April 20, 2024 • 30 mins
Unlock the heartbeat of the entrepreneurial world with Jeremy Fritzhand from Alloy, our esteemed guest who brings a treasure trove of startup wisdom straight to your ears. Side Hustle City is your access pass to the vibrant landscape of small business development, where Jeremy shares his own narrative with an artisanal apparel startup and takes us behind the scenes at Alloy. Here, startups bloom under the nurturing canopy of morning mentoring sessions and alliances with influential angel investors like Queen City Angels. If you're keen on the buzz of AI innovation, the power of collaboration, or crave a learning experience steeped in community, this episode stitches these threads into a tapestry of entrepreneurial opportunity in Cincinnati and beyond.
Ready to embrace the tactile allure of the handmade movement that's sweeping America? We've stitched together a narrative that celebrates the resurgence of traditional craftsmanship, inviting you on a journey from a conventional nine-to-five to the artisanal dream. Jeremy and I explore the cultural renaissance that values the human touch in creation and guide you through the practical steps to spin your own startup tale. Whether it's crafting burrata in Italy or networking with fellow artisans, we weave in personal experiences and practical advice to address the fears and challenges budding entrepreneurs face. So, grab your crafting tools and let your imagination roam free, as we thread the needle between passion projects and professional pursuits in a world eager for the authenticity of the handmade.
As you're inspired to embark on your side hustle journey after listening to this episode, you might wonder where to start or how to make your vision a reality. With a team of experienced marketing professionals and a track record of helping clients achieve their dreams, we are ready to assist you in reaching your goals. To find out more, visit www.reversedout.com.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Side Hustle City and thanks for
joining us.
Our goal is to help you connectto real people who found
success turning their sidehustle into a main hustle, and
we hope you can too.
I'm Adam Kaler.
I'm joined by Kyle Stevie, myco-host.
Let's get started.
All right.
(00:24):
Welcome back everybody to theSide Hustle City podcast.
We didn't know we were going todo a podcast today, but Jeremy
Frittan came in and he is withAlloy and what they are doing is
helping startups, helping smallbusinesses, connecting people
here in Hamilton County.
Catalyzing yeah, that's the term.
Collaborating, collaborating,all that good stuff, guys.
(00:46):
So he is a startup expert, asmall business expert, I would
say at this point.
I mean, you've been at Alloyfor a long, long time and I
wanted to bring him in todaybecause we were going to chat
about the state of the startupworld, not just here in the
Cincinnati area, but across thecountry.
You know, what are VCs lookingfor now, what kind of money is
(01:07):
out there, what kind of programsare available?
Maybe you don't want to do atraditional tech startup and you
just want to.
You know, you want to start abusiness doing HVAC or whatever
that is.
Jeremy is an expert in that.
So, jeremy, thanks for comingon the show.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Thanks for having me.
It's great to be here.
I love what you're doing at theSide Hustle podcast and, yeah,
the state of startups is reallyexciting.
There's a lot of newopportunities in AI and
collaboration andcommunity-based learning.
People are really, I think,opening up to exchange of ideas
(01:47):
more freely and so, yeah, it'sreally exciting, yeah, and last
time you were on the show wewere talking about something
completely different.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And you have your own startup too, and you have it's
essentially an apparel company,and you got this Peace Rise hat
on.
Tell us about it.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Most of my entrepreneurial endeavors in the
last 15 years have centeredaround craft and textiles.
I spent almost 10 years livingand working in India doing
grassroots entrepreneurialdevelopment work, specifically
with a community of blockprinting artisans in Baguru,
(02:24):
rajasthan, and for the last 500years they've been mastering the
craft of hand block printing,which is an ancient technique
dating back thousands of years.
In many places in India blockprinting I mean in many places
in the world.
Block printing was one of thefirst forms of embellishing
cloth and customizing yourapparel what you're wearing.
(02:46):
Moved back to Cincinnati abouttwo and a half years ago, wanted
to embed into the local startupscene and the community and
been really fortunate to havethe opportunity to work with an
amazing, diverse, innovativepool of startups all swimming
(03:08):
together in this ecosystem.
So at Alloy we have a few piecesof programming that we've been
running.
One of the oldest is morningmentoring every Thursday from 9
to 10 am.
It's a pitch feedback.
We get a group of mentorstogether, uh, from various
backgrounds.
Participant gives a 10 minutepitch, 40 minutes Q and a.
(03:30):
They get asked 10, 10 minutesof questions to the mentors.
Uh, mentors fill out ascorecard and feedback.
We compile that and send itback to the startup.
So that program has beenrunning for almost 20 years,
with the Queen City Angels alocal angel investing group,
over 200 accredited investorsfrom the region and across the
US, tied up with the AngelCapital Association, which is
(03:55):
coming to Ohio coming up theirannual celebration.
It's going to be in Columbus.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I wish to point out Queen City Angels is actually
one of the highest rated, Ithink, if not the highest rated.
So Scott Jacobs, a friend ofmine, right, he's involved with
Queen City Angels, but I believeTony Shipley, who started, was
one of the founders, I think, ofQueen City Angels.
He won an award and they werethe top angel investing company
(04:23):
in the country.
So they've been around a long,long time.
Before I was.
