Small Biz Interviews: A Passion for Pencils

The archetype of a pencil is fairly standard in the American mind—yellow, with a dark pink eraser nub, number 2 (and often required for standardized tests). Walk into CW Pencil Enterprise, a small shop in Manhattan, and you’ll find over 200 varieties of pencils from around the world. You realize quickly that you underestimated this simple yet…

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Small Biz Interviews: Anything But Your Average Hardware Store

There are few hardware stores that can brag of hosting 300-person art shows or can claim they have a pot-bellied pig parked in the backyard. Fewer still can be spotted in the background of Alexander Wang campaigns, models bedecked in expensive jumpers and coil chain. But Crest Hardware, a North Brooklyn staple, is known for…

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Small Biz Interviews: Reaching for the Sky

Krissy Jones and Chloe Kernaghan opened a Sky Ting, a yoga studio in Chinatown, just over a year ago. Lifelong dancers, they both got into yoga in college as a way of training or managing stress, and met each other while studying more intensively under their mentor. Krissy and Chloe became friends, and realized they both…

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Small Biz Interviews: Build It and They Will Come

Architecture is a unique field that combines artistry with mathematical precision; it requires long days of bouncing between loosened up creativity and buttoned up exactness. Design too requires a similar blend of left and right brain skills—on the one hand, you need to find the right solution for your client at the right price, and…

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In the (Green) House

If someone were to say the phrase “urban agriculture,” quaint community gardens would probably come to mind. A vital resource, especially in major metropolises like New York and Chicago, these gardens usually contain a row of tomatoes, perhaps some other vegetables, and much needed green space—respite from the concrete jungle. In 2008, longtime friends Viraj…

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When Good Beer = Clean Oceans

Saltwater Brewery was started just under 3 years ago when a group of friends from Florida decided to pursue their combined passion for beer and the ocean. Chris Gove, the founder of the company, was in San Diego pursuing a career in finance and development when he decided to come up with a business plan…

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Small Biz Interviews: The Parachute Principle

It makes sense that Ariel Kaye moved to LA from The City That Never Sleeps to launch her direct-to-consumer bedding line Parachute. After a decade embedded in the New York City ad world, Kaye decamped to Venice Beach, a healthy move that went hand-in-hand with the brand’s core ethos: sleep well, live well. At Parachute,…

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Small Biz Interviews: Cannonball Productions

As the adage goes: when one door closes, another opens. Kate Levenstien was laid off from her job at LivingSocial and was thinking on offers from various other companies. It turned out to be an auspicious moment in her career. She started Cannonball Productions having recognized a gap in the market while at LivingSocial, and…

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Small Biz Interviews: The World According to theSkimm

Every day, nearly three million blog posts hit the internet, published by one of approximately 966 million websites in the world. Ever since the first website went live in 1991, data and content has become an increasingly pertinent (and overwhelming) presence in our daily lives. And those numbers don’t include the tweets, emails, videos, SnapChats, Instagrams,…

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