Jolene Mechanic — 
Phil Mechanic Studios and Flood Gallery Fine Art Center
When Jolene and her husband inherited the Phil Mechanic building from her husband’s late father, they had options. The old, industrial-style, 4-storey brick building sits in the heart of Asheville’s River Arts District. They went back and forth about whether to take advantage of the building’s industrial qualities or become a part of the thriving arts culture around them. In the end they did both.
I met Brittany Sisk several years ago when she was working in mental health. We had several conversations about where she wanted to go next with her career—go to law school? pursue her doctorate in Political Science and become a professor? Ultimately, she left the mental health field (which was always her plan) and went back to school, acquiring her Masters of Political Science. However, none of these avenues lead to her real passion—photography.
She had been encouraged by a sage friend to “do what you love and the money will follow,” and those close to her saw the potential in her photography. A couple of years ago, she took a significant risk on herself and started Inspired Life Photography. She hasn’t looked back since!
I. Cuevas Interview by Prince John Gaither-Eli
Ismael Cuevas, co-founder of Brothers Rental Services, talks with us about the experience of his family company’s first year in business. Sharing his thoughts on customer service, advertising, and leaving a legacy, Mr. Cuevas hopes his business grows in the future.
Daniel Cuevas, co-founder of Brothers Rental Services, also shares his thoughts on entrepreneurship and the future. With a wisdom and insight that belies his age, Daniel tempers enthusiasm with pragmitism. See his commentary on entrepreneursip and the need to do more than “work” for money but “create” for wealth.
Dirk Porter is an example of someone who makes the best out of a bad situation. His former place of employment was going out of business, so he decided to go his own route as an entrepreneur as the founder of P&P Contracting, Inc., a small yet successful contracting company that specializes in tile work, based out of Marion, NC.
When asked why he chose to start his own business instead of just finding another job, Dirk replied that he was simply tired of working for other people. He had been doing some tile and contracting work on the side for the few years before, so he decided to try that out full-time. The side work that Porter had done had a great impact on the immediate success of his business. The fact that his name was already out there got him a lot of business. What used to be just weekend work was now a full-time operation, largely due to the word-of-mouth marketing. “I used the yellow pages, business cards, signs,” Dirk stated, “but word of mouth was definitely best by far.”
