SUSAN ELWER: On a Mission to End Child Hunger WOMEN’S · saw leaving with big bags of groceries...

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5A Quarterly Publication of My Founder Story

SUSAN ELWER:End Child HungerOn a Mission to

Stories of FierceIN THIS ISSUE:Founders PursuingTheir Purpose

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Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 51 | Susan Elwer

PROOF OF PURPOSE IN ACTION

Susan Elwer | 2Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

Feeling embarrassed by a parent is a rite of passage for most teenagers. Growing up, Susan Elwer felt something more like shame. Every week, as she and her mother walked up and down the grocery store aisles filling the cart, she’d fixate on what was about to happen. They’d get to the checkout, and when it was time to pay, Susan’s mom would present the cashier with food stamps. Susan wanted to disappear. Sometimes there weren’t enough stamps and cash to cover the total. Other times, a scanned item couldn’t be purchased with food stamps. Susan just wanted to blend in with the rest of the families she saw leaving with big bags of groceries without any problems.

Susan’s mom was ashamed as well—she

always checked out with the same friendly cashier who seemed the least judgmental. Growing up poor and relying on government assistance for food and medical care was hard on the entire family. There were many times they had to go without things others took for granted—new clothes, special meals, vacations together. As a single parent, her mom did the best she could with what she had. Most of the time Susan didn’t dwell on it. She’d earn money babysitting to help out and focused on getting good grades in school. She was determined to be the first person in her family to go to college, to get a good job, and to pull herself out of poverty.

Susan was always interested in helping others. In college she

studied criminal justice and met her future husband, Eric, who was also interested in the criminal justice field and helping people. After graduating, she interned for a residential treatment center for women, where she eventually took a job running the supervised visitation program. After she and Eric got married, Susan shifted gears and began working in the corporate sector. Only she wasn’t inspired by the work—it was more about the paycheck than pursuing her purpose. After two children and a decade as a stay-at-home mom, Susan started thinking about her career again.

Watching her own daughters grow up sparked Susan’s interest in early childhood development.

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Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 53 | Susan Elwer

She took a position as an educational support specialist at a public elementary school in the suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. She assisted teachers in delivering lessons and worked directly with students who needed extra support and care. The work fulfilled her in a way she hadn’t experienced. She bonded with students and was making a positive impact in their lives. And when she learned about a 4-year-old boy who’d gone without lunch for the first three months of the school year, she knew she had to do something. Susan made an extra brown-bag lunch for the boy every day until the school was able to connect the family with the services they needed.

Susan hadn’t forgotten what it was like to grow up without food in the refrigerator. She’d felt the pangs of hunger deep in her belly that made it difficult to concentrate on studying or chores or just being a kid. She felt something begin to rumble inside her again,

but this time it was a desire to make a bigger impact—to feed more kids. She began to share ideas with Eric. Then it came to her one Sunday in church as the words from the sermon seemed to be aimed directly at her: “Don’t judge, just love.” She would design T-shirts with messages of love and acceptance and sell them to provide meals for hungry kids.

Susan began researching give-back businesses and successful strategies like TOMS shoes’ “buy one give one” model. She realized she could have the most impact as a social enterprise donating a portion of the proceeds from merchandise sales to organizations already working to end hunger. She officially launched Spoonful Apparel (originally Hands and Feet) in 2017. Spoonful designs and sells screen-printed apparel with messages of hope online and at pop-up events. With every sale, the company donates 50 percent of the profits to a nonprofit.

In 2018, Susan left her position at the school to work in the business full-time. This year, Spoonful earned a Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) certification and Eric took time away from his own management consulting business for six months to support Susan in scaling Spoonful. In addition to retail sales, Spoonful also offers corporate and event-based apparel with the same 50 percent donation, allowing corporations and events to achieve their social responsibility goals.

Susan believes we are all here for a unique purpose, and through that purpose we make the world a better place. She says her purpose was placed in her heart that day in church. To date, Spoonful has helped create over 66,000 meals for kids in communities across the United States—proof of purpose in action.

Spoonful ApparelSpoonfulApparel.com

By Chris Olsen

On “Motivational Mondays,” Spanx founder Sara Blakely frequently posts selfies drinking oversized cups of coffee emblazoned with inspirational messages. Her large brown eyes peer into the camera, the rest of her face completely masked by a giant ceramic mug. Along with the images, Sara shares a few of her own nuggets of wisdom about entrepreneurship and building a billion-dollar undergarment empire.

I’m a big fan of Sara Blakely because of what she does to support female entrepreneurs.

Her foundation has donated millions to charitable organizations worldwide since it was formed in 2006, supporting underserved women and girls through education, entrepreneurship and the arts. Sara was the first self-made female billionaire to promise half of her wealth to charity via the Giving Pledge initiative started by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

Recently, I spotted one of Sara’s “mug shots” on LinkedIn, a glossy white cup adorned with the silhouette of a woman in black with white lettering over it that said,

“Empowered Women Empower Women.” The message that accompanied it:

“I’ve been empowering and supporting women for as long as I can remember. I saw my mom and grandmother’s limited options. They were held back from their true capabilities and that stirred a fire inside of me. When women empower each other that’s when we will truly be unstoppable.”

I clicked the heart emoji and was about to start scrolling again, but the comments stopped me in my tracks. I’m not


EMPOWERED WOMENPOWER THE WORLD

Empowered Women Power the World | 4Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 55 | Empowered Women Power the World

sure why I was surprised that people all over the world were responding negatively to it. So many negative comments. Sara should stop bashing men and use her platform to empower everyone, some said. Others remarked that there’s no difference between men and women when it comes to starting, running or growing a small business; it’s a matter of smarts and hard work.

But here’s the thing. While I agree that intelligence and a strong work ethic are essential for anyone to succeed in business, suggesting that’s all it takes to successfully navigate the bumpy path of entrepreneurship is shortsighted. Women simply don’t have the same access to critical resources needed to start and grow small businesses. And lifting up underserved groups—giving women what they need to

succeed—does not mean everyone else is pushed down in the process. As the saying goes, a rising tide lifts all boats.

It wasn’t long ago that women couldn’t even get funding for a business without the support of a man. In fact, 31 years ago this month a law was passed—the Women’s Business Ownership Act (H.R. 5050)—that eliminated state laws requiring a male co-signer on a women’s business loan.

