News

Why Keeping Up Appearances Is The Only Way Forward

Posted on by Karim in News, Things I Wish I Knew, Uncategorized

by Hasani James, Owner of Exclusive Window Cleaning

As business owners, we all wear it. We have to. That professional veil that projects our most competent, confident selves to the world. The thing that puts mandatory grins on our faces and keeps the high-fives coming despite dismal sales forecasts, sluggish growth, or near-empty bank accounts.

The perception that we have it all figured out is as crucial for our own sanity as it is for our clients’ tranquility and our employees’ motivation.

Continue reading “Why Keeping Up Appearances Is The Only Way Forward” →

The business case for a ban on (certain) single-use plastics

Posted on by Karim in Issues, News, Uncategorized

by Mike Torti of C&M Motors, Inc.

Something amazing is brewing in San Diego, and not a new craft beer this time: our city officials are proposing a ban on certain single-use plastics that include expanded polystyrene food and beverage containers.  

Which means that we’re all likely to hear confusing thoughts about this topic in the weeks to come, especially from groups who’ll make it sound like a death sentence for businesses and consumers. Seeing as I’m both in business and spend the bulk of my free time chairing the San Diego chapter of Surfrider Foundation, I feel well positioned to provide this primer on why banning styrofoam plates and single-use plastic utensils is good for all of us in San Diego. Continue reading “The business case for a ban on (certain) single-use plastics” →

When Marriage Isn’t Forever And Your Business Might Not Be, Either

Posted on by Karim in News, Things I Wish I Knew, Uncategorized

by George Thornton, owner of The Homebrewer

The idea of starting your own business can be infectious. In fact, I often joke that entrepreneurism is a disease.

And one of the symptoms of this disease is the rosey lens through which we view our entrepreneurial partnerships. Continue reading “When Marriage Isn’t Forever And Your Business Might Not Be, Either” →

Raising Businesses and Children

Posted on by Karim in News, Things I Wish I Knew, Uncategorized

by Lauren Passero Brookes, Owner/Operator of Kensington Cafe, The Haven Pizzeria, DEL SUR Mexican Cantina

I’m a woman, a business owner and a mother. That’s all you need to know about me in no particular order. And my story’s punch line is really an exercise in circular logic: Pregnancy turned me into a better business owner; being a better business owner made me a better mother.

Now let’s mix in a few more stereotypes and judgmental factors about my business acumen:

  • I opened a restaurant but I can’t cook.
  • I launched it at the height of the Great Recession.
  • I try to make everyone happy and dread upsetting anyone.
  • I opened a second restaurant when I started my family.
  • I opened a third restaurant with a toddler and newborn.

Continue reading “Raising Businesses and Children” →

Figuring out Council Policy 900-12

Posted on by Karim in Issues, News

By: Vilavanh Sanginthirath, CEO of Innovations City

After 17 years, small business owners are working directly with the City to create the right kinds of supports to help us grow. Spoiler alert: it’s how the City can invest $57,000 in small businesses instead of a large grocery chain, so keep reading…

Engaged. Excited. Empowered.

Those were some of my emotions as I was listening to each speaker and waiting for my turn to make public comments at the last City Council meeting on this topic. Or, for the fact-checkers out there, the city council’s Economic Development and Intergovernmental Relations committee – ED&IR, for those in the know.

Continue reading “Figuring out Council Policy 900-12” →

Going Against the Grain

Posted on by Karim in Marketing / PR, News, Uncategorized

By: Jamie Hampton, CEO of Mixte Communications

The story of Mixte’s beginning involves me on a bike at an intersection having an existential crisis about cars on roads versus bikes on roads.

There’s more to Mixte’s beginning, a darker side that I don’t acknowledge often, but in today’s world of #metoo and women’s marches, I find new meaning in the deeper story. Continue reading “Going Against the Grain” →

A Vision Board is Not a Business Plan

Posted on by Karim in News, Things I Wish I Knew, Uncategorized

By: Natalie Gill, Owner of Native Poppy

In my line of work, vision boards are everything.

One quick search for “floral design” on Pinterest returns millions of inspiration boards, for everything from magical weddings to gorgeous editorial shoots to stunning interior design.

So, it’s probably unsurprising to learn that as a mid-20s, floral-obsessed creative, I too had a Pinterest vision board. I called it my “mood board,” as in, “I’m really in the mood to leave my current soul-sucking HR desk job and be a boss lady already.”

Continue reading “A Vision Board is Not a Business Plan” →

We Marched for Our Lives – What Now?

Posted on by Karim in Issues, News, Uncategorized

By Beth Gutierrez, Owner, Joy Culture Events

I’m a crier. Always have been. I’m a serious empathizer, easily moved. So, it should not have surprised me in the least that the March for Our Lives was a rollercoaster of emotions considering the matter at hand. And yet.

Continue reading “We Marched for Our Lives – What Now?” →

Who is Juan Pablo Sanchez, Anyway?

Posted on by Karim in Just For Fun, News, Uncategorized

His real life began after he broke his childhood promise:

Growing up in the city of Xalapa, Veracruz, in Mexico, Juan Pablo Sanchez’s parents always instilled in him the following: “Your education is the one thing no one and nothing can ever take from you — so always invest in it.” He took his parent’s advice to heart and entered college immediately following high school and excelled in two majors –political science and economics. Though he didn’t know at the time, but that course of study would be the catalyst at the center of Juan Pablo’s professional life for many years to come.

Continue reading “Who is Juan Pablo Sanchez, Anyway?” →