You know, we did anything withDotloop and actually Tony
Shipley's son, blake Shipley,was one of our co-founders at
Dotloop.
So he did all of our financestuff.
He's a brilliant accountant,understands things, and he did a
couple of his own startups too.
So you know it's very uh,cincinnati is very incestuous
(04:45):
when it comes to the startupworld and the advertising world,
two industries here thateverybody seems to be involved
in in in some fashion or CPG ofsome kind, right, like it's just
what it is.
But alloy does a lot like ourstartup.
The first real office we hadwas at alloy, which was before
it was alloy.
It was HCDC and HCBC and,believe it or not, when I was
(05:09):
working at an agency back in theday, I did the website for HCDC
, so I knew about it.
Before it was really big andnow it's a great program.
So much I feel like a lot ofprograms like Alloy, like
Centrifuse and stuff.
They give so much to thestartup community and they help
in so many different waysExplain Alloy and how it's
(05:31):
differentiated from other groupsand maybe even talk to people
that aren't from Cincinnatiabout the benefits of working
with Alloy somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, alloy has been around for 40 years.
Our roots are in servicing theSmall Business Administration
504 and 7A loan programs, whichare federally backed loans for
purchase of commercial realestate and heavy machinery
targeted towards growingbusinesses.
And then, in the 80s, thefounders realized the need for
(06:05):
additional startup support andthere wasn't a business
incubator in the region at thetime.
So, with the help of the countyand the city, we purchased 1776
Mentor Ave and a couple ofyears later the building across
(06:28):
the street rehabbed it intooffice and lab space, and then
have been welcoming uh startupsuh through the doors uh, ever
since, and so it's a wide rangeof startups, from advanced
materials to digital health,digital marketing, uh hardware
software but it's not just.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
It's not just startups, I mean, it's real
brick and mortar type ofbusinesses as well.
It's businesses that say, forexample, I wanted to go on to
Biz, buy, sell or something likethat one of the broker websites
and I'm looking at acquiring anHVAC business, or I'm looking
at acquiring a laundromat or oneof these things that are
cash-flowing businesses.
People are like well, how doator one of these things that are
(07:08):
cash-flowing businesses?
People are like well, how do Ibuy one of those?
Those things are a millionbucks or half a million.
Well, you go to the SBA, right,and you try to get one of the
SBA loans to help you acquirethese businesses.
Or you go to a local bank orwhatever.
But Alloy is one of thosegroups that can kind of help
guide you in the right direction.
If an SBA loan's not right foryou or for whatever this is,
they could point you in theright direction.
(07:28):
At least Most people have noclue that there's cash flow in
businesses out there.
You don't have to come up withsomething novel.
There's businesses out here youcan buy.
There's guys retiring all thetime that have client bases that
have been around for 20 or 30years.
There's nobody that you knowtheir kids don't want the
business and they're just like,hey look, I'm making you know,
netting 300 grand a year,putting it in my pocket.
(07:50):
Why wouldn't you just want tobuy a business that's already
successful?
So, but I will help you dostuff like that.
It doesn't have to be somecrazy AI tech startup, but if
you are into AI tech startups,they, they can help you with
that as well and connect you tothe right people.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Maybe even connect co-founders yeah For co-founders
and learning more about how togrow from an idea to how to
validate that idea, how to getyour first customer, how to
scale if you need capital toscale faster.
What's the approach there?
How to you know approachinvestors, prepare a pitch deck.
(08:31):
We come in there and help ateach step of the way.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, yeah.
So personally though, jeremy, Imean you're doing something
that's not necessarily ahigh-tech startup.
This is a textile business,which is kind of rare.
For Cincinnati, I wouldn't saythere's a bunch of textile
businesses floating around here.
I would think maybe likeAsheville, north Carolina, or
something like that.
I mean, they do all thatfurniture in North Carolina, so
(09:00):
I would assume there's patternpeople there and folks that do
upholstery and all that stuff.
But for Cincinnati, I mean,this is very much a white collar
advertising marketing type ofcity nowadays.
So is it.
Do you find it difficult tobuild the type of startup that
you're building now, kind ofsomething that could be online
(09:21):
but also could be a brick andmortar but requires physical
labor to make it happen?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, it's really interesting.
The textile industry hereactually dates back well over a
hundred years.
There was actually sweatshopsin Cincinnati.
At that time the garmentindustry here was thriving.
There's a big textile buildingdowntown and so, like other you
know, midwest manufacturing hubs, over the last 50 years,
(09:51):
everything has been outsourcedor, you know, manufacturing now
takes place overseas, and so alot of the skilled labor that
were that was doing um, thosedifferent industries, including
textiles, you know no longerexists.
And so, you know, returning hereafter spending almost 10 years
(10:12):
in India doing grassrootsentrepreneurial, um you know,
work with, with textile artisansand and cutting so many
facturers with brands fromaround the world, connecting
them to clients that cared aboutworking directly with the maker
, building those relationships,respecting the craft because
(10:35):
these are traditional techniques.
We work closely with theCultural Intellectual Property
Rights Initiative, which istaking measures to protect
indigenous knowledge holders andtheir designs and techniques
for creating different products,which was overlooked for, you
know, since globalization, andyou see mass fashion brands that
(11:00):
are plagiarizing andappropriating those designs
without any consequences.
