Local to Legend
Local to Legend is the podcast for local business owners like you, looking for the resources and tools needed to create a scalable, profitable, simply irresistible brand. What makes local businesses different than small businesses? Local businesses have their own little ecosystems they work within. Some local business owners have the hopes of being sold to Unilever (Schmidt’s) or getting a HGTV show (Joanna Gaines) or being sold in Target (Ben & Jerry’s). Others want to be a legend in their own community where people know, love, trust, and refer them all the time. The cool thing about being a legend is it’s fairly subjective, right? We have legends in Des Moines, Iowa (my home base), but they aren’t legends in the country. We have legends in the country, but they aren’t legends in the world. What I’ve come to discover in hundreds of conversations with local business owner is this: they desire MORE for themselves. They want to expand, but how? They want to grow their business, but what do they do? They want to pivot, but what will that mean? Local to Legend is about that conversation. And I'm thrilled to have you here.
Episodes
67 episodes
66 - Shedding Expectations, Living in a Van, and Reclaiming Your Life with Ciara Ladroma
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Ciara Landroma, an entrepreneur, coach and van-lifer who finally said yes to her dreams and shed the expectations of other people a year ago to set off on her own adventure traveling the country,...
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42:38
65 - Launching a Local Music Venue with Tobi Parks from xBk
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Tobi Parks, an entertainment and intellectual property attorney, majority owner and CEO of xBk, a Des Moines-based music venue, and Board Vice President for...
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29:19
64 - Empowering Kids in the Kitchen with Sue Honkamp from Real Food 4 Kids
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Sue Honkamp, founder of Real Food 4 Kids, a brand dedicated to offering food education and hands-on cooking classes for kids and teens. Sue is passion...
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28:29
63 - Building an App for Local Business Owners to Share Food & Drink Deals and Live Events with Grace Rigdon from deetz
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Grace Rigdon, co-founder and COO of Deetz. Deetz is an app that you can use to see what’s happening around you right now in your very own community. As a fellow tech co-founder on a mission to su...
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38:53
62 - Writing a Small Business Survival Guide with Jackie Reses & Lauren Weinberg, Authors of Self-Made Boss
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Jackie Reses and Lauren Weinberg, co-authors of new release, Self-Made Boss, a book designed to give small business owners an essential survival guide with stories and experiences from business o...
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28:27
61 - Creating a Conference Focused on Connection with Lisa Even from Even Connection
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Lisa Even, founder of Even Connection and corporate culture junkie turned entrepreneur. Lisa joins to share more about her one million interview mission,...
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26:40
60 - Building a Business on Your Own Terms with Brooke Happe from b.e. happe designs
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Brooke Happe, owner of b.e. happe designs, an evergreen apparel brand. Brooke joins to share more about her unconventional business and life path, runnin...
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26:54
59 - How You Can Use Storytelling To Drive Your Business Forward With Jessi Shuraleff
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Jessi Shuraleff, host of the podcast, This is My Truth and coach for women seeking to reclaim their stories and their voice. Jessi joins to share more about storytelling and how to actually use i...
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27:52
58 - 5 Spring Cleaning Tips to Grow Your Local Business Today & For Life
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily dives into five different areas all local business owners can do some “spring cleaning.” If your business operates in a local community and you want to find organic, sustainable growth, these are the things...
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29:29
57 - Launching a Micro Media Brand in Your City With Morgan Chicchelly, Founder of Des Moines Girl
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Morgan Chicchelly, founder of Des Moines Girl, a blog dedicated to all things Des Moines. Morgan joins the podcast to share more about building a loca...
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32:15
56 - Pivoting to Products & Opening Up a Storefront with Regan from Doe a Deer
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Regan Doely, owner of Doe a Deer, a product-based business offering kitchen decor and home goods. Regan shares more about her leap from freelance to prod...
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29:19
55 - Building Two Brands in Separate Cities with Andrea Metzler
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Andrea Metzler, owner of Art Terrarium in Des Moines, Iowa and Desert Rose Cactus Lounge in Bend, Oregon. Andrea joined to chat about starting a retail business and juggling two brands in two sep...
