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Peggy & Jon C. Fischrupp

377 Ridge Lane

Murphy, NC 28906

828-835-9676

Fischrupp@yahoo.com

1. How did you start your entrepreneurial ventures?

BUSINESS BACKGROUND

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin I went to work for Advance Construction Co. in Hinsdale, Illinois.  I had previously worked for that Company during my summers at college.  After a year experience I was chosen by the President to start a separate division for them, later called Advance Valve Installations.  After another two years, an engineering friend of mine, and me, were going to start a competing business.  Instead we formed a three way partnership. Several years later I sold my interest in that business and moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to start a similar business with additional interests.  After that relationship failed I started another similar business with four other partners.  My brother-in-law and I later bought out the partnership.  Several years later we sold the business to a Public Company in Kansas who wanted to get into our type of business.  Once they purchased our Company my wife and I continued to be the operating management team for the next twenty years until we retired.

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Montero’s Restaurant, Elizabeth City, NC

Montero’s is a family owned and operated restaurant located in Elizabeth City, NC. I have known the Montero’s since 2002. My first encounter with him was as “the Muffin Man.” He would come to the bank with a basket of fresh-baked goods every two weeks offering not only delicious baked goods but kindness and community. I chose to interview Andy because of my Reflections book assignment, The Four Stages of Epiphany: Successful Strategies for Startups that Win by Steve Blanks.  The stages are Customer Discovery, Customer Validation, Customer Creation and Company Building.

Stage 1-Customer Discovery starts with locating customers that buy into your solution for their problem. And I need to say here that sometimes consumers don’t know they have a problem until they are given an answer. It’s time to hit the streets and identify your repeat buyers. That does not just consist of surveying the land to see it there is an interest, but “Instead [being] out in the field listening, discovering how [the] customers worked and what their key problems were.” How often is the product shopped instead of shopping the problem and learning consumer behaviors? (Blank, 2013, pg. 28) Montero’s came to mind. I first remember him as the Muffin Man delivering baked goods to businesses door-to-door.  So the story begins…

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I had the opportunity to interview Kelly White. The owner of Kelly’s Kreations, a jewelry business based out of Bladenboro, NC. When Kelly is not busy in her jewelry studio, she can be found playing with her 6-year-old son and her cat, Chrissy.

Tell me a little about yourself. Where did you go to school? How did you get the idea for Kelly’s Kreations? What are your responsibilities with Kelly’s Kreations?

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