But how far have women come in the last three decades? The latest data shows that women-owned businesses receive only 16 percent of small business loans and less than 3 percent of venture capital nationwide. Female founders who secure funding receive less financial backing (smaller amounts) and less favorable terms

(higher interest rates) than men.

WORKING TOGETHER TO EMPOWER WOMEN

We all have to work together to change this—women, men, everyone. Empowering women is critical to our economy because female-founded businesses are critical to our economy. In 2018, women-owned businesses totaled 12.3 million. They generated more than $1.8 trillion in revenues and employed 9.2 million people. Imagine what women could accomplish with the same access to resources and support as businesses founded by men.

My Founder Story is a social enterprise dedicated to empowering women and



amplifying their stories. We develop strategic partnerships with individuals and organizations aligned with our mission to support women entrepreneurs. Our goal is to work together to create abundant opportunities for female-founded purpose-driven businesses to learn, connect, collaborate and succeed.

We recently teamed up with Laura Keller, the Minnesota ambassador for Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED), to support the local initiative. WED works globally to empower women and girls to become active participants in the economy. The movement is also dedicated to educating the world about the importance of empowering women in business. The reason: When women are elevated financially, households, communities and entire countries prosper.

WED is celebrated at the United Nations and in 144 countries and 65 universities and colleges internationally. Since its first event, WED has reached more than 5 billion people. The event will be celebrated in Minnesota on November 14 at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Amy Nelson, founder and CEO of The Riveter, will headline the event and share her unique perspective on women in the workforce. A panel discussion will address innovating around equity in entrepreneurship.

A SIMPLE WAY TO EMPOWER WOMEN: THE #CHOOSEWOMEN SHOPPING GUIDE

#ChooseWomen is an international social media campaign and WED initiative dedicated to elevating women-owned businesses and causes worldwide by encouraging consumers to support them on #ChooseWomen Wednesday this December 4 and all year long.

In partnership with WED MN, My Founder Story developed a print and online #ChooseWomen Shopping Guide for the holiday season. Our aim is to make it easy for everyone to empower women, simply by supporting these businesses, taking advantage of special offers and sharing the love on social media by including these hashtags: #ChooseWomenShoppingGuide #ChooseWomenMN #ChooseWomen.

The guide is made possible with support from My Founder Story’s community partners, BankCherokee and ModernWell.


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A collaboration with Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Minnesotaand MyFounderStory.com/ChooseWomen

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 59 | #ChooseWomen Shopping Guide

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In collaboration with Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Minnesota (WED MN), My Founder Story is highlighting women-owned businesses in Minnesota and beyond in a print and online #ChooseWomen Shopping Guide for the holiday season. Show your support for women-owned businesses on #ChooseWomen Wednesday (December 4) and all year long! Take advantage of special offers and share the love on social media by including these hashtags: #ChooseWomenShoppingGuide #ChooseWomenMN #ChooseWomen.

1. Spoonful Apparel “I Choose Love” Graphic Tee ($28) | Founded by Susan Elwer, Spoonful creates apparel with inspiring messages and donates 50% of the profits to organizations that are working to end child hunger in the U.S. Receive a free “I Choose Love” sticker with the purchase of an “I Choose Love” T-shirt with code #CHOOSEWOMEN through December 31, 2019. Get It:

Online at SpoonfulApparel.com

2. City Girl Coffee Co. Organic City Girl Blend 12-Ounce Package ($14.99) | Founded by Alyza Bohbot James, City Girl Coffee is small-batch roasted specialty coffee on a mission to support women coffee growers around the globe by providing access to finances, education and business resources. Receive 25% off an Organic City Girl Blend 12-ounce package with code MYFOUNDERSTORY. Get It: Online at CityGirlCoffee.com

3. Lauren Virginia Design Leather and Brass Earrings ($26) | Founded by Lauren Golias, Lauren Virginia Design creates handcrafted and upcycled leather jewelry and accessories. The featured earrings are hand-cut repurposed leather and brass. Receive free shipping from Lauren Virginia Design’s online shop this holiday season. Get It: Online at Etsy.com/Shop/LaurenVirginiaDesign

4. Wondrous Crane Bud Vase ($26) | Founded by Emily Tani-Winegarden, Wondrous Crane creates wheel-thrown pottery made to hold wonder and provide moments of bliss throughout the day. Featured vases are perfect for displaying flowers, pens, etc., and are available in a variety of colors. On sale for $20 from November 29, 2019 through December 2, 2019. Get It: Online at

Etsy.com/WondrousCrane

5. MEND Jewelry Pink Chalcedony Rosary ($64 + tax) | Founded by Jordyn DiOrio, MEND Jewelry connects natural gemstones and crystals to women through simply designed jewelry. Featured rosary necklaces are a unique play on a wrap necklace in a blush gemstone that’s beneficial for love and the Pisces zodiac sign. Receive 10% off your MEND order with code CHOOSEWOMEN through December 31, 2019. Get It: Online at MENDJewelry.com

6. Leonetti Confetti Pencil Pouch ($28) | Founded by Kylee Leonetti, Leonetti Confetti’s handmade confetti products provide economic opportunities to women in recovery. Black and gold pencil pouches (with or without “Throw Kindness Around Like Confetti” slogan) are hand-painted by women in recovery and also empower women survivors of human trafficking, who make each bag with care from recycled fabric. On sale for $25 through January 1, 2020. Get It: Online at

Etsy.com/LeonettiConfetti


7. Flip’em the Bird Signature Fingerless Gloves ($20) | Founded by Susie Moschkau, Flip’em the Bird is a Minnesota-based female-owned accessory company. Signature fingerless gloves are perfect for cold offices, chilly spring days, or if you’re tired of taking sh*t. Receive free shipping on all orders with the code SHIPEMTHEBIRD through 11:59 CDT on December 31, 2019. Valid in the U.S. only. Get It: Online at FlipEmTheBird.com

8. She She Free Birds Wallpaper ($190) | Founded by Kate Worum and Jennifer Jorgensen, She She is a print and pattern studio that creates custom hand-painted and printed wallpaper, surface designs and furnishings. She She Free Birds wallpaper is non-woven, highly durable and fade resistant. Get It: Online at BySheShe.com

