Leatherworks seems to be simply a company that makes leather sheaths. That is what they do, but it’s not all that they are.

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Paul Scheiter, founder of Hedgehog Leatherworks, in one of his boyhood stomping grounds outside St. Louis, Missouri.

Paul wants to change the lives of as many people as possible, by allowing them to experience nature and the wild in the same way he experiences it: without fighting, without conquering or muscling through. Hedgehog embraces the idea that we can all be a part of the woods. The irony, Paul explained, is that embracing the wild is the most comfortable way to be in the outdoors. The more you resist, he says, the more tension you create. Could we use this metaphor for business? Should we, as entrepreneurs, embrace the wild? Choose the path of least resistance?

Paul maintains that this core value helps him align a good team at Hedgehog. Not only do his employees need to be capable of doing the work, but they also need to understand and practice an ‘embrace the wild’ mentality. Paul said, “They need to be fans of the brand before they can truly come in and grow our brand.”

Most companies say thatthey stand for good quality products and strong customer service, but these values are generic. We do business in a world where that is not enough. Paul knows that generic business values don’t have substance and don’t truly explain who he is and what Hedgehog stands for. As entrepreneurs, we all need to be very specific in how we self-define, so that we can build a brand and build a tribe. Paul gets this.

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Paul models using a Hedgehog Leatherworks sheath.

Paul brought Hedgehog Leatherworks to life while attending the undergraduate program in entrepreneurship at St. Louis University‘s Center for Entrepreneurship at the John Cook School of Business. The program is known for its practical approach to teaching business and it is also behind the Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards (GSEA), which recognizes full-time students that are also full-time business owners. In 2006 Paul placed 2nd in the competition out of roughly 300 international submissions from around the world.

Placing in the GSEA put Paul into networking circles where he eventually met fellow entrepreneur and author of The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur, Mike Michalowicz. Their values meshed. They hit it off. Ultimately, Mike’s firm became an investor in Hedgehog Leatherworks. (As a side note, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is a supporter of the American Entrepreneur Project!)

Less than a year later, here we are, chatting about business with Paul and listening to his advice. Paul encouraged other entrepreneurs to be focused, to look for the first step, take it, and then look for the next step.

The first step is the hardest, in life and in business. You can’t get caught up in anxiety so much that you don’t make the first step. Doing it once, you realize that it wasn’t so scary. And after a while, Paul told us, you get acclimated to experiencing that fear. Now he knows that fear means that he is on the verge of breaking through to the next step. And in this way, he’s embracing the wild of entrepreneurship.

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Paul shows us how to start a fire.

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We want Paul on our team! Read more about The Way of Hedgehog at the Hedgehog Leatherworks Website.

An Intimate Portrait of the American Entrepreneur Project is sponsored in part by the automated marketing gurus at Infusionsoft

and is championed by the spirited zeal of The Toilet Paper Entreprenuer and TPEs across the universe.

Apr 13 2009

American Entrepreneur | Paula Kidd Casey

Wichita, Kansas

Sackaroos

Paula Kidd Casey, a Wichita based attorney, started her own law firm in 1986. Two years ago, she was on a golf course chatting with her college roommate Sue Burnett about what was important to them. Paula really wanted to do something for the environment, and she mentioned to Sue that she was looking for some kind of reusable shopping bag system, but couldn’t find what she wanted. Sue put the brakes on the golf cart. She had made the bag that Paula was looking for. After a few revisions on Sue’s initial concept, the Sackaroo was born. Soon after, Sackaroos Reusable Bags was incorporated and the Website launched.

Sackaroos is a reusable bag system, handmade in America. It is a compact shopping bag that hold multiple mesh bags. Rather than having a motley assortment of canvas bags in the back of the car, consumers can use the neat Sackaroo system that contains four mesh bags. You can see through the mesh so you know which bags contain which foods, and each bag hold the same volume as a traditional paper grocery bag. The outside pocket of the Sackaroo can hold keys, a wallet and shopping lists.