Finally, they're being heldresponsible.
Wow, but with our business herethere's not as much skilled
artisans or labor that can dosewing machine operation, and so
(11:21):
we started a brand about sixmonths ago, a sewn in Cincy, and
we've just partnered withMoreau sewing unlimited.
Ian Moreau is a master tailor.
He's been in Cincinnati for 10years.
He's has a um, a tailoring andalterations uh, shop on
mainstream.
Where is he from originally?
He's from the Island ofDominica, okay.
(11:43):
The nature Island, the natureIsland, okay.
And where is that located?
Um, it's, it's in the Caribbean.
Oh, wow, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Okay, so, and he's been in Cincinnati for 10 years.
He's been doing this kind ofwork for 10 years, ever since
he's been here.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He's, he comes from a long line of tailors and
seamstresses.
Okay, and so they did umgarment manufacturing in the in
in on Dominica, okay, and so hecame here and wanted to, uh, you
know, start a garment uhbusiness.
And you know the way he tellsthe story is that, you know, he
thought there was going to be alot of meat in the USA because
(12:17):
that's what he saw when he cameand visited with his father, uh,
in the seventies.
Oh, not anymore.
And so, and so you know, hismission now is to reinvigorate
this industry.
And we met by chance andaligned and really grateful to
have the opportunity to workwith him, and our vision is to
train the next generation ofgarment, of seamstresses and
(12:43):
sewers, or sewists, depending onhow you want to classify them,
people that know how to dosewing.
And so, right now, 97 percentof the clothing that we purchase
is made outside the US.
Oh, sure, eighty five percentof that clothing ends up in a
landfill every year.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, they call it the dead white man's clothing in
Western Africa, which is wheremost of that stuff goes.
It comes giant bags of it, getdelivered there and their
markets where they pick throughthey'll put in a giant pile and
they'll pick through all ofthese clothes from.
Europe is one place that theygo Right, and I forget which
country in Africa they go to.
(13:21):
It might be Ghana, but there'sgiant piles of clothes and
people pick through all theseclothes and if anything is worth
keeping, they take it to amarket and they sell it in these
markets.
I know that much.
That's all I know about theseclothes, but they do, they just
get.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I mean, so much stuff gets wasted and hopefully
reused and not just and thething you know, the most
startling statistic is that lessthan 2% of folks that are
making the clothing earn aliving wage.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Wow, and so in their country right.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So even in their country, yes, they're not making
anything right, and and thefast fashion industry, as it's
evolved over the last 30, 40years, perpetuates this
exploitive labor practice.
Because the only way that theyincrease their bottom lines a
lot of them are public companiesis they have to sell more for
cheaper.
And how do you do that?
Well, you make it in placesthat don't have any labor laws
(14:20):
or lax labor laws, and you usethe lowest quality products and
you get people to buy as many aspossible.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Well and I don't want to call any companies out,
necessarily, but think thingsthat you will go and buy just to
wear to the club that night andthen just throw away or like a
button will break off of it orit's, it's, it's flimsy or
whatever.
That's essentially fast fashion, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So our, again, our vision is that we get people
interested in this again.
Again, our vision is that we getpeople interested in this again
so at least they can repairthat button at home instead of
getting something new, or theycan resize pants or a jacket, or
restyle it, fix it.
We promote mending anything thatis ripped or torn.
(15:03):
So we have these intro classesevery Saturday from 9 to 1030 at
1351 Main Street, and then thenext progression is the
beginner's course, which is sixto 10 classes, and then the
intermediate course, again sixto 10 classes, and our goal is
in the next year to be trainingenough folks that we can employ
(15:24):
a first production group and sowe'll start to manufacture
clothing for the local market sothat we can make in Cincinnati
with, you know, upskilled,upskilled labor that is now
getting, you know, these are newjobs created.
And you know, over the courseof five years, you know we can
(15:47):
take that 97%, that is the restof the US, and we'll bring that
down to let you know.
Over the course of five years,you know we can take that 97%
that is the rest of the U?
S, and we'll bring that down to, let's say, 80%.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah, yeah, totally makes sense.
So it's not just a company thatyou're like, hey, I want to
make money at this.
This is, hey, we're actuallygoing to do something.
There's going to be a netpositive result for humanity if
we do this and and just lesswaste.
So I mean, that's that's.
You know, I applaud you on that.
Now there's a lot of people, Ithink, out there who are like,
(16:16):
hey, look, everything seemstechnology, technology,
technology.
Right, that seems to be.
You know, everybody's using thephone so much or using
computers.
I feel like there is a desirefor Americans to get back to
making things with their hands.
Right, I feel like there's,there's a thing.
It's like we got away from thatfor a while and it's not
necessarily our fault.
(16:37):
This is, you know, globalagendas and things like that
have led to this.
But do you feel like, are youseeing that?
I mean, you're in the industryand you're in this startup space
, but you're also, you know,working in textiles?
of a global textile industry.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So so what are you seeing with people, especially
Americans, or you know, dopainting or um, people I think
are aching to, to make, like to,to use their hands again the
way that you know, we areevolved to, maybe you could say.
Or how we use tools, how we usetools over you know what
millions of years to to perfecthow we are able to do things.