9. K Kay Designs Three Wise Women Stack Rings ($67) | Founded by Kirstin Showell, K Kay Designs is a jewelry company with a passion for social good, creating meaningful artisan jewelry with a story to inspire and empower women. Two sterling silver rings and one 14K gold-filled ring create this powerful stack to remind all women: You are WORTHY. You are BRAVE. You are LOVED. Receive 20% off Three Wise Women Stack Rings with code CHOOSEWOMEN through December 14, 2019. Get It: KKayDesigns.com

10. Sebesta Apothecary Pumpkin Spice Seasonal Body Bar ($8) | Founded by Kim Sebesta, Sebesta Apothecary is an all-natural and eco-friendly bath and body product company in Northeast Minneapolis. Pumpkin soothes dry, irritated skin and is full of anti-aging properties. The added spices smell good and work to gently exfoliate. Get It: Online at SebestaApothecary.com

11. KISA Boutique Nicollet/Modern Blazer ($188) | Founded by Emily Kisa, KISA Bourtique features styled workwear and artisan goods. The Nicollet/Modern Blazer is elegant enough for a conservative corporate workplace and fun enough to wear as a cardigan in a more creative environment. Get It: In store at 651 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN; online at KISAOfficial.com

12. Excelsior Candle Company Gem Candle Set ($32) | Founded by Heidi Mueller, Excelsior Candle Co. was born of the belief that the right fragrance can make everyday moments feel extraordinary. The Gem Candle Set 3-pack contains one each scent: rose quartz, amethyst, citrine amber. On sale for $28 from November 1, 2019 through December 15, 2019. Get It: In stores (see locations at ExcelsiorCandleCo.com/retail-locations); online at ExcelsiorCandleCo.com

13. Junita’s Jar Cookie Subscription Box (3 Months) ($74.99) | Founded by Junita Flowers, Junita’s Jar is a social enterprise on a mission to bake hope into every cookie purchase, helping women live their best lives. The Cookie Subscription Box includes six individual 3-ounce cookie snack packs delivered to your mailbox each month. Flavors include oatmeal raisin, oatmeal peanut butter chocolate chip and triple chocolate chip. Get It: Online at JunitasJar.com

14. Santosha Co. Calendula and Balm of Gilead Healing Facial Oil ($24) | Founded by Ashlee Assadi, Santosha Co. is an organic and sustainably foraged skincare company using hydrosols and essential oils from Northern Wisconsin. Healing Facial Oil is a botanical blend of natural plant oils, soothing carrot seed oil, nourishing jojoba oil, rosehip oil and brightening extracts. Receive 40% off your order with the code THANKS. Get It: Online at Santosha.co

15. Grace Gear Dark Brown and Teal Personal Reference Bible ($59) | Founded by Karla Heeter, Grace Gear was created to share God’s grace through extraordinary tools of faith including beautifully custom-designed Bibles worthy of a place on your coffee table. A Grace Gear creation, this rich brown ESV Personal Reference Bible is simply embellished with a floral concho and turquoise stones. Get It: Online at GraceGear.shop


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16. Honey and Rye Baking Classes ($45-$100) | Founded by Anne Andrus, Honey and Rye is a St. Louis Park, Minnesota-based bakery focusing on local and sustainable sourcing, featuring artisan breads and pastries baked fresh in-house and locally roasted coffee. Honey and Rye offers a variety of small, hands-on baking classes led by bakers. Receive $5 off baking classes with the code CHOOSEWOMEN through January 1, 2020 (may also be used toward High Tea). Get It: Online at Honey-And-Rye.com

17. Jenson Natural Jewelry Mala Necklace ($129) | Founded by Kristine Jenson, Jenson Natural Jewelry is a heart-centered, philanthropic-driven business making necklaces and bracelets with the highest-quality natural stones. The Mala Necklace is made with amethyst, amazonite and a gorgeous porcelain jasper guru stone. Get It: In stores (see locations at

JensonNaturalJewelry.com/pages/locations); online at JensonNaturalJewelry.com

18. Essence One Sleep Tin ($24) | Founded by Lauren VanScoy, Essence One is on a mission to support healthy minds and healthy lifestyles through aromatherapy; every purchase helps support mental health clubs in Minnesota high schools. The Sleep Tin contains a Rest Linen Spray, a Sleep Rollerball, a Honey Mint Lip Balm and earplugs. Receive 10% off the Sleep Tin with the code CHOOSEWOMEN through December 31, 2019. Free shipping on orders over $75. Get It: Online at EssenceOne.life

19. Hagen and Oats Minnesota Northern Lights Sign ($150-$400) | Founded by Anna Hagen and Nikki Hollerich, Hagen and Oats is a custom wood signage and decor company specializing in scroll saw art. The Minnesota Northern Lights Sign is handmade in three sizes, featuring the state of Minnesota and a unique depiction of the Northern Lights. Get It: Online at HagenAndOats.com

20. Feminist Book Club Monthly Subscription ($42) | Founded by Renee Powers, the Feminist Book Club is an intersectional monthly subscription box that pairs feminist books with products from woman-owned businesses, donating 5% to charity with each purchase. A monthly subscription features a book selected by members plus three or more products from woman-owned businesses, often local to Minnesota. Use code BOOK5 for $5 off your first box. Free shipping in the U.S. Cancel anytime. Get It: Online at FeministBookClub.com

21. UGO Wear Signature Collection UGO Phone 2.0 ($129) | Founded by Melanie Cole and Vicky DeRouchey, UGO Wear is the multiple-award-winning inventor and manufacturer of 100% waterproof compact electronic dry packs that float. The Signature Collection UGO Phone 2.0 is the most reliable, functional, versatile phone dry pack. Receive 20% off the UGO Phone 2.0 with the code WATER. Get It: Online at UGOWear.com


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22. ThisFem Original #MnFem Black on Black Crewneck Sweatshirt ($55) | Founded by Sara Schultz, ThisFem believes everyone can be a feminist and equality is a no-brainer. The company uses high-quality, locally designed and made apparel as a tool to share its mission in Minnesota and beyond. This unisex pullover crewneck features the signature #MnFem design screenprinted in black ink on black poly cotton fleece. Get It: Online at ThisFem.com

23. Her Spirit Vodka 1 Liter Bottle ($20) | Founded by Kjersten Merila, Her Spirit Vodka is a gold-medal-winning vodka that is fiercely determined to empower women in business by giving 50% of its profits back to a Minnesota woman entrepreneur each year via the HALF BACK TO HER grant. Her Spirit is six times distilled, creating a smooth, clean and neutral vodka that’s made from 100% Midwest-grown corn. Get It: In stores (see locations at HerSpiritVodka.com/locations)