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34:45
54 - From Etsy Shop to Globally Recognized Brand With Leah Longueville from Polished Prints
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Leah Longueville, founder & CEO of Polished Prints, a lifestyle brand dedicated to creating products that bring positivity to you, your children and your home. Leah shares more about how she ...
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35:56
53 - Building a Network from Scratch and Establishing Roots in Your Community With Katie Allgood From The Good Co. DSM
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Katie Allgood, the owner of a luxury rental company, The Good Co DSM. Katie shares more about starting a business during a pandemic, pivoting your offer...
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44:03
52 - The Art of Focus with Travel Advisor & Educator Whitney Shindelar
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Whitney Shindelar, travel advisor and owner of Undiscovered Sunsets and Masters In Travel. Whitney joins to share about the travel industry, building not one but two businesses and honing in on y...
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46:51
51 - Trusting the Process and Tapping into Authenticity with Coral Thede
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Coral Thede, a creative storyteller, musician, writer and stand up comic known around Des Moines for her constantly sold out show, Tits Up! Coral joined to chat more about how she got into comedy...
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42:26
50 - Demystifying the Venture Capital World for Founders with Mikayla Sullivan from ISA Ventures
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Mikayla Sullivan, an associate with ISA Ventures, an Iowa multi-stage venture capital studio. Emily first got plugged into the ISA world when she joined their accelerator in early fall of 2021 wi...
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30:53
49 - How Jodi Frank & Culineer Are Connecting Home Cooks with Local Food Producers
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Jodi Frank from Culineer, an app designed to build a community for home cooks who want to buy directly from farmers. Culineer is set to bridge the gap in marketing for the $70B direct-to-consumer...
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33:20
48 - Building a Marketplace for Women-Owned, Home-Based Businesses with Sara Sparhawk & Lyn Johnson
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Lyn Johnson & Sara Sparhawk, the co-founders and creators of West Tenth, a venture capital backed app and movement to support more women-owned, home-based businesses in local communities all ...
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46:05
47 - Writing a Book, Building Communities, & Coaching Business Owners to Their Best Year Yet with Ashley K Stoyanov Ojeda
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Ashley K Stoyanov Ojeda, a community builder, business development coach, author, and founder of a nonprofit called Womxn Crush Music. With a background in journalism and public relations, Ashley...
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38:06
46 - From Local Business Owner to Local Business Champion with Cherie Edilson from Member Marketplace Inc
In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Cherie Edilson, local business enthusiast and CEO of Member Marketplace Inc. Cherie digs into her journey as a local business owner and shares how that experience gave her an honest look at the c...
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40:01
45 - Empowering Emerging Beverage Brands With Gil Coosner from Aviv Distributing
In this week's episode, Emily chats with Gil Coosner, a small business supporter and founder of Aviv Distributing. Aviv Distributing focuses on helping small alcoholic beverage brands find a place in the market. Gil and his team connect these e...
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34:14
44 - Blazing a Trail and Building A Startup With Kt McBratney from OwnTrail
In this week's episode, Emily chats with Kt McBratney about their journey into the startup world and co-founding OwnTrail. OwnTrail is a platform Kt created with co-founder Rebekah Bastian to help women share their unique paths in life and buil...
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30:05
43 - Taking the Risk into Retail with Julie Lyle from Indie House
In this episode of Local to Legend, Emily chats with Julie Lyle, owner of Indie House in downtown Des Moines, Iowa. Indie House grew from Julie’s desire to marry her love of home goods and furniture with her eye for design. Thus her East Villag...
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22:45
42 - Creating Messaging that Resonates with StoryBrand Guide & Illuminated Co-Owner, Katelyn Soults
In this week’s episode of Local to Legend, Emily chats with Katelyn Soults, co-owner of Illuminated, an agency assisting small business owners, and a certified StoryBrand Guide. Emily & Katelyn are both fans of Donald Miller’s StoryBrand fr...
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33:29