Cover to Cover is the oldest independent children’s bookstore in the Midwest, opening their doors in 1980. After 37 years, Melia Wolf, a former art teacher, bought Cover to Cover from founders Sally Oddi and Randy King. Wolf strives to give new visitors the same experience she had when she first walked into Cover to Cover years ago.
Collin Castore, Jen Burton, and Travis Spencer first became friends in middle school, and now they’re co-owners of Seventh Son Brewing and Antiques on High. The idea to start a brewery came from their love of craft beer and lively bar environments. Both businesses truly reflect what it means to grow up in Columbus.
Kenny Sipes is a social entrepreneur from Minnesota with a mission to tackle social issues both locally and globally. In five years, The Roosevelt Coffeehouse successfully donated over $125,000, impacted over 30,000 individuals and have seen over 700,000 people engage their mission.
Katalina’s is The Little Cafe(s) with Lots of Local Goodness. We make scratch-made food with local, ethical and organic ingredients when price and practice permit and informs our motto Live, Love, Local, which makes our economy better, our environment better, and our city more attractive as a destination.
Gerber LLC is a professional services firm that works exclusively with first-generation entrepreneurs, giving them the clarity and guidance they need to integrate and achieve their life, business, and financial goals.
Frankart Film is a full-service video production company. Since 2009, we’ve worked with brands nationwide in industries ranging from consumer products to restaurants, automotive, health care, and everything in between.
I founded Bubbles – The Tea & Juice Company in 2005, we serve unique flavored smoothies, all handcrafted, cold pressed juices, and many flavors of bubble tea.
Dura-Seal provides high-quality commercial and industrial sealcoating, asphalt, and concrete services. Founded in 2007, the industry-leading organization continues to grow and provide value as a trusted partner, helping customers solve unique problems. Dura-Seal has a reputation for being agile, professional, and innovative.
The Smithery is a one-of-a-kind, women owned, working jewelry studio, gallery, and artist-made shop on Grandview Avenue. The Smithery features work from over 70 independent artists from across the country. They have an amazing selection of jewelry made by award winning and internationally recognized contemporary jewelry artists. In addition, you will find a wide variety of ceramics, prints, artwork and accessories. If you are looking for unique gifts, you will more than likely find something perfect here.
Perhaps Columbus’s favorite taco place. Joe Kahn started Condado after working 20 years in the restaurant industry. He wanted to start a restaurant that was cravable, affordable and served high-quality food in Columbus, Ohio. Since then Condados now has 15 locations across Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Allison is a Columbus native. She grew up in Dublin, Ohio. In high school, she interned at a boutique in Grandview, which was one of the first of its kind here in Columbus. She then later attended Marshall University on a soccer scholarship. Upon graduation, she moved to NYC for a quick stint, and after moving around a few places, she came back to Columbus and opened up Lady Bird Fashion in the Short North.
Josh Quinn and his wife, Niki, were running a wholesale accessories brand in Los Angeles when they came to Columbus to write a business plan for their first shop on the east coast. One gallery hop later, Josh and Niki decided to make Columbus their permanent home where they opened Tigertree, a community-centric retail business.
Gary Jones spent his entire life seeing successful men wearing perfectly tailored suits, so when he took his high school senior pictures he knew he had to wear a suit. After receiving an amazing response, he was invited to his first fashion show to be a model and everything built from there.
When a donor’s passion for a cause and an organization’s pursuit of a mission are in mutually fulfilling alignment, outcomes of significance can happen. That’s where Plentiful, an advising consultancy comes in. Carey Schmitt tells her story and why she is so passionate about charitable giving.
Artina’s founder came to Ohio from Greece to give his sister away in her wedding when he fell in love with his wife and decided to stay. After years of running the business, Matina Zenios took over and is the leader now of Artina Promotional Products, one of the largest promotional product firms in the United States. A second generation, family oriented, woman-owned business, Artina has maintained an outstanding reputation in their more than 50-year history.
After graduating from Yale, Karen Hough became a professional actor and improviser, performing with Second City in Chicago. Since Chicago, Karen worked as an actor in New York, then at a tech startup where she had to improvise to succeed. Now, she runs ImrpovEdge, one of the top 1% of women-owned businesses in the United States, where she trains business leaders and teams looking to gain a business edge.
Loke Shao Xun and his team of talented artists turn anyone’s photos, stories, or dreams into gorgeous works of art through an online marketplace. In Loke’s words “if you can dream it we can paint it.” The idea for patron art came to Loke after his grandfather passed away and he found there was no easy way to contact an artist to commission a painting. Since then, PatronArt has made that connection easily so ideas and artists can connect with ease.
After many years in the creative marketing and advertising industry, Catherine Lang-Cline realized that there simply had to be a better way to find talent and find work as a freelancer. This is when she and her business partner, Kristen Harris, founded Portfolio Creative, a recruiting and staffing company that specializes in only the marketing and advertising industry. Since 2005, Catherine has been bridging the gap between talented creatives and companies in need of marketing help.
After graduating from Capital University, Stefan Thomas started his legal career at a big firm. He found some success but decided he wanted to try practicing independently. After a while he and his business partner Ashley Ingram decided to merge their practices to create the Thomas Ingram Law Group in 2016.
It may be a challenge to run a business with your spouse, but Brandon and Aimee Harper knew they needed to bring Liege waffles Columbus as soon as they took their first bite. Belgian Iron is a young and growing specialty waffle and coffee shop located in the Short North. With unique toppings and high quality ingredients, the Harpers have already found success.
Corey Favor is working to build the Columbus community of entrepreneurs and creatives by hosting an annual multi-day conference that centers around creatives of color. Creative control fest aims for the mutual exchange of resources in art design tech and more.