24. B+D Custom Crafts Spa Day Gift Set ($80) | Founded by mother-daughter duo Brittany and Debbie Travis, B+D Custom Crafts helps women rediscover the joy of personalized gifting. The Spa Day Gift Set includes Essence One bath salts and moisturizing body oil, Fade and Fern bath bomb, Excelsior Candle Co. candle and TC Chocolate bar. The first 25 online shoppers receive 15% off the Spa Day Gift Set with the code WED15 through December 13, 2019. Get It: Online at BDCustomCrafts.com

25. SorBabes Frozen Dessert Pint ($4.99) | Founded by Nicole Cordone and Deborah Gorman, SorBabes is the maker of plant-based frozen desserts created from nut butters and real fruit. They are a 100% plant-based and dairy-free flavor bomb! Get it: In stores (see locations at SorBabes.com/locations)

26. LOLLiDALE Holiday Sock Card ($12.99) | Founded by Amber Filip, LOLLiDALE is a Minnesota-based company created to help celebrate and support friends and family in a fun and practical way. High-quality bamboo-based socks have arch support and a greeting card attached. Receive 25% off all crew-length Holiday Sock Cards with the code CHOOSEWOMEN through December 15, 2019. Get It: Online at LOLLiDALE.com

27. Isadore Nut Co. Perfect Nut Gift Box ($16) | Founded by Tasya Kelen, Isadore Nut Co. features organic and premium nuts, roasted by hand in small batches by people passionate about artisan products. The Perfect Nut Gift Box includes one 2-ounce bag of each: Zesty Lemon Rosemary, Cocoa Kiss, and Nuts from the North/Turmeric Tango. Get It: Online at IsadoreNutCo.com

28. TowelTopper ($14.95) | Founded by Sairey Gernes, TowelTopper is a packable towel band that keeps your towel secure around your body or on your lounge chair; a portion of the proceeds from TowelTopper sales benefits water sustainability for those who don’t have access to clean drinking water. Get it: Online at TowelTopper.com

29. With Eyes Unlocked State String Art Kits ($24.99) | Founded by Ashley Rollings, With Eyes Unlocked creates meaningful and handmade wood home decor featuring all 50 states. The kits include everything needed to create your favorite state string art sign (except a hammer)! Get It: Online at WithEyesUnlocked.com

30. The Beez Kneez BK Collective Raw Buckwheat Honey ($9-$28) | Founded by Kristy Allen, The Beez Kneez is a Minneapolis-based social enterprise working to “Revive the Hive for Healthy Bees, Healthy Lives.” BK Collective Raw Buckwheat Honey is a strong, dark honey that goes well in coffee or hot toddies and comes in three sizes. It’s produced by Honey House Farms, a member of the BK Honey Collective. Get It: Online at TheBeezKneezDelivery.com

A CHAMPION FOR WOMENLaura Keller was on top of the world. She was living in Los Angeles and about to start a new job at a prestigious advertising agency. She’d been in the industry since after college and worked her way up to senior-level leadership in New York and L.A. She loved everything about it. It allowed her to combine her creative side with her instinct for business and driving results. She was ready to hit the ground

Photo: Sheri Flemming Photography

running. And then, before she’d even set foot in the agency’s door, she got a call from her would-be boss. He informed her the L.A. office was closing. “The good news is you’ll receive one year’s salary,” he announced. “The bad news is you no longer have a job.”

The news caught Laura completely off guard. But she didn’t wallow in the job loss. Her mind quickly

shifted to the possibilities. She often thought about starting a business. She’d also been planning her wedding and discovered that wedding retailers weren’t offering the quality of items she wanted for her celebration. There was a hole in the market for modern yet classic, tasteful and unique wedding décor and accessories.

She found a solution: Laura began sourcing

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 517 | Laura Keller

beautiful items from designers and vendors that were not specific to the wedding industry. She developed wedding category exclusivity agreements with those designers and launched Divine Weddings in 1998. She started attending industry events and participated in wedding shows at posh venues like the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was the start of the dot-com boom and Laura launched a first-of-its-kind website offering unique and hard-to-find accessories for the discerning bride. She received an endorsement from wedding and style guru Colin Cowie. Her company was featured in InStyle Magazine and on the Lifetime Network.

Laura’s vision for a successful business quickly came to fruition, and the competition was taking notice. In fact, one of the biggest players in the wedding industry began copying her product designs. She met with them in L.A. and proposed they buy Divine Weddings. But they weren’t interested—they

had already copied her business model. Squashed by a much larger competitor, Laura closed her business in 2001.

But Laura didn’t see it as a failure. It opened her eyes to the world of entrepreneurship, and she knew she’d start another business eventually. Fortunately, she still had one foot in the advertising agency world and had been consulting all along. And when her then husband’s job required that they move to Minneapolis, Minnesota, Laura figured she’d work for an agency there. She got a meeting with Fallon Worldwide and was contracted to recruit creative talent from her connections on the East and West Coasts.

When the senior recruiter left the firm, Laura stepped into the role and began working with outside vendors to find new talent. Once again, she recognized a hole in the market. No one was recruiting in a strategic and consultative way. And more specifically, no one was focusing on the recruitment of female

leadership. Women were grossly underrepresented in chief marketing officer and senior-level creative positions and Laura intended to do something about it.

In 2007, Laura and business partner Ashley Mehbod—also an agency veteran—launched Pixie Dust, an executive search firm based in Minneapolis that specializes in supporting creative agencies and marketers looking for leaders who can champion new ways of thinking. As the name implies, the agency provides clients with the magic ingredient to enhance, elevate and improve their business—the people. More specifically, Pixie Dust has a gift for matching the right people to the right positions. They work as a team along with their talent scout, Lisa Hashbarger, to continually build and expand their network of the best creative problem solvers in the industry.

Laura’s focus on women’s equality extends beyond


Laura Keller | 18Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

her work at Pixie Dust. She served for six years as a member of the Minnesota board of directors for Planned Parenthood, one of the nation’s leading women’s reproductive rights groups. As women continue to face significant inequities in health care, Laura supports initiatives that ensure all women have access to proper care, which she believes is not only a basic human right, but essential to overall well-being. She currently serves on the organization’s marketing task force.