(17:23):
I mean, you look at the great,you know, michelangelo.
Look what he made with hishands.
Yes, and so now we're makingeverything on the keyboard and
the phone.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
It's amazing.
You look at some of the artback in the day and it's just
like you know, you see the memesonline and stuff.
It's like we used to makethings like this and now we make
things like this and it's someweird modern contemporary art.
But you know, you look at likea Michelangelo or some
sculptures and things.
It was just like so beautifuland like I just don't feel like
people feel like they have thetime to make beautiful things
anymore.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I never liked that saying oh, I don't have time,
you can always and that's theexcuse here and people say that
you know you can't actuallytimes one thing.
You never get back.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But you can make time and you know, the time is yours
to make.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, how much time do you spend flipping on Tik TOK
every day?
You know speak.
You know mess around on socialmedia.
See how many likes you got.
I mean, every American's doingit.
Now you know it's not just youknow, the younger generation.
This is, this is pervasive inour culture right now and it is
the.
I think the opportunity is forthe person who can step away
from that and actually create.
(18:31):
And is that?
Do you feel like culture ingeneral appreciates that?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I think there's a big shift.
We were going 100 miles an hour, I think, towards the tech, and
then the pandemic changedeverything of how we think about
our daily life and our value ofour, you know, you could say
freedoms, or you know normaldaily life without you know
(18:59):
lockdowns, or you know worryingabout getting sick.
Those things put more value onthings that we had forgotten
about, like the handmadeindustry or how things are made
or where they're coming from thesupply chain.
You know whether you can, youknow get a certain product
quickly and so that it it.
It was a shock to the humansystem.
(19:22):
Um, that was a check, it waslike a check, you know.
But already we're starting toforget that check and we're
going back, you know, hyperspeed.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
People are going back to the office.
It's all that.
Stuff's happening, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You know, and now the AI frontier, where you see the
threat to a lot of jobs, and sothere will be a pushback to the
hand, I think, and using ourhands to make things so that you
know we don't have to worryabout supply issues.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
So, for the person who wants to do that right, who
may not have the you know hightech startup and you know AI,
and they're like, hey, we're,we're, we're utilizing VR, ar,
uh, ai, you know, got all thebuzzwords and all the new
technologies.
You know, those are the thingsinvestors a lot of times want to
invest in, because they're like, oh, I can see a hundred X here
(20:19):
, right, yeah, on my investment.
Well, I just got a textilecompany, or I just got a.
How do I find people that arewilling to to get me out of my
nine to five?
Or or how do I start out?
You know, do I just do a, do aShopify site, or what?
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So I would recommend searching a green umbrella.
Green umbrella Okay, all right,that's our local sustainability
focus group, and a lot of timesthese activities fall under the
sustainability umbrella, and sothat is one place where you can
learn about what people aredoing in the ecosystem and
(20:56):
beyond.
You know they have affiliategroups and organizations across
America and if you, if you'relooking for a switch or you want
to see what's out there, likeum, you know, for, for, at least
for the sewing things, likewe're, we're offering the free
classes every Saturday, um, butyou know, I, I would, I would
(21:19):
urge people to get back to theearth and you know, drive an
hour East of Cincinnati or anycity that you're in, and try to
get into a rural area, andthat's where you'll find more of
these roots of you know workingwith your hands and you know
being more connected to acommunity, a closer knit
(21:42):
community.
I'm not saying that.
You know cities don't havecommunities.
There's lots of differentcommunities, but in in the rural
areas, usually it's like onecommunity, and so that also is
like a reset for for us, I think, and it's important to get back
to nature, yeah um so or gocamping or something.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I mean it's just like you don't have to go far
outside of cincinnati, sincethat's a pretty big area.
But I mean you go down to redriver gorge, you can go to.
I mean, you go down to RedRiver Gorge, you can go to
Mammoth Cave.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You can go to Serpent Mound.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Serpent Mound, You've got Ohio.
Eastern Ohio has a lot.
Go to that Arc of Appalachia.
Yeah yeah, there's tons ofstuff.
I mean, and we're not far fromAppalachia.
I mean it's part of Ohio, HalfOhio is Appalachia around here,
but I'm sure, wherever you're at, if you're listening to the
podcast, I mean I don't care ifyou're in Europe.
(22:28):
I mean there's rural parts ofFrance that you could go visit.
Usually an hour will get yousomewhere yeah, that's rural,
that they're growing things orthey're making something.
You know, my one of my favoritethings is we went into, we were
in Italy and we went, we made aburrata.
So we were, you know, we got tosee it made and we got to put
our hands in it and it was, itwas a cool thing, you know, it
(22:50):
was like doing something.
You know that I grew up in thecity.
I've been in the city my wholelife.
You know, I'm kind of scared ofthe woods.
You know, I think there's weirdthings in the woods, you know,
and it's and I feel comfort likeI could be in the worst
neighborhood in America and I'dprobably feel more safe there
than if I was in the woodssomewhere.
Right, but you know, if youhave an idea, know that there
(23:13):
are resources out there for you.
There's places you can go.
You mentioned the greenumbrella.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Are there If you have an idea.
Actually an idea can change theworld, which is a pretty
beautiful thing.
If you think about it.