Paula Kidd Casey, co- founder of Sackaroos, author of Getting the Bigger Picture in Your Divorce, and attorney based on Witchita, Kansas.

Sue Burnett still handles manufacturing. Mike Casey, Paula’s husband, works on the customer service and marketing, though he admits he’s at the beginning of the learning curve in terms of social media marketing.

Having experience in her own law firm gave Paula an understanding of what it takes to start a business. She told us that she had no preconceived notion that they would be millionaires in the first year. She reminded us that “you have to be tenacious enough to stay with it and you have to be wiling to change when things happen.”

Paula Kidd Casey, co-founder of Sackaroos, and details of the reusable shopping bags.

Mike described Paula as having “a burning desire to do something other than practice law”. He went on to explain, “She never says we can’t. She says how can we? Grab hold, hang on and get out of her way.”

Paula has her own words of encouragement for burgeoning entrepreneurs, “Think outside the box. Be flexible with change. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Paula doesn’t see herself as brave, she just wants new and exciting things in her life. She is afraid of being the kind of person that doesn’t have the initiative to follow through on her ideas. She doesn’t want to waste her passion.

In addition to her family law practice and Sackaroos, Paula has written a book, Getting The Bigger Picture In Your Divorce and it’s not the 60 inch TV. She also patented a magnetic counting bracelet called Counter Clock.

No passion being wasted here…!

An Intimate Portrait of the American Entrepreneur Project is sponsored in part by the automated marketing gurus at Infusionsoft

and is championed by the spirited zeal of The Toilet Paper Entreprenuer and TPEs across the universe.

Apr 13 2009

American Entrepreneur | Jean Lozada

Platte City, Missouri

Jeanie Naturals

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon, Jean Lozada and her husband Angel warmly ushered us into their immaculate home. The living room opened to the kitchen where windows looked out to rolling hills and sunlight streamed into open rooms. Jean gestured to this serene environment and told us this was where she made her products. The only hint that it was her workshop was a lingering sweet scent in the air.

Jean grew up in a family that loved and valued fragrance. Her great grandmother made her own homemade herbal blends. Like the love of fragrance, entrepreneurism is also a family tradition. Jean’s brother works as an independent real estate agent, a career that Jean briefly flirted with herself. While she didn’t continue in real estate, she referred to her brother as her business role model.

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Jean Lozada at her home in Platte City, Missouri with an assortment of her Soy and Shea Butter Body Massage Candles.

Jean described herself as a former company girl. She was very loyal to a large company but suddenly found herself part of a massive downsizing. At that point she knew that she wanted to work for herself, and Jeanie Naturals was born. Hers was a sentiment that we heard a lot in our journey meeting entrepreneurs across the country; the time Jean puts into her business doesn’t feel like work. She told us that when her husband is working out of town, she can be engaged in creating her product for ten and twelve hour days. It doesn’t feel like her previous desk job, where she would be ready to punch the clock at five. Since founding Jeanie Naturals, Jean loves having control over her own work schedule.

Jeanie Naturals is an eco-friendly company that manufactures natural and organic products for the home and body. All of their formulations begin with a base of herbal teas and botanicals. The Jeanie Naturals line includes soap, lotion bars, candles, and body massage candles; each product comes in a variety of natural scents.

On the home front, Jean treasures the support of her husband, Angel, and her family. She is also actively involved with the Indie Beauty Network, and cites Donna Maria Coles Johnson as another mentor. The low cost of living in Missouri, the love and support of her husband and freedom of being her own boss allows Jean the creative reign to experiment and play with new products.

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Jeanie Naturals relies on word of mouth, and social networking sites to promote products. Jean measures Web analytics and adapts her marketing based on that information. Recently Jean made the major decision to reduce the amount of products she offered. She wanted to keep Jeanie Naturals a one-woman show, and it was difficult to keep up with demand. She thought carefully about what she enjoyed creating most, and what products made up the majority of her sales. And there was a connection. Jean enjoyed her time making candles, and knew that she crafted each one with love. When she realized that the candles were also the biggest selling product, it was easy to trim her product line.