A decade after launching Pixie Dust, Laura got a call from a friend in L.A. with roots in Minnesota. Her friend connected her to social entrepreneur and humanitarian Wendy Diamond, the founder of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day (WED). The event is celebrated every November at the United Nations and in 144 countries and 65 universities and colleges internationally. Since launching in 2013, WED has reached more than 5 billion people.

The initiative was created to empower women and girls across the globe to become active participants in the economy and engages program ambassadors all over the world to fulfill its mission. Laura was invited to fill the ambassador role for Minnesota. As a longtime advocate for women in business, she was excited about the opportunity. Ashley and Lisa also joined the advisory board.

Now in its third year, Laura and a WED MN advisory board of Minnesota women business leaders are dedicated to educating the world about the importance of empowering women in business. Each year they organize a day of programming for women entrepreneurs and champions of women. The 2019 WED MN event is scheduled for November 14, and the theme is innovation. It features a keynote from Amy Nelson, founder of The Riveter, a coworking space built by women for everyone. The event will include a panel discussion on innovating around equality

in entrepreneurship moderated by Junita Flowers, founder of Junita’s Jar, a cookie company committed to giving back.

Like many involved with WED, Laura envisions a future where women entrepreneurs are recognized and celebrated every day. All funds raised through the Minnesota event are donated to Women’s Foundation of Minnesota and its Young Women’s Initiative, a statewide effort that builds pathways to economic opportunity for young women who are facing the greatest barriers. Laura also recently formed The Women’s Entrepreneurship Consultancy as an LLC. Her goal is to partner with a local college or university to deliver critical education and resources to aspiring female entrepreneurs and to increase WED’s impact in Minnesota and beyond.

Pixie Dust, Inc.PixieDustInc.com

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 519 | Laura Keller

CONNECT WITH COMMUNITY PURPOSEAs Kim Bartmann drove by an empty storefront on Lake Street in Uptown Minneapolis, Minnesota, it spoke to her. She’d recently had a conversation during a brunch with friends about a concept for a coffee shop, though she wasn’t completely sold on the idea. It was the 1990s, she was a student at the University of Minnesota, and no one she knew was spending time at coffee

Photo: Bartmann Group

shops. Kim herself was attending school and working full time, plus she played rugby, which was like having a second job. But the concept was more about community than coffee. And—if she were to open one of the first coffee shops in the Twin Cities—she had a feeling that space on Lake Street would be imperfectly perfect.

Growing up in small towns

in Wisconsin, Kim learned to appreciate farm produce stands, supper clubs and community. As a kid, she dreamed of running a roadside tomato stand. Her family moved around a lot, but she’d adapt quickly to her new surroundings and connect with new people. She valued those connections. Despite her initial skepticism, the coffee shop idea stayed


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with Kim. It could be a place for friends and neighbors to gather and talk. She didn’t want to cook—she’d been cooking in restaurants to pay the bills and had grown tired of it. But she thought she could offer baked goods from a local baker.

As the coffee shop idea started to materialize, Kim realized she’d need capital—at least $10,000—to get it off the ground. She went to her single mom who offered up a credit card with a $5,000 limit. Her business partner at the time kicked in the other half. Just two months after that initial brunch conversation, Café Wyrd opened in the space on Lake Street that initially caught Kim’s eye. Her friends came and brought more friends with them. The vibe was like a sober bar—a place to talk, laugh and connect. It was pre-internet, so Kim placed notebooks on the counter where patrons could leave messages for one another and make plans to meet back there.

Customers ended up hanging out at Café Wyrd

for hours at a time. After a few weeks, one of her friends who’d also worked in restaurants showed up with a hot plate and told Kim she was going to need to feed people soup. Though she vowed she’d never cook at the café, Kim realized she needed to offer more than pastries. She began making soup at the start of each day as people drank their morning coffee. Patrons also wanted Café Wyrd to stay open longer, so Kim lobbied to change the city ordinance requiring restaurants to close at 11:00 p.m. Soon all Minneapolis restaurants could stay open until 1:00 a.m.

CONTINUING TO INNOVATEIt wasn’t long before Kim was itching to open a second spot. This time, she envisioned a casual place where wine-loving and sober friends could hang out together. Once again, as she was driving around the neighborhood, a building spoke to her. This time the space had a bowling alley and a game

room. It became Kim’s second venture, Bryant-Lake Bowl, in 1993. With the addition of a stage and theater seats, Kim focused on providing a casual atmosphere for couples to have date nights, for friends and families to connect, and for the arts community to showcase their talents.

In 2001, she converted Café Wyrd to Barbette, a French-inspired brasserie. She developed a passion for agriculture and partnering with local and organic farmers to source ingredients. Kim learned about the restaurant industry’s impact on the environment. When she found the space for her next restaurant, Red Stag Supperclub, she committed to making it LEED certified, which meant creating an interior environment that’s healthy, productive and efficient. Launched in 2007, Red Stag is a nod to Kim’s love of old-school Wisconsin dining, featuring Fish Fry Fridays and cheese curds on the menu.

Kim continued to innovate and open new restaurants in Minneapolis—

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 521 | Kim Bartmann

community spaces inspired by the buildings and neighborhoods that welcomed them. Pat’s Tap is a gastropub tribute to her mom. Bread and Pickle is a quirky lakeside concession stand offering an outdoor menu with grass-fed burgers. Tiny Diner occupies a building that stood vacant for years and now, in addition to quality food and cocktails, showcases biointensive agriculture—edible gardens, rainwater catchments and rooftop honeybee hives.

Kim’s newer ventures—The Bird, Book Club and Trapeze—also reflect her unique ability to continue creating restaurants committed to welcoming diversity, speaking with an eclectic voice and feeding people good food—which are three of her company’s core values.

A COMMITMENT TO GIVING BACKWhile she’s committed to the people who frequent her establishments, Kim also cares deeply about her team. A true restaurant

industry pioneer, she has offered health insurance to employees since 1993. She was instrumental in getting smoking banned in restaurants in Minnesota because she recognized it was an employee health issue. And more recently, she led the way in elevating awareness for the importance of providing health benefits to restaurant industry workers by adding a controversial 3 percent service charge to customers’ tabs to cover the costs.