One little idea can can have abutterfly effect that is
affecting everybody.
That's kind of what.
Um, if you look at humanhistory, you see these
inflection points, you know, andso um, I mean we're doing that.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I did that, we.
I mean that happened with thecompany we started.
It's here at my coworking space.
It happens all the time.
I mean it's it's.
It's happening right now, wherewe're on the podcast, we're
talking and people are listeningto this, right.
So it's little things thatcould spread ideas, right, and
that's the thing.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's can.
How do these ideas spread?
How do we?
How do we make money and dogood at the same time?
(24:01):
Possibly there's people outthere that are attracted to that
concept.
The problem I always see withstartup people is they've got a
nine to five gig right.
They're working somewhere Firsttime, first time entrepreneurs.
Yeah, maybe first timeentrepreneurs that didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
They didn't get the right the first time, and then
they didn't ever made the jumpagain.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah Well, I mean, I could do whatever now because I
work for myself, you know.
But you've got people thatyounger.
They have that nine to five.
Maybe they just bought a house,maybe they got a kid or two.
They have responsibilities totheir family.
They want to get out of thatnine to five world and they want
to build something.
They want to do somethingartisan.
Right, you see it with Etsypeople all the time.
(24:41):
But there's so much competitionon Etsy Most folks don't know
how to build a Shopify store anddrive traffic.
Right, I would say affiliatesare a good way to do it right
now.
If there's anything, maybestart a YouTube channel, do
those kinds of things.
But you have to find time inyour day to be able to do this
(25:02):
work and you have to find waysto put it out there.
There may not be investors forwhat your idea is.
You may just have to do thework yourself.
And you know, use whateverextra money you've got saved up.
Try to find time at night onthe weekends to to do these
things and figure out a way tomarket your business somehow.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
If you are interested in those.
You know Etsy style, you knowhandmade um, artisan um
businesses and and businessmodels.
Uh, I'd encourage also, youknow these, these are
traditional positions that folksdo apprenticeships for and you
(25:46):
know that whole apprenticeshipkind of format has disappeared.
Um, so, endeavor to like, findfolks that are, you know,
masters in that craft, and if itreally means so much to you,
then that's, you know that'skind of the approach.
You should see how they do itand see if you can learn from
them.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Network in your own community essentially yeah.
And your own, your own friendsgroup, right?
I mean there's or there's,there's, there's craft groups
you can kind of get into andfind that you could talk to
those folks.
Maybe you find somebody likeyou're talking about in one of
those groups.
But whatever it is you're doingand I think a lot of people too
they want to start a t-shirtcompany or something real basic,
(26:27):
right that they think that, oh,I'm going to do drop shipping
or I'm going to do this thingthat's going to make me a whole
bunch of money and I'll have toput a whole bunch of time into
it.
Well then, the flip side ofthat business, that's one Etsy
business, right.
Then the flip side of thatbusiness is something that is
actually a craft that takes time, that you can use your hands
doing, that.
You can build things on theweekends or at night or whatever
, and everybody's got thesereally creative ideas.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Whenever I go on sites like that, I'm like, wow,
that's that was, that's a goodidea, that's cool that they did
that.
Yeah Well, um, I agree, and it'swhat we're trying.
So there's, we're also trying tobuild a network of these makers
across America and kind ofcategorize it by craft, the
first one being textiles andgarment making.
Textile crafts includes, youknow, the, the raw material,
(27:19):
from the spinning of the yarn tothe weaving of the actual
fabric, and then you knowprinting, whether it's block
printing or screen printing, um,and then the garment making, or
the product making, so makingthe clothing, or you know, bags,
accessories, um and so, insteadof going, you know, I see a
future where, instead of goingto the mall to buy something in
(27:44):
the you know most sustainablefuture, um, you know, you're,
you're, you've, you've got anapp like DoorDash that you log
in and you see some sort ofclothing you like.
You get to choose the fabric,you do a 360 spin to do a
perfect fit, and then thecentral distribution laser cuts
the fabric, sends it to thelocal sewer, that's on the
(28:07):
network.
They finish it and if they havea tailoring shop, the client
can go in, get it, you know,fitted, and then they also have
a point of contact in case theyneed it to be mended.
Wow, that'd be wild.
I'd use that.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Cloudsonecom.
Cloudsonecom.
Oh man, well, jeremy, this hasbeen enlightening.
If somebody wants to get a holdof your business, right, they
want to learn more about whatyou're doing, or they want to
get in touch with Alloy or justchat with you about handmade
things and startups, how do theyreach you?
(28:44):
How do they find your company?
How do they find Alloy?
How do they find if you want toshare your personal information
?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, let's see you can go to FritzMFG.
Yeah, um, let's see you can goto, uh, fritz M F Gcom.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Okay, Is it all on there?
Is that like a?
Does that get them everythingyou're doing?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Okay, what about like a LinkedIn or something?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Oh, linkedin, jeremy Fritz hand linkedincom forward.
Slash in, slash, fritz hand.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
F?
R I T-I-T-Z-H-A-N-D.
There you go, yep, and we'llput it in the show notes, guys.
So if you're listening on apodcast, you know you go to our
side, hustle dot money, or youjust go into the podcast
description and you will be ableto find these links.
Thanks for having me, I love it, jeremy?
