If you were to pluck co-founders from a crowd, Monica Peraza O’Quigley and Sydney Sherman would not make an obvious duo. But when O’Quigley, a mother of four who was then running the online importing business Alegreea, sat down at an Austin coffee shop in early 2019 to meet with Sherman, a 28-year-old traveler who splits her time between Guatemala and New York City, both felt it was kismet.
“There was an incredible connection,” says O’Quigley, “and within the first 15 minutes, we said: Let’s do this together,” this being the ambitious goal of raising the incomes of women in developing countries by creating an online marketplace to connect them directly to conscious consumers in wealthier markets. The Etho, launched last August in Austin, features hundreds of items—jute-rope coasters, radish-root body creams, shoes hand-embroidered in a traditional Palestinian style—whose sales benefit 4,500 female business owners and their employees.
Continue reading your story on the app
Continue reading your story in the magazine
REPEAT PERFORMANCE
TWO-TIME SELLER
MAY THE BEST BRAND WIN!
Zico founder Mark Rampolla recently bought back his coconut water company after a sale that decimated the brand. Now he’s rebuilding it with a new team, but facing fierce competition from an old rival.
HOW BORING BENEFITS CAN PAY OFF
The pandemic, the grim economy, and the stress of remote work have made employees’ physical, mental, and financial well-being more important than ever. At the same time, bosses are trying to meet their employees’ needs on a tighter budget. One solution? Voluntary benefits.
Is This a Business?
Marco Zappia, a former bar director in Minneapolis, has an idea for a cocktail commissary business.
How To Spy On Your Rivals
Inc. doesn’t recommend corporate espionage—but if you can get creative while staying on the right side of the law, go for it. That’s what John Ross, CEO of Test Prep Insight, was thinking when he heard that one of his competitors was meeting with a potential buyer. Ross—who was also contemplating a sale of his Sacramento-based online education company, wanted to get some intel on the buyer. But how?
Cybercriminals Target SMBs, But New Technology Helps Fight Them Off
Contrary to popular belief, big companies are not the only favored targets of cybercriminals. SMBs are just as attractive.
HR Technology Adapts to Remote Work's Permanence
From social issues to virtual collaboration, HR technology is evolving to meet the needs of future employment models.
I Was Wrong: No More Mr. Nice Guy
For three years, Dan O’Malley tried to be the boss everyone loves—never criticizing, always smiling. Now, he says that was the wrong approach.
Should You Be More Like Bezos?
As the Amazon founder exits the CEO role, he leaves his successor a set of rules that might be helpful to any entrepreneur bent on conquering the known universe.
Invitation To a Crisis
Sometimes, a little added pressure can help your team scale new heights.
Austin, Reluctant Boomtown
Residents fear that the wave of tech workers arriving will turn the city into San Francisco
The Italian Job: I've owned one car almost 30 years. And hardly driven it.
Our story begins more than four decades ago when I decided I had to buy a sports car.
Congress Targets Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google for Being Popular
With fresh faces in the White House and Congress, many Trump-era political agendas will soon be discarded.
Austin Rocks
Impress clients and colleagues in the star-studded capital city.
MINNEAPOLIS RISING
How a chef, distiller, outdoorsman, and NHL player will help ensure a city wounded by injustice forges a path toward equality.
A TALE OF TWO 1,500HP 6.0L POWER STROKES
THESE 5-SECOND FORDS ARE BUCKING ALL CONVENTION IN DIESEL DRAG RACING
Rebuilt O-line now a team strength
The Dolphins spent an awful lot of resources this past offseason, both in draft picks and free agency capital, on their offensive line.
Promising start for rookie O-linemen
The question of when Austin Jackson would be ready to get into the starting lineup at left tackle for the Dolphins got its official answer in the Week 1 game against the New England Patriots.
The 10 Most Beautiful Homes IN ST.LOUIS 2020
How do you define a beautiful home? Is it in the architecture or the setting? In the mix of building materials or the assemblage of stylistic influences? It wasn’t until our search for beautiful homes ended this past summer that writer Amy Burger and I recognized how our instincts drew us to properties with incredible landscaping and gardens, to places where homeowners place a premium on outdoor spaces and details: window boxes in bloom, statement-making walkways, a passion for the front porch, which, this year above all others, proved its hero status as the place to connect with neighbors and nature alike. –VERONICA THEODORO
GW LESSON LICKS OF THE BLUES GIANTS GROOVE MASTER
A brief, insightful tribute to GARY CLARK JR.’s multifaceted lead and rhythm-playing approaches and ways in which the guitarist tastefully combines elements of blues, rock, funk and soul