Her fourth core value—connecting with community purpose—is evident in her fierce commitment to giving back. Bartmann Group has supported hundreds of nonprofits and community organizations over the years. Kim volunteers her time and talents in many ways, including serving as the president emeritus of Women’s Chefs and Restaurants (WCR), an international organization dedicated to advancing women across the culinary industry through education, promotion, connection and inspiration.

Kim also serves on the advisory board for Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Minnesota (WED MN), the Minnesota chapter of a global initiative dedicated to empowering women in business. She knows firsthand one of the biggest obstacles for female entrepreneurs is getting access to capital and changing that requires educating the world on the importance of supporting women business owners and recognizing their contributions to the local, national and global economy. This year’s WED MN event takes place on November 14 at Minnesota Institute of Art.

While her company, Bartmann Group, doesn’t operate any roadside tomato stands (at least not yet), Kim’s longtime love of farm produce, supper clubs and community is evident in all of her ventures.

Bartmann GroupBartmannGroup.com

Kim Bartmann | 22Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 523 | Jordyn DiOrio

Photo: MEND Jewelry

THE POWER OF POSITIVITY Jordyn DiOrio was in the mood to break something. More specifically, she wanted to smash apart some old costume jewelry. It wasn’t that she had anything against the baubles—she’d always loved jewelry and accessories. She started wearing a wristwatch at age 4, before she could even tell time. But she was missing her grandmother who passed away a few years earlier and who also loved jewelry. The loss had been difficult for Jordyn but transforming vintage jewelry into something that captured the timeless essence of her grandma made her feel close to her, and it was cathartic. So she kept deconstructing the vintage pieces and creating unique jewelry

designs. She even began selling them on Etsy.

Although the process was therapeutic, Jordyn didn’t see making jewelry as anything other than a hobby. She’d earned a degree in strategic communications and settled into a project manager role at a digital marketing agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her long-term goal was to own a business someday, but she wasn’t sure what exactly it would be. Then, as she rang in 2017, she experienced a major shift. The pull of entrepreneurship had gotten stronger. She knew she didn’t want to be a project manager forever. “Why not make jewelry my business?” she thought.

Jordyn started by refining her jewelry designs and considered the materials she was using. She especially enjoyed working with precious gemstones and believed each held a specific kind of energy. She began to envision a line of necklaces that were classic, beautiful and simple, made from stones known to promote positive and healing energy. Jewelry had been a source of positive energy for Jordyn, and now her designs could do the same for others. At the same time, she enlisted the help of her sister Julie—a color consultant with design expertise—on her branding. Like her jewelry designs, she wanted her


Jordyn DiOrio | 24Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 525 | Jordyn DiOrio

brand to convey simple beauty.

Just four weeks into the new year, Jordyn launched MEND Jewelry. She created a business plan, formed an LLC, opened a business banking account, launched a website and began selling her new creations online and at special events and pop-up shops. There was a significant change in the way she talked about designing jewelry. It was no longer a hobby; it was a legitimate business. Though she loved the agency where she worked, she knew she would eventually leave her project manager job to run her business fulltime. In fact, she’d written herself a check from her business account (which had $40 in it) for $100,000 and looked at it every week for inspiration. She also visualized herself making a big announcement in the agency’s Monday morning stand-up meeting.

Jordyn told everyone she encountered about her business. She sold her pieces to family, friends and coworkers. Her design aesthetic was well

received, and her word-of-mouth marketing was working. A coworker who’d purchased a necklace for his wife told Jordyn about a friend of theirs who admired the piece and wanted to meet her. That friend was Katherine Forrester Schneewind, owner of Forrester Wealth Management, who was inspired by Jordyn’s story and spirit, and whose long-term goal was to invest in a fledgling female entrepreneur. After meeting with Jordyn and learning more about her plans, Katherine and her husband decided to invest in MEND. “We had a goal to help one young woman’s dream come true and we asked the universe to bring that opportunity to us,” Katherine said. “The universe brought us Jordyn!”

A few weeks later, Jordyn was delivering the news of her departure to her agency coworkers at the weekly stand-up meeting. It felt like a dream. And while partnering with investors was completely unexpected at such an early stage of her business, it allowed Jordyn to fully immerse herself in

MEND. “I no longer had a ceiling,” she said. “MEND could become whatever I envisioned.”

Now in her second year of business, Jordyn couldn’t be happier she took the leap. She’s achieved some significant milestones for MEND, including selling her products online at Nordstrom.com, launching a temporary store at the Mall of America with plans to do it again in another location, and winning three awards—Twin Cities Startup, Rising Young Professionals and New York Now’s Best New Product. She’s also a regular contributor to “The Hustle” in Twin Cities Business Magazine. Jordyn believes her greater purpose is to help women feel empowered the way Katherine and others have done for her. Whether it’s manifesting the positive energy of the stones in her jewelry designs or pursuing a longtime goal to launch a business, she wants to inspire others to let go of their fears and follow their passion.

MEND JewelryMENDJewelry.com

Lucy Stange | 26Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

ON A MISSION TO LIFT WOMEN UPWhen she was a girl growing up in Mexico, Lucy Stange’s father made it clear the male members of their family were more valuable than the females. Even at a young age, she was determined to prove him wrong. When her entire family traveled to Nevada to harvest pine nuts during the summer, living in tents for three to four months at a time, Lucy worked in the fields, right next to her dad and

brothers. It was a hot and dirty job, but it didn’t deter her. She’d often be the first in the field, sweating all day in the blazing sun, harvesting as much or more than the others. At 10 years old, Lucy started her first business selling candy to help support her family. And when she was a teen, she confronted her father about the way he treated girls and women. But nothing she did would change his views. Women

were to be submissive to their husbands, he said. “The best you can do is be the third wife—that would be the most humble.”

This only fueled Lucy’s drive. She continued to work hard and imagined a day when she’d be free of his oppressive ways. She vowed to do everything she could to empower herself and others like her


as soon as she had the chance. When her mom divorced Lucy’s father and moved her nine children to Minnesota to pursue a new life, Lucy took on a motherly role. As the oldest, she made sure her sisters knew they were valued, and she cared for them while their mother worked long hours cleaning houses. Then, when Lucy was in 10th grade, she dropped out of school and joined her mom, working side-by-side to help support the family. Housecleaning became the official family business.