Yeah, this is.
(29:31):
We don't always get to talkabout fabrics or handmade stuff
on this show.
We're usually talking about,you know, vending machines or
real estate or something likethat.
So this is.
It's exciting to have somediversity and some different
industries in here.
It's good to be here.
Yeah, all right.
Well, thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, thanks for joiningus on this week's episode of
Side Hustle City.
Well, you've heard from ourguests.
(29:52):
Now let's hear from you.
Join our community on Facebook,side Hustle City.
It's a group where people shareideas, share their
inspirational stories andmotivate each other to be
successful and turn their sidehustle into their main hustle.
We'll see you there and we'llsee you next week on the show.
Thank you.
Welcome to Side Hustle City and thanks for
joining us.
Our goal is to help you connectto real people who found
success turning their sidehustle into a main hustle, and
we hope you can too.
I'm Adam Kaler.
I'm joined by Kyle Stevie, myco-host.
Let's get started.
All right.
(00:24):
Welcome back everybody to theSide Hustle City podcast.
We didn't know we were going todo a podcast today, but Jeremy
Frittan came in and he is withAlloy and what they are doing is
helping startups, helping smallbusinesses, connecting people
here in Hamilton County.
Catalyzing yeah, that's the term.
Collaborating, collaborating,all that good stuff, guys.
(00:46):
So he is a startup expert, asmall business expert, I would
say at this point.
I mean, you've been at Alloyfor a long, long time and I
wanted to bring him in todaybecause we were going to chat
about the state of the startupworld, not just here in the
Cincinnati area, but across thecountry.
You know, what are VCs lookingfor now, what kind of money is
(01:07):
out there, what kind of programsare available?
Maybe you don't want to do atraditional tech startup and you
just want to.
You know, you want to start abusiness doing HVAC or whatever
that is.
Jeremy is an expert in that.
So, jeremy, thanks for comingon the show.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Thanks for having me.
It's great to be here.
I love what you're doing at theSide Hustle podcast and, yeah,
the state of startups is reallyexciting.
There's a lot of newopportunities in AI and
collaboration andcommunity-based learning.
People are really, I think,opening up to exchange of ideas
(01:47):
more freely and so, yeah, it'sreally exciting, yeah, and last
time you were on the show wewere talking about something
completely different.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
And you have your own startup too, and you have it's
essentially an apparel company,and you got this Peace Rise hat
on.
Tell us about it.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Most of my entrepreneurial endeavors in the
last 15 years have centeredaround craft and textiles.
I spent almost 10 years livingand working in India doing
grassroots entrepreneurialdevelopment work, specifically
with a community of blockprinting artisans in Baguru,
(02:24):
rajasthan, and for the last 500years they've been mastering the
craft of hand block printing,which is an ancient technique
dating back thousands of years.
In many places in India blockprinting I mean in many places
in the world.
Block printing was one of thefirst forms of embellishing
cloth and customizing yourapparel what you're wearing.
(02:46):
Moved back to Cincinnati abouttwo and a half years ago, wanted
to embed into the local startupscene and the community and
been really fortunate to havethe opportunity to work with an
amazing, diverse, innovativepool of startups all swimming
(03:08):
together in this ecosystem.
So at Alloy we have a few piecesof programming that we've been
running.
One of the oldest is morningmentoring every Thursday from 9
to 10 am.
It's a pitch feedback.
We get a group of mentorstogether, uh, from various
backgrounds.
Participant gives a 10 minutepitch, 40 minutes Q and a.
(03:30):
They get asked 10, 10 minutesof questions to the mentors.
Uh, mentors fill out ascorecard and feedback.
We compile that and send itback to the startup.
So that program has beenrunning for almost 20 years,
with the Queen City Angels alocal angel investing group,
over 200 accredited investorsfrom the region and across the
US, tied up with the AngelCapital Association, which is
(03:55):
coming to Ohio coming up theirannual celebration.
It's going to be in Columbus.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
I wish to point out Queen City Angels is actually
one of the highest rated, Ithink, if not the highest rated.
So Scott Jacobs, a friend ofmine, right, he's involved with
Queen City Angels, but I believeTony Shipley, who started, was
one of the founders, I think, ofQueen City Angels.
He won an award and they werethe top angel investing company
(04:23):
in the country.
So they've been around a long,long time.
Before I was.
You know, we did anything withDotloop and actually Tony
Shipley's son, blake Shipley,was one of our co-founders at
Dotloop.
So he did all of our financestuff.
He's a brilliant accountant,understands things, and he did a
couple of his own startups too.
So you know it's very uh,cincinnati is very incestuous
(04:45):
when it comes to the startupworld and the advertising world,
two industries here thateverybody seems to be involved
in in in some fashion or CPG ofsome kind, right, like it's just
what it is.
But alloy does a lot like ourstartup.
The first real office we hadwas at alloy, which was before
it was alloy.
It was HCDC and HCBC and,believe it or not, when I was
(05:09):
working at an agency back in theday, I did the website for HCDC
, so I knew about it.
Before it was really big andnow it's a great program.
So much I feel like a lot ofprograms like Alloy, like
Centrifuse and stuff.
