Brooklyn, NY | acmesmokedfish.com

Emily Caslow Gindi is a fourth-generation family member and owner of Acme Smoked Fish Corporation. Acme manufactures and distributes smoked seafood through the United States and worldwide.

Washington DC | adjournteahouse.com

LaTonia Cokely owns Adjourn Teahouse in the the Washington, D.C. metro area. She wanted a tea and wellness brand for years and started Adjourn when her husband gifted her the incorporation details for Christmas.

Fort Lauderdale, FL | alliedbuildings.com

Michael Lassner, President of Allied Steel Buildings, is disrupting the global steel construction industry. He believes success is created by modeling business strategies around client needs. Michael leads an international team of innovators who tirelessly work daily to deliver on the promise of clients first.

Santa Rosa, CA | arsroofing.com

Letitia Hanke owns ARS Roofing, Gutters and Solar in Santa Rosa, CA. Her first job was answering phones at a roofing company.

Minneapolis, MN | bubblypaws.com

Keith and Patrycia Miller own Bubbly Paws Dog Wash in Minneapolis, MN. Keith sometimes brings his employees cupcakes.

Brooklyn, NY | bushwickcommunitydarkroom.com

Lucia Rollow owns Bushwick Community Darkroom in Brooklyn, NY. A graduate of New York's School of Visual Arts, Rollow’s first darkroom was a storage cubby in the basement of her apartment building.

New York, NY | cafelukanyc.com

Marc Bash and his brother, Jon Bash, own restaurants in New York, NY, a lineup that has included a pizzeria in Union Square, an Italian restaurant called Frittelli, and cafe Luka.

Flourtown, PA | chesstaubfamilydentistry.com

Harry Taub is a partially retired dentist in Flourtown, Pennsylvania. He’s also a bassoonist and an avid golfer.

New York, NY |. courtneyfosterbeauty.com

Courtney Foster owns Courtney Foster Beauty in New York, NY. A conversation with Ted Gibson, who cut Angelina Jolie’s hair, helped educate her about what makes a good haircut and inspired her to go to cosmetology school.

Sandpoint, ID | freshsunshineflowers.com

Jen Pratt owns Fresh Sunshine Flowers in Sandpoint, ID. She began her business by selling out of a box truck with a side window, back when food trucks were at their peak.

Los Angeles, CA | ggandcostyling.com

Bi-coastal wardrobe stylist, Germanee G provides branding solutions and wardrobe styling to some of the fiercest thought leaders, game changers, and trailblazers making waves in start-ups and Fortune 500 corporations.

Midway, UT | hebervalleyartisancheese.com

Russ Kohler is in the fourth generation of his family to run Heber Valley Milk & Artisan Cheese in Midway, UT. Adding artisanal cheese helped Heber Valley to stand out among area dairies.

Minneapolis, MN | incasellc.com

Nat Case is a cartographer and designer in Minneapolis, MN, where he is also co-owner of INCase LLC. His work includes maps for National Geographic magazine and atlases, interpretive landscape signs, and maps for a variety of scholarly publishers.

Ingrid Case is a writer, journalist, copywriter, editor, and co-owner of INCase LLC in Minneapolis, MN. This is her sixteenth book.

Bay Area, CA | roosterandrice.com

Min Park is an ex-finance professional (JPMorgan) who invests in hospitality concepts such as Rooster & Rice and Itria, technology, real estate and cryptocurrency.

Atlanta, GA | jewelbranding.com

Julie Newman is a licensing executive specializing in art influencers, designers and design based corporate and cultural brands. Areas of expertise include all consumer products at various levels of retail with strengths in brand management, international stratgic partnerships and creative brand extensions.

Ilana Wilensky is president of Jewel Branding & Licensing in Atlanta, GA. Her agency represents designers and brands to license their trademarks and designs to manufacturers across a wide range of consumer products that are sold through retail channels.

Milburn, NJ | jordanelyse.com

Jordan Rosner is a photographer in Millburn, NJ. She got her start in photography in high school and worked for local newspapers after completing a degree in photojournalism from Lehigh University.

Philadelphia, PA | lilmixins.com

Meenal Lele, is founder & CEO of Lil Mixins, an allergy prevention company. She previously led the clinical studies and education that brought the Subchondroplasty procedure (acquired by Zimmer) and PIVO blood collection (acquired by BD) to market. She has an engineering and a business degree from the University of Pennsylvania. At Lil Mixins, she is bringing an end to food allergies that affect 40 million Americans, like her son.

Aspen, CO | luxuryema.com

Sarah Korpela owns Luxury Estate Managers of Aspen in Aspen, CO. Her clients, she says, are able to treat their homes like five-star hotels: one call gets them whatever they need.

Bay Area, CA | lvlup-fitness.com

Bobby Crocker owns LvL-Up Fitness, a personalized training service in California’s Bay Area. He is an ex-professional baseball player.

Columbia Falls, MT | More Info

Mike joined the army out of high school and used the GI Bill to learn auto mechanics. Mike worked for auto dealerships until 2005 and made the decision to work for independant auto shops and found he was better off working for himself and has been since 2009.

New Suffolk, NY | peekooysters.com

Peter Stein owns Peeko Oysters, which is on Long Island near New Suffolk, NY. He can’t remember a time when he didn’t love oysters.

Bayside, NY | pessosices.com

Together with his father, Aylon Pesso owns and runs Pesso’s Ices & Ice Cream in Bayside, New York. His favorite ice cream flavor is roasted marshmallow.

Oakland, CA | rouxandvine.com

Leilani Baugh owns Roux and Vine, a restaurant in Oakland, CA. She grew up with a love of food, learning Southern cooking from her Black grandmother and Chinese cooking from her Chinese grandmother.

Modesto, CA | sunshineinabottle.com

Jonathan Sciabica runs Sciabica Family California Oil & Gourmet Foods. His grandfather and great-grandfather began the business, using knowledge they brought with them from Italy.

Richmond, VA | andrewhypes.com

Andrew Hypes is a DJ and producer based in Richmond, VA. He began playing the drums in the third grade.

Flint, MI | More Info

Erin Caudell and her partner, Franklin Pleasant, co-own The Local Grocer in Flint, MI. They are longtime food activists and newer farmers, working to make sure every community has access to nutrient-dense foods.

Chicago, IL | tutuschool.com

A retired professional ballet dancer, Genevieve Weeks owns Tutu School, a franchised operation that offers ballet classes for toddlers and kids. She is based in Chicago, IL and San Francisco, CA.

Makawao, HI | zelleeorganic.com

Lisa O’Kelly is co-founder of Zellee Organic, based in Maui, HI. The company makes an organic, plant-based fruit gel snack that uses konjac, a plant from East Asia, to gel the product, instead of gelatin.