In 2008, Lucy stepped into the role of operations manager for the business and began creating the infrastructure to take it to the next level. She learned about accounting and taxes and worked with CPAs, attorneys and the IRS. She created systems for client management and staff hiring, training and scheduling. She developed processes for sales and projecting revenue. She tackled marketing, seeking referrals from existing customers and continually

networking to grow the business.

It was the height of the recession and many viewed housecleaning as “nice to have” versus “need to have.” But Lucy made an important discovery. Stay-at-home parents were going back to work and it was causing stress in many households—as well as a greater need for outside help. She tweaked the company’s marketing messages to speak directly to this pain point, and it worked. In six years, Lucy grew the company’s annual sales from $40,000 to $1.5 million. Her efforts went beyond operations. The most important thing she contributed to the company was the vision for what was possible and a belief that it could be achieved.

Though she was proud of what she brought to the family cleaning business, Lucy began to feel like she wasn’t pursuing her purpose and grew restless. Leaving the business was one of the most difficult decisions she would make,

but she wanted to create something of her own. She was six months pregnant with her fourth child when she and her husband, Tim, moved to Florida to build a new life. As she contemplated a venture of her own, Lucy used her gifts for growing a business to help Tim launch a construction company. She created the branding and website and marketed the services online. The company quickly outgrew its home-based office and moved into its own space.

Eventually the couple landed back in Minnesota, where they continued to grow the construction company. Lucy launched her own business as a photographer and often worked with other small business owners. She found herself advising clients on how to use their photos to market their companies online. When they asked for help implementing the recommendations, she’d sit with them for a few minutes and show them what to do. One client landed a $70,000 contract

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 527 | Lucy Stange

after working with Lucy for 30 minutes setting up his online presence. Another secured six new clients after a quick session with Lucy to maximize his company’s social media efforts.

She quickly realized the people she was working with mostly just lacked confidence in marketing themselves. She was shifting their perception that they weren’t good enough by making them feel seen and heard, and by giving them the encouragement they needed. She was also providing useful tools that produced real results. Lucy recognized that the skills she honed growing both of her family businesses could actually be a business—and in 2017, My Social Drive was born. The company specializes in branding, website development and online marketing.

Lucy and her team are committed to becoming true partners to the businesses they work with, and she is particularly

passionate about standing beside and lifting up other women-owned businesses. That work directly connects to her values and she believes she’s finally found her true purpose. She has also seen firsthand that women are more likely to lack confidence and resources, which impedes their success. Lucy believes everyone deserves an equal opportunity to be seen and heard and she’s made it her mission to do so.

My Social DriveMySocialDrive.com

Lucy Stange | 28Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

ABOUT FIERCE FOUNDER MAGAZINEFierce Founder Magazine is a quarterly publication of My Founder Story, a social enterprise empowering female founders to communicate their purpose with confidence and amplifying women’s voices. This mission is delivered through education, community partnerships, publications and small business grants.

Editor in Chief: Chris Olsen

Contributors: Stef Tschida, Kim Ramsden, Kylee Leonetti

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Find us online:MyFounderStory.com

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© 2019 Chris Olsen Communications, LLC,All Rights Reserved

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 529 | AJ Zimmer and Gina Moore

DOING WELL IS DOING GOODAndrea “AJ” Zimmer and Gina Moore shared a radical dose of candor the way only two women who’ve been best friends for nearly 20 years can do. “We start this business tomorrow, or we don’t bring it up again for another decade,” Gina said during a particularly memorable conversation. And she was serious. “Because a door is open now and if we choose not to go through it, then I need to refocus my energy on finding something else.”

AJ and Gina had long been each other’s first call to bounce around a new idea or work through a challenge at home or the office. They met as young professionals in their first jobs out of college and formed an immediate bond over a mutual desire to establish successful careers within the product marketing industry. They both felt the pull of entrepreneurship but kept putting it off. Neither could imagine going into

business with anyone else, and the timing never felt quite right. So they kept their dream on the back burner and held onto the false belief that starting a business couldn’t happen until they were further along in their careers. And then, their someday plans showed up earlier than expected.

As they talked on this particular day, AJ shared details about a fundraiser her daughter was taking

Photo: MN Brands For Good

AJ Zimmer and Gina Moore | 30Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

part in and expressed discontent with the generic brands, marginal quality and limited choices. Both passionate supporters of local brands, and longtime brand marketers in their careers, AJ and Gina felt boldly inspired by an enterprising idea that hadn’t been done before. What if they could build a new fundraising platform to support community causes while highlighting quality products from established and emerging brands right in their own backyard? They set out to create a marketplace for Minnesota brands to elevate their stories and missions, and to provide a revenue stream for local companies.

Two years and hundreds of products later, thousands of students and nonprofit groups combined have greatly benefited from AJ and Gina’s leap-of-faith partnership to build MN Brands For Good. The company works with Minnesota’s best brands, makers and artisans and offers a carefully curated

collection of items—everything from lip balm to baking mixes. Parents and groups organize their fundraising efforts offering all of the items in the MN Brands For Good catalog—they’re not limited to just one or two—and 40 percent of the proceeds go back to the school or team.

Hearing the stories of students and groups who made or exceeded their goals from the fundraising efforts fuels the women to continue growing their impact. They view it as a win-win-win because school and nonprofit groups get the resources they need to fund things like new instruments and field trips, Minnesota businesses generate more revenue and gain greater awareness, and through the added exposure many of the mission-driven MN Brands For Good partners are able to give back more dollars to support the causes they’re committed to.

The two women say despite all the research

and careful planning, entrepreneurship has not been without unexpected challenges. They’re thankful for the encouragement and support they receive from each other as they tackle running a fast-growing business. They remind each other to not take things too seriously, to find time to laugh and enjoy why they embarked on this adventure together. They’re also mindful about staying off the roller coaster ride of high-highs and low-lows of owning a business, aiming to ride in the middle of these emotions in order to stay grounded and focused for the long haul. And they haven’t looked back. They’re continually looking ahead—working with new brands, designing the next catalog, and considering ways they can have an even greater impact.

MN Brands For GoodMNBrandsForGood.com

LEADING WITH HER VALUES“What do YOU think?” Up to that point, Sara Lebens hadn’t been asked that question often in her life, and she was surprised to be asked it now. She was just out of college and inexperienced—in fact, she’d found this job by cold calling people out of a phone book right after graduation—so why would her boss wonder what she was thinking? But every time Sara came to Wendy, her supervisor at Hyatt Hotels, with a question, this was the response she

got. Wendy was always interested in hearing Sara’s perspective.