They give so much to thestartup community and they help
in so many different waysExplain Alloy and how it's
(05:31):
differentiated from other groupsand maybe even talk to people
that aren't from Cincinnatiabout the benefits of working
with Alloy somehow.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, alloy has been around for 40 years.
Our roots are in servicing theSmall Business Administration
504 and 7A loan programs, whichare federally backed loans for
purchase of commercial realestate and heavy machinery
targeted towards growingbusinesses.
And then, in the 80s, thefounders realized the need for
(06:05):
additional startup support andthere wasn't a business
incubator in the region at thetime.
So, with the help of the countyand the city, we purchased 1776
Mentor Ave and a couple ofyears later the building across
(06:28):
the street rehabbed it intooffice and lab space, and then
have been welcoming uh startupsuh through the doors uh, ever
since, and so it's a wide rangeof startups, from advanced
materials to digital health,digital marketing, uh hardware
software but it's not just.
Speaker 1 (06:45):
It's not just startups, I mean, it's real
brick and mortar type ofbusinesses as well.
It's businesses that say, forexample, I wanted to go on to
Biz, buy, sell or something likethat one of the broker websites
and I'm looking at acquiring anHVAC business, or I'm looking
at acquiring a laundromat or oneof these things that are
cash-flowing businesses.
People are like well, how doator one of these things that are
(07:08):
cash-flowing businesses?
People are like well, how do Ibuy one of those?
Those things are a millionbucks or half a million.
Well, you go to the SBA, right,and you try to get one of the
SBA loans to help you acquirethese businesses.
Or you go to a local bank orwhatever.
But Alloy is one of thosegroups that can kind of help
guide you in the right direction.
If an SBA loan's not right foryou or for whatever this is,
they could point you in theright direction.
(07:28):
At least Most people have noclue that there's cash flow in
businesses out there.
You don't have to come up withsomething novel.
There's businesses out here youcan buy.
There's guys retiring all thetime that have client bases that
have been around for 20 or 30years.
There's nobody that you knowtheir kids don't want the
business and they're just like,hey look, I'm making you know,
netting 300 grand a year,putting it in my pocket.
(07:50):
Why wouldn't you just want tobuy a business that's already
successful?
So, but I will help you dostuff like that.
It doesn't have to be somecrazy AI tech startup, but if
you are into AI tech startups,they, they can help you with
that as well and connect you tothe right people.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Maybe even connect co-founders yeah For co-founders
and learning more about how togrow from an idea to how to
validate that idea, how to getyour first customer, how to
scale if you need capital toscale faster.
What's the approach there?
How to you know approachinvestors, prepare a pitch deck.
(08:31):
We come in there and help ateach step of the way.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Yeah, yeah.
So personally though, jeremy, Imean you're doing something
that's not necessarily ahigh-tech startup.
This is a textile business,which is kind of rare.
For Cincinnati, I wouldn't saythere's a bunch of textile
businesses floating around here.
I would think maybe likeAsheville, north Carolina, or
something like that.
I mean, they do all thatfurniture in North Carolina, so
(09:00):
I would assume there's patternpeople there and folks that do
upholstery and all that stuff.
But for Cincinnati, I mean,this is very much a white collar
advertising marketing type ofcity nowadays.
So is it.
Do you find it difficult tobuild the type of startup that
you're building now, kind ofsomething that could be online
(09:21):
but also could be a brick andmortar but requires physical
labor to make it happen?
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Yeah, it's really interesting.
The textile industry hereactually dates back well over a
hundred years.
There was actually sweatshopsin Cincinnati.
At that time the garmentindustry here was thriving.
There's a big textile buildingdowntown and so, like other you
know, midwest manufacturing hubs, over the last 50 years,
(09:51):
everything has been outsourcedor, you know, manufacturing now
takes place overseas, and so alot of the skilled labor that
were that was doing um, thosedifferent industries, including
textiles, you know no longerexists.
And so, you know, returning hereafter spending almost 10 years
(10:12):
in India doing grassrootsentrepreneurial, um you know,
work with, with textile artisansand and cutting so many
facturers with brands fromaround the world, connecting
them to clients that cared aboutworking directly with the maker
, building those relationships,respecting the craft because
(10:35):
these are traditional techniques.
We work closely with theCultural Intellectual Property
Rights Initiative, which istaking measures to protect
indigenous knowledge holders andtheir designs and techniques
for creating different products,which was overlooked for, you
know, since globalization, andyou see mass fashion brands that
(11:00):
are plagiarizing andappropriating those designs
without any consequences.
Finally, they're being heldresponsible.
Wow, but with our business herethere's not as much skilled
artisans or labor that can dosewing machine operation, and so
(11:21):
we started a brand about sixmonths ago, a sewn in Cincy, and
we've just partnered withMoreau sewing unlimited.
Ian Moreau is a master tailor.
He's been in Cincinnati for 10years.
He's has a um, a tailoring andalterations uh, shop on
mainstream.
Where is he from originally?
He's from the Island ofDominica, okay.
(11:43):
The nature Island, the natureIsland, okay.
And where is that located?
Um, it's, it's in the Caribbean.
Oh, wow, okay.
Speaker 1 (11:50):
Okay, so, and he's been in Cincinnati for 10 years.
He's been doing this kind ofwork for 10 years, ever since
he's been here.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
He's, he comes from a long line of tailors and
seamstresses.
