I had the privilege to sit down with Lonnie and discuss with him what has brought him to and through his entrepreneurial journey of creating his own luxury shoe brand, L’étiquette Noire. You can follow the brand on Instagram and learn more on the L’étiquette Noire website!
Jamie Beasley, Latino Program Director, Mountain BizWorks
Since 2007, Jamie Beasley has helped entrepreneurs through Mountain BizWorks, where he currently serves as Latino program director. The Asheville-based organization is a certified non-profit community development financial institution (CDFI). Mountain BizWorks’ mission is to help small businesses succeed in Western North Carolina, with an emphasis on lending, consulting, training and investing.
Great, you just had your AHA moment, probably in the shower. You yell Eureka. You just figured out the best new business idea you would like to pursue. Awesome. Now what? One important question is how will you fund this venture? The answer, of course, depends on the idea. Will a credit card suffice? Do you need help from friends and family? Or, perhaps an Angel Investor to help realize your dream.
J. Paul Solitario – Managing Partner at Cerium Capital LLC is someone that has lots of experience in Small Business and Entrepreneurial Funding and fortunately for us we had the opportunity to pinch a few minutes of his time to discuss this topic.
Statesville Record & Landmark feature on Sam Dobson’s Grass-fed Beef Operation.
Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview today. Could you please tell us about yourself?
Sure. Sam Dobson from the northern part of Iredell County. I think I’m the tenth generation on this dairy and now, grass-fed beef farm. We’ve been in the dairy business since 1939, and before that we farmed the traditional cotton and tobacco, and maybe some small grains since the late 1700’s. We have transitioned over the last few years after looking at organic dairying, and transitioning with that process as well as starting a grass-fed beef part of the operation in 2006. We’re moving forward with that. I’m married – I have a wife Sherry, and one son Chase, who’s five; so there’s another generation coming along! And we just kind of hang out here on the farm and try to make things go.