Sara learned early on what a difference it made in her career and life to have someone invest in her and see what she was capable of, even when she couldn’t. It’s why she chose to dedicate her career to human resources, where she could focus on a larger scale on investing in others the way Wendy had invested in her. With Wendy’s guidance, Sara

went on to have a 23-year career with Hyatt, successfully transitioning from a young intern to a global director, leading large teams and special initiatives. Sara had grown up in her personal life, too. She was now a wife and a mom of four kids, including a daughter with Down syndrome.

In 2013, Sara went on an important business trip after caring for a sick child all night. She didn’t feel well herself

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 531 | Sara Lebens

Photo: Lebens Advisory Group

Sara Lebens | 32Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

but was supposed to lead the big presentation and didn’t want to let anyone down. Once at her destination, Sara’s symptoms got worse. She was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia and severe dehydration. Lying in a hospital bed for five days forced Sara to start asking herself some serious questions. She realized she just kept adding things to her plate—both professionally and personally—and she couldn’t do it all anymore.

Sara got a ton of support during that time from her personal and professional network, and from Hyatt, which granted her a leave of absence and professional coaching on how to manage her life more in accordance with her values. Sara benefited from that coaching so much, she realized she’d just found the next chapter of her HR career. Less than a year after that business trip, she left Hyatt to start her own company with her husband.

Today, Sara and her husband run Lebens Advisory Group, which

combines Sara’s background in HR with her husband’s background in financial services to provide a range of professional services to companies of all sizes. Hyatt remains one of her largest clients, proving that choosing this new path didn’t have to be an “either-or” for Sara.

The decision to leave a place that provided so many experiences and opportunities wasn’t easy. One of the questions Sara asked herself and others during that time was, “Am I good enough to leave Hyatt and do this on my own?” Thankfully Sara had a chorus of supportive women—and men—who didn’t hesitate to answer that question with a resounding yes. Now she’s committed to paying it forward by providing that same support to others. She’s an owner and partner of Women ON Point, an organization dedicated to professional development and networking for top performing professional women. She also gives back by mentoring young professional women at

various stages of their careers. And she helps other parents of children with Down syndrome through a group she and her husband formed that helps them focus on what their kids CAN do, not on what they can’t.

Owning her own business has also given Sara the opportunity to restructure her entire life to be in accordance with her new, clearly defined values, which include more bandwidth to invest in her family. She still juggles a lot more than the average person, but she says it feels completely different these days. “Everything used to be a ‘yes,’ but now I make decisions through the filter of whether it advances one of my values,” she said. “The more intentional I’ve become, the easier life has gotten.”

Lebens Advisory GroupLebensAdvisoryGroup.com

Women ON PointWomenONPointLeadership.com

Emily Hunt Turner was working on a graduate degree in public policy at the University of Georgia when she learned something that affected her profoundly. She’d just gotten involved in a documentary film project called “The Atlanta Way.” The film shed light on local residents forced out of their homes prior to the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta under the guise of creating housing for athletes and revitalizing the downtown area. Emily was deeply troubled when she discovered that

Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 533 | Emily Hunt Turner

DON’T JUDGE, JUST EATpeople were essentially left homeless or “treated like Monopoly pieces because they didn’t have access to information or money.”

Before that, her career path seemed clear. She’d earned an undergraduate degree in architecture and was interested in urban development. But her work on the documentary fueled an unexpected passion for Emily. She began speaking out against housing discrimination and displacement. One of her grad school professors suggested she consider

studying law so she could work on changing policies. But Emily was already in her seventh year of college. Plus, she didn’t see herself as a lawyer. She often wore her heart on her sleeve and thought lawyers leaned more toward logical. Despite her initial reservations, she went on to earn a law degree from Loyola and eventually took a position with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Minnesota.

In her role as a HUD

Photo: All Square

attorney, Emily became keenly aware of one of the biggest issues surrounding housing discrimination—tenant selection policies. Specifically, those relating to former inmates. Regardless of circumstances, people with criminal records were being denied a basic human need—access to housing. She realized how deeply discrimination was embedded in the system. It was evident in everything from zoning and land use to lending algorithms and low-income tax credits. She also came to realize there was no legal remedy for exclusion. It was legal to exclude those with criminal records from both public and private housing. And what she could do about it in her current role was limited.

Emily decided she would leave HUD and make it her mission to effect change more directly. She’d bounced around the idea of opening a grilled cheese restaurant and envisioned using it to provide employment opportunities to individuals who were formerly incarcerated. She sought advice from experts—from restaurateurs to employment specialists to the men and women

she hoped to employ some day. What emerged from those conversations was All Square—Emily’s innovative approach to supporting those affected by the justice system by removing some of the barriers they face when re-entering society.

To fund her social enterprise, Emily launched a Kickstarter campaign. She raised $60,000 initially and more than $140,000 total in 16 months. But securing additional funding to build out the restaurant seemed next to impossible. She was asking banks to invest in a concept without a guarantee and she was denied funding over and over again. Thanks to a grant from the Minneapolis Foundation, a loan guaranteed by two families, and a “Grilled Cheese for Life” membership campaign, Emily finally got the capital she needed for the construction.

In September of 2018, All Square launched in south Minneapolis, Minnesota. The grilled cheese sandwich restaurant and training center is dedicated to empowering former prison inmates through living wage employment, ongoing education

and opportunities for entrepreneurship. One fellow from the inaugural cohort has already launched an online business. Another has gone on to pursue a law degree. Now in year two, Emily and her team have welcomed the second group of fellows who will work in the restaurant, learn about the legal system and imagine and work toward a brighter future as entrepreneurs in the All Square Institute and Dream Lab.

Emily doesn’t sugarcoat how difficult it is to launch a business with participants of her programs. She knows they face many more challenges than she did. But she and the board of directors—many of whom are former inmates—are on a mission to disrupt the status quo. They are fully committed to fulfilling All Square’s purpose “to ensure that people impacted by the criminal justice system have the financial support and social capital necessary for a bright and productive future.”

All SquareAllSquareMpls.com

Emily Hunt Turner | 34Fierce Founder Magazine Volume 5

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