Episode Category: The Localist

This week, The Localist is diving into the mental health aspects of living through a pandemic as a business owner with Vivian Smith Carter, LMFT. Vivian works with Alabama Apart Together, a completely free resource that provides community pandemic support. Vivian gives tips on how to cope with stress, and discusses the importance of connection and how we can reach out to people even in different stages of life. They wrap up with what to expect when you call Alabama Apart Together and the broad range of resources they provide.

Courtenay Rollwagen is back on The Localist this week to talk about supporting essential workers during the pandemic. Courtenay and Carrie give great tips on how to be a better customer, including best practices for ordering food, what to pay attention to while out and about, and what to do when you see a customer behaving poorly. The customer is not always right during a pandemic, and Courtenay and Carrie point out reasons why some things may have changed at your favorite local spot. They wrap up with a few golden rules: tip well, have a sense of humor, and be kind! 

This week on The Localist, Curtis Bridges, principal planner for the city of Charlotte, NC, and president of the Belmont Community Association, joins Carrie to dive into city planning. Curt and Carrie start off with how small businesses contribute to building communities and invigorating neighborhoods. Curt breaks down the difference between HOAs, neighborhood associations, and everything in between, and how to find (or create) an association for your neighborhood.

This week on The Localist, Brandon Loper and Trent Stewart, co-owners of Golden Age Wine in Mountain Brook, AL, tell us how they jumped on an opportunity before they opened their doors, and how they continually reinvented their business model when the pandemic hit. The pair also had to navigate website upgrades, antiquated state liquor laws, and lobbying City Council to make changes in the community.

This week on the Localist, Carrie is joined by friend and fellow entrepreneur Kelly Cummings. They dive into Kelly’s newest project, @TheDailyDoBetter, and decide to create Localist Love Letters to encourage positive Google Reviews for local businesses. They give listeners a head start on Localist Love Letters and give excellent tips for what to consider when leaving a review, tell us why reviews are so important to local businesses, and detail their own personal strategies for reviews. 

The creation of the new @ThinkLocalist Instagram account (go give it a follow!) inspired Carrie to look back at how The Localist got started, how it’s evolved, and where it’s going. Carrie examines how success is measured, how we all seem to struggle with imposter syndrome, and what’s kept her going these past 10 years. 2011 was a very different time: Carrie compares how the delivery of her message has changed, and explores her long-lasting complicated relationship with Target. Carrie wraps up with some habit changes, letting go of perfectionism, and goals for The Localist. 

This week on The Localist, Carrie is back to discuss one of 2020’s most common business strategies: the pivot. Carrie dives into revisiting your business model with The Localist as an example for tailoring your model to fit a change in context, giving a few resources for updating (or creating!) a marketing plan, creating a minimum viable product, and letting go of perfectionism.

Quarantine changed the context of convenience for small businesses, and Carrie wonders if that change is permanent, and what the ramifications of that may be. Carrie believes customers are going to expect businesses to stand for something more than just profits, and addresses how business owners can respond amidst decision fatigue and uncertainty. Carrie wraps up by encouraging listeners to tap into their creativity, and examine what you may need to leave behind to move forward. 

This week on The Localist, Carrie is back to regularly scheduled programming with guest Michael Dollins! Michael is a CPA and Carrie’s personal accountant, and he’s here to help demystify (and help everyone be less afraid of!) taxes. January is the best time to prep your finances for the year ahead, and Michael gives us his best tips for making your taxes easier. Michael and Carrie discuss if  you really need to hang on to your receipts, what you can actually write off, and how to handle income from apps like Venmo. Michael and Carrie wrap up with how to avoid audits, quarterly taxes versus annual taxes, and how to handle your stimulus check. 

This week on The Localist, Carrie is diving into resolutions. Everyone has had their fair share of resolutions that didn’t stick, but Carrie shares ideas for business resolutions that are approachable, not overwhelming. As a former business owner and current entrepreneur, Carrie has tested out these tips, including building an email list, honing her brand, and asking for help.