Episode Category: The Localist

Carrie is back this week with the final installment of the small business holiday stories. The old adage “what goes up must come down” is especially true for a small business owner in their first year after the adrenaline of the holiday rush wears off. Carrie describes the immense joy she felt when she realized the shop had met its holiday goals before she left town for Christmas. What follows are a few bad decisions, a bad Christmas gift, absent traditions, a panic attack, and, ultimately, gratitude. 

This week, Carrie is back with another tale of navigating the holidays as a small business owner. Working in retail can be a tough experience on the best day, but it’s a special kind of challenge at the holidays. Carrie shares her fear about preserving her love of Christmas while owning a small business, as well as the things she misses not being in that role now. Small shops work hard to invoke the magic of Christmas, and Carrie gives us some ideas on how we can return the favor this year. 

This week, Carrie is back with another story from her experience owning a small business during the holiday season. We all love the magical feeling that Christmas decorations bring, and local shops are no exception. However, that magic doesn’t happen all on its own! Carrie tells the story of her first Christmas decorating the shop with the help of her family. The Rollwagens know how to tackle a project, and things go well until Cal finds a way to inject a little chaos into the situation.

The Localist Podcast is mixing it up for the month of December! Carrie is going solo and bringing you stories from the front lines of small businesses during the holidays. This week, Carrie describes her first experience at a Starbucks corporate event with her then-manager and future business partner, Cal. Carrie was a bit shell-shocked by the cult-like enthusiasm, and discovered that sarcasm is not always the answer. Hilarity ensues as the event devolves into chants (definitely cultish, right?!), and Cal saves the day with his ridiculous antics. 

This week on The Localist, Carrie is joined by Rick Rosenthal, professional Santa and owner of the Northern Lights Santa Academy and the National Santa Agency. Rick is an unsurprisingly jolly and charismatic guy, but he’s also a savvy businessman. Rick shares what they teach at the Santa Academy, like the business of being Santa, ethics, and even hair care (it's more complicated than you think!). Rick and Carrie then talk about how Santa is adjusting to life in a pandemic and what Zoom meetings with Santa are like (they didn’t have that during the 1918 pandemic!).

Annie B. Jones, owner of The Bookshelf in Thomasville, GA, joins Carrie on The Localist this week. Annie was fortunate that The Bookshelf already had a strong online presence before the pandemic hit, but she describes how they completely pivoted to virtual events, and how those events have evolved based on logistics. Annie and Carrie talk about juggling different aspects of owning a business, showing up on social media in an authentic way, and how you really need to know your own limits (and those of your staff!).

Morgan Johnston, artist and small shop owner in Birmingham, AL, joins Carrie on The Localist this week to talk about going into the holiday season as a small business owner during a pandemic. Morgan describes their strategy for helping people shop this season, and Carrie shares an idea for making a wishlist using Instagram. Community is an important part of Morgan’s shop’s mission, and she tells us how they’re maintaining community when gathering is difficult.

This week on The Localist, Carrie discusses the state of local businesses as we approach the holiday season (aka shopping season). Carrie dives in discussing You’ve Got Mail — just like the save-the-shop campaign wasn’t successful in the movie, Carrie believes they don’t work in real life either. But where does that leave us in 2020 when small businesses likely do need the utmost support we can give? Well, Carrie has an idea, and she wants your help to make it happen! Find details at thelocalistbham.com.

Susan Rollwagen, owner of Pepperbox Solutions (and also Carrie’s mom and secret weapon in business), is back on the podcast this week to dive into how business owners and managers can add value to the lives of their staff members. Trust is a huge component, and Susan details the many aspects of building trust and the ripple effect that can have in a company’s culture.

This week on the Localist, Pam Sanderson, Director of Account Development at Infomedia, joins Carrie to talk about everything you need to know about websites. Pam and Carrie dive in with where you should start when evaluating your website, and how to assess your goals. One of Pam’s best tips is to focus on your customers and your content first, and she gives you a road map to follow from there. Pam and Carrie then discuss the best ways to strike a balance between your users, good design, and Google’s algorithm (hint: consistent, quality content is a good place to start!).