Comics and Collectibles

If you’d made a list, ten years ago, of the brick-and-mortar businesses least likely to survive the internet, the comic book shop likely would have been on it — if for no other reason than every kind of mass market retail has suffered in that age.  And yet. Comic shops in North America rang up clo…

I Feel Good

Some days, you just don't feel like yourself. Maybe your back is hurting. Maybe you’re not having a good hair day. Either way, you want help feeling like yourself again. Pain is common. According to a 2019 CDC survey, about four in 10 adults have back pain. Michelle Carr learned this from the pati…

Pathways To Peace

Some places you can't get to with a map. You need a guide. Someone who's been down the road before, who knows where it gets rough, and who'll walk it with you. Sara Sullivan learned her route the hard way. Sara grew up in Ohio in a musical family and picked up the violin at age five. Some of her f…

Skin Deep

You’re probably familiar with the saying, “Beauty is skin deep.” It’s meant to be a cautionary warning not to read too much into a person’s looks. And while that’s generally good advice, it’s good to be aware the saying dates back to the 1600’s. Today we know that a healthy complexion can indeed b…

You Are Here Now

If you’re going to get anywhere in business, you’ll need have some idea of how you’re going to get there. You might call that a strategic plan, maybe a business model. Whatever you call it, it’s basically a map: a sketch of the possible paths from A to B.  Maps are pretty useful. The business of m…

Slow Down and Prepare To Succeed

Everything around us is built for speed. Faster shipping. Faster answers. Business itself is a speed game. Time is money is a cliche for a reason. So it might seem counterintuitive to build a business around slowing down. But plenty of people are looking for opportunities to connect. They want pers…

Fit and Proud

"Your body is a temple." It’s a scriptural metaphor we hear so often we almost stop listening to it. But think about what that actually means: maintenance. Upkeep. Care. It’s hard work. Not everyone wants to do it, even if everyone ought to.  And that’s because it can be really inconvenient. You w…

Pool Fabric

We all know business, at least at the point of sale, has gotten pretty impersonal. Even at the grocery store, you can avoid other people altogether. Just pop in your earbuds and use the self-checkout line. The name of the game here is efficiency. Retailers and service companies are betting that mos…

Escape

Even in the Zoom meetings, it’s helpful to have a place to go and do your work. Mind you, today’s employees want more than a cubicle, a desk and a red stapler. They want an environment they can thrive in. It’s why some companies invest lots of money in designing welcoming, energetic spaces for thei…

Dry Clean Auto

A fast car and pressed shirt are two things that probably won't ever go out of style. Considering we live in an age of rapid economic disruption, those two facts present a potentially endless business opportunity. Everything breaks. It’s a natural law. Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong …