The Interview That Kick-Ass Entrepreneurs Founder Didn't Want Shared

This is the Albuquerque Business Podcast with your host Jason Rigby. Each week we interview leading local business leaders to inspire the vision and the spirit that is in every entrepreneur. We discuss strengths, weaknesses, strategies, systems, and the problems we can all solve together to fulfill a shared vision of a new future for Albuquerque.

One woman's desire to hear local entrepreneurs' stories and share that experience with others started as a Meetup Group launched in January 2018. Since then Kick-Ass EntrepreneursTM of Santa Fe (KAESF) has grown to 480+ members and our monthly-ish Santa Fe-based Entrepreneur Story TimeTM events are consistently attended by 25-65+ local fans of entrepreneurship and entrepreneur ecosystem partners each month. Our entrepreneur storytellers hail from across industries – from food to tech and from startups to multi-million- dollar moguls kicking ass for years. They generously share their insights and experiences so others can learn what it takes to make it in the Land of Enchantment and beyond. By leveraging the well-researched and documented power of storytelling, we're helping to establish a truly engaged entrepreneur ecosystem for our community and we'd like to see that success spread across the state, and then the nation.

What makes KAESF's Entrepreneur Story Time events unique?

• We provide Santa Fe entrepreneurs with an opportunity to share their story with an engaged audience of local fans, curious community members and potential partners.

• We ask our entrepreneurs to share beyond what they do and what you can read about online. No sales pitches, just stories.

• We engage entrepreneurs of all ages and stages and across industries.

• We ask our entrepreneur storytellers to be real – to share what it's really like launching and growing a

  business in our community.

• We ask our entrepreneurs what worked for them – what resources and people helped them along the

  way, this way the audience can benefit from their experiences and these resources.

• We provide time for schmoozing a 1/2 hour before and after events, so those who come to hear stories

  get to mingle, meet and make friends with people with similar interests.

• We ask our storytellers to share what's next for their entrepreneurial endeavor, leading to announcements

  about job openings, business expansions and relocations and providing an opportunity for interested

  audience members to share helpful info.

• We conclude each Entrepreneur Story Time with Q&A time, giving the audience a chance to get their

  questions answered, share their insights, or offer more helpful info.

• We put on events that are always different. By orchestrating events at different local bars and restaurants

  each month, we're introducing our community to businesses they might not otherwise think to visit and

  support.

• We provide each event venue owner the opportunity to share their short story (up to 5 minutes), creating

  a community of fans more likely to come back and support these businesses again in the future.

• We craft creative monthly Entrepreneur Story Time announcements chock full of interesting tidbits and links to give our entrepreneurs, venues and sponsors recognition while providing them with links to share

  with their community of followers and fans.

• We post each Entrepreneur Story Time event on Meetup, Facebook, Instagram and our website

  https://www.entrepreneurstorytime.com/events, send out a Mailchimp newsletter to our subscribers,

  and post a minimum of 2 social media reminders leading up to each event.

• We regularly share entrepreneur-related info, events, opportunities and entrepreneur storyteller alumni

  wins on our Facebook Page.

• We have a hell of a lot of fun while building social capital.

  Our KAESF Entrepreneur Story Time Alumni Falling Colors (coming June 4, 2020) | B.PUBLIC (coming May 7, 2020) Simply Social Media | Parting Stone | Squash Blossom | OneForNeptune | TARTLE ITConnect | Bow Wow Haus | Verde Foods | Wander New Mexico | Xerb | HANGTIME NMCFO | Madre Foods | HoneyMoon Brewery | Dashing Delivery | Tall Foods | Flow Science Woodruff Scientific & SciVista | Fab Lab Hub | DeployHub | EMR-Bear | VIZZIA Technologies

Funding would help Kick-Ass Entrepreneurs pilot Entrepreneur Story TimeTM events within other NM communities, from small, rural towns to bigger cities – surveying, testing and refining along the way to improve its ability to succeed and deliver value in communities not just across the state, but across the country. If success can be proven within NM, then packaging KAE Entrepreneur Story Time in a model similar to the Kauffman Foundation's 1 Million Cups would be the ultimate goal. For those unfamiliar with 1 Million Cups, it started in 2012 in Kansas City and is now a program of the Kauffman Foundation with weekly events organized in 40+ states, one U.S. territory and six time zones, including FatPipe ABQ any Wednesday at 9 AM. Two entrepreneurs each week are given 6 minutes to present, followed by up to 20 minutes of Q&A. Like Entrepreneur Story Time, 1 Million Cups events are a powerful way for entrepreneurs to get feedback and connect with their community, but 1 Million Cups is geared toward providing entrepreneurs the opportunity to refine their presentations and elevator pitches, while Entrepreneur Story Time is all about using the power of story to create connection and community (no presentations or pitching allowed!).

Funding would enable KAE to not only test out expanding events to other NM cities and eventually CO as our 1st KAE state, but would enable us to survey, collect and analyze data as we go to measure, document impact, recognize areas of improvement and establish best practices. Furthermore, surveying the impact of our 2+ years of events in Santa Fe has not occurred due to lack of funding, yet could be a key factor in helping us secure buy-in and position us as a solid contender for additional funding necessary for expansion. While I've not officially collected data from our local entrepreneur ecosystem, its partners, event attendees or our alumni storytellers – those who've been experiencing Entrepreneur Story Time and its benefits over the past 2+ years – some big and small off-the-top-of-my-head examples are:

• The Founder of Verde Foods, Kelly Egolf, approached Madre Foods Founder, Katelyn Hilburn, at Katelyn's Story Time, and soon after Madre Foods products were being sold at Verde Foods locations and Madre Foods was able to expand their operation by switching to using kitchen space at Verde Foods.

• Following the sharing of her story, Squash Blossom Owner, Nina Yozell-Epstein, was approached by folks from the City of Santa Fe's Office of Economic Development (OED) (regular event attendees) to serve on a panel at the City's 2019 Santa Fe Food Summit: Sparking Entrepreneurship in the Food Industry, attended by nearly 100 industry enthusiasts.

• Upon hearing that ITConnect was looking to expand, one of the City's OED employees introduced himself and told ITConnect Owner, Kareem Edwards about the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA), a program designed to assist qualified expanding or relocating businesses. The next day he connected Kareem with two business expansion support strategies SMEs, the City's Business Growth Manager and the State's Economic Development Representative.

• Parting Stone founder, Justin Crowe, was approached by an event attendee so moved by his story and product that she a