Business Spotlights Blog Posts | Page 3

Amanda Siska of Bread & Badger welcomed the Main Street Mavericks to her SE Portland home and art studio on day one of our tour to meet Oregon small business owners.

When William Lay first met with a small business coach to discuss his idea for a size-inclusive gym in Portland, Oregon, the coach laughed at him. But Lay was dead serious. He wanted to own a gym that felt comfortable for people of all body types, and All Bodies Strong — Portland’s first gym for larger-bodies — is going strong. As Lay advised, “Ignore the naysayers.”

Merchant Maverick first met Edith Johnson (Edie to her friends and bookstore patrons) in the summer of 2023. She was the recipient of Merchant Maverick’s grant for Portland-owned businesses — she had recently decided to expand her bookstore pop-up into a brick-and-mortar location in NE Portland, Oregon.

Co-owners Sariel and Zion are making waves with their small business, armed with an unbridled entrepreneurial spirit, a commitment to education, and a desire to help break the cycles of poverty and create generational wealth.

JL Fun Colorz is a custom crayon shop run by two brothers, Jordan and Joshua Liburd, from Tampa, Florida. For as long as the boys could remember, they wanted to start their own company. Entrepreneurship was in their veins, especially after watching their parents successfully run a small business.

Still, to this day, my favorite thing about doing this is hearing customers’ reactions to our sauces while they sample them for the first time. That is when a return customer comes to our stand and tells us how much they love our flavors and what they have done with them. Imagining our sauces on the dinner table at night… It means the world.

Johnson’s independent children’s bookstore is seriously thriving, and now, thanks to a $10,000 opportunity grant from Merchant Maverick, she can continue following her small business dreams and building her bookstore.

Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grant winner Huijuan Guo’s food truck, MOMO noodle, is famous for Bàn Miàn, a spicy dry-stirred noodle dish. Recently, we sat down with Huijuan to hear more about her inspiration and dreams for MOMO noodle.

Owner Jinah Kim has three passions: food, community engagement, and immigrant empowerment! Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen, located in upstate New York, offers up a farm-to-table dining experience. In addition to their exceptional Korean cuisine, Sunhee’s also has a Kimchi Klub, sending regional fare and seasonal kimchi flavors nationwide.

Merchant Maverick Opportunity Grant winner Jacqueline Nguyen owns Cafe Cà Phê, a unique mobile Vietnamese coffee shop, which serves up specialty drinks, including classic Vietnamese iced coffee. In June, we sat down with Jacqueline to talk about her vision for Cafe Cà Phê and how it all got started.