For Jeanie Naturals, the company motto is to have fun doing what you love.

An Intimate Portrait of the American Entrepreneur Project is sponsored in part by the automated marketing gurus at Infusionsoft

and is championed by the spirited zeal of The Toilet Paper Entreprenuer and TPEs across the universe.

Apr 11 2009

American Entrepreneur | Andreea Ayers

Denver

Tees for Change

Andreea Ayers, owner of Tees for Change, greeted us in the parking lot of Boulder’s Common Threads, one of the local shops where her t-shirts are sold. Andreea had the beautiful and graceful glow of pregnancy and she spoke with and confidence. She was about to teach us what she knew about properly and methodically growing your business.

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Andreea Ayers, founder and CEO of Tees for Change, sustainable tees on a mission.

Andreea Ayers is the business owner that we should all be striving to be. She is committed to her community, her family and the environment. She has created a sustainable product that neatly serves her target clients. She has partnered with experts and other professionals to help her in her journey and business education. And importantly, she had the confidence to acknowledge the areas of her business where she wasn’t an expert, and invested in her business’s future (and the local economy) by hiring others to help her business grow.

The story behind Andreea’s journey to Boulder is very much a part of her business success. When she was five months pregnant with her first child, she quit her job in New York City where she did direct marketing for NYU. She knew she had to do it on her own. Once in Boulder, Andreea found a supportive community of entrepreneurs and used the Boulder Innovation Center, and Savor the Success, as main resources in launching her business.

Tees for Change manufactures the aforementioned ‘tees’ and other apparel. Andreea describes the business as eco-friendly; Tees for Change apparel is made of sustainable materials like cotton or bamboo. These are dyed with low-impact nontoxic dyes, and then uplifting messages are imprinted with PBC-free water-based paints.

From the beginning, Andreea was not content with only selling eco-friendly apparel; she wanted to make a bigger difference and to give back. She partnered with Trees For The Future to plant a tree for every shirt that she sells. When we spoke with her, they were about to plant their 10,000th tree. The trees are planted in South America and Africa, where they’re needed most.

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Andreea Ayers, radiant in abundance, with her Tees for Change apparel line at Boulder’s Common Threads.

Trent was particularly impressed with how careful and how thoughtful Andreea was about expanding Tees for Change. Andrea made sure her new product lines were unique and desirable. She’s been able to assess her strengths and the areas where she needed assistance. For example, she realized her inventory was both her greatest asset and her greatest expense. Using her marketing background, she conducted some market research, and she was able to plan for the healthy growth of Tees for Change. She is beginning to expand her business, as small retail shops close, by pursuing vendor relationships with local resorts and spas.

Andreea told us, “My goal is to reach out to the larger clients. I was buying my inventory from five different manufacturers, but it was not really cost effective. My new place can do everything, labels, and tags, and can really help cut costs. They also can know what I am looking for, and they can turn around and produce quickly.”

One of the best things that Andrea did in preparation for the expansion of her business was to assess the area swhere she wasn’t an expert. She hired members of her local entrepreneurial community to help her. She quickly realized if she wanted to sell more products, she needed a professional photographer and web designer who could create a system that allows her to track orders and take coupons. She’s also hired an accountant. She stressed, “It’s so worth it.”

Bravo, Andreea, for reinforcing the concept of a triple bottom line. Being proactive in her life and her business, and achieving her commitment to balance a healthy lifestyle, a healthy business and a healthy community.

An Intimate Portrait of the American Entrepreneur Project is sponsored in part by the automated marketing gurus at Infusionsoft

and is championed by the spirited zeal of The Toilet Paper Entreprenuer and TPEs across the universe.

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Tag Archives: entrepreneur

American Entrepreneurs | Alex Wander & Adam Thuerer

American Entrepreneur | Paul Scheiter

American Entrepreneur | Paula Kidd Casey

American Entrepreneur | Jean Lozada

American Entrepreneur | Andreea Ayers