Okay, and so they did umgarment manufacturing in the in
in on Dominica, okay, and so hecame here and wanted to, uh, you
know, start a garment uhbusiness.
And you know the way he tellsthe story is that, you know, he
thought there was going to be alot of meat in the USA because
(12:17):
that's what he saw when he cameand visited with his father, uh,
in the seventies.
Oh, not anymore.
And so, and so you know, hismission now is to reinvigorate
this industry.
And we met by chance andaligned and really grateful to
have the opportunity to workwith him, and our vision is to
train the next generation ofgarment, of seamstresses and
(12:43):
sewers, or sewists, depending onhow you want to classify them,
people that know how to dosewing.
And so, right now, 97 percentof the clothing that we purchase
is made outside the US.
Oh, sure, eighty five percentof that clothing ends up in a
landfill every year.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah, they call it the dead white man's clothing in
Western Africa, which is wheremost of that stuff goes.
It comes giant bags of it, getdelivered there and their
markets where they pick throughthey'll put in a giant pile and
they'll pick through all ofthese clothes from.
Europe is one place that theygo Right, and I forget which
country in Africa they go to.
(13:21):
It might be Ghana, but there'sgiant piles of clothes and
people pick through all theseclothes and if anything is worth
keeping, they take it to amarket and they sell it in these
markets.
I know that much.
That's all I know about theseclothes, but they do, they just
get.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
I mean, so much stuff gets wasted and hopefully
reused and not just and thething you know, the most
startling statistic is that lessthan 2% of folks that are
making the clothing earn aliving wage.
Speaker 1 (13:48):
Wow, and so in their country right.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
So even in their country, yes, they're not making
anything right, and and thefast fashion industry, as it's
evolved over the last 30, 40years, perpetuates this
exploitive labor practice.
Because the only way that theyincrease their bottom lines a
lot of them are public companiesis they have to sell more for
cheaper.
And how do you do that?
Well, you make it in placesthat don't have any labor laws
(14:20):
or lax labor laws, and you usethe lowest quality products and
you get people to buy as many aspossible.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Well and I don't want to call any companies out,
necessarily, but think thingsthat you will go and buy just to
wear to the club that night andthen just throw away or like a
button will break off of it orit's, it's, it's flimsy or
whatever.
That's essentially fast fashion, right yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So our, again, our vision is that we get people
interested in this again.
Again, our vision is that we getpeople interested in this again
so at least they can repairthat button at home instead of
getting something new, or theycan resize pants or a jacket, or
restyle it, fix it.
We promote mending anything thatis ripped or torn.
(15:03):
So we have these intro classesevery Saturday from 9 to 1030 at
1351 Main Street, and then thenext progression is the
beginner's course, which is sixto 10 classes, and then the
intermediate course, again sixto 10 classes, and our goal is
in the next year to be trainingenough folks that we can employ
(15:24):
a first production group and sowe'll start to manufacture
clothing for the local market sothat we can make in Cincinnati
with, you know, upskilled,upskilled labor that is now
getting, you know, these are newjobs created.
And you know, over the courseof five years, you know we can
(15:47):
take that 97%, that is the restof the US, and we'll bring that
down to let you know.
Over the course of five years,you know we can take that 97%
that is the rest of the U?
S, and we'll bring that down to, let's say, 80%.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Yeah, yeah, totally makes sense.
So it's not just a company thatyou're like, hey, I want to
make money at this.
This is, hey, we're actuallygoing to do something.
There's going to be a netpositive result for humanity if
we do this and and just lesswaste.
So I mean, that's that's.
You know, I applaud you on that.
Now there's a lot of people, Ithink, out there who are like,
(16:16):
hey, look, everything seemstechnology, technology,
technology.
Right, that seems to be.
You know, everybody's using thephone so much or using
computers.
I feel like there is a desirefor Americans to get back to
making things with their hands.
Right, I feel like there's,there's a thing.
It's like we got away from thatfor a while and it's not
necessarily our fault.
(16:37):
This is, you know, globalagendas and things like that
have led to this.
But do you feel like, are youseeing that?
I mean, you're in the industryand you're in this startup space
, but you're also, you know,working in textiles?
of a global textile industry.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So so what are you seeing with people, especially
Americans, or you know, dopainting or um, people I think
are aching to, to make, like to,to use their hands again the
way that you know, we areevolved to, maybe you could say.
Or how we use tools, how we usetools over you know what
millions of years to to perfecthow we are able to do things.
(17:23):
I mean, you look at the great,you know, michelangelo.
Look what he made with hishands.
Yes, and so now we're makingeverything on the keyboard and
the phone.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
It's amazing.
You look at some of the artback in the day and it's just
like you know, you see the memesonline and stuff.
It's like we used to makethings like this and now we make
things like this and it's someweird modern contemporary art.
But you know, you look at likea Michelangelo or some
sculptures and things.
It was just like so beautifuland like I just don't feel like
people feel like they have thetime to make beautiful things
anymore.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
I never liked that saying oh, I don't have time,
you can always and that's theexcuse here and people say that
you know you can't actuallytimes one thing.
You never get back.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (18:05):
But you can make time and you know, the time is yours
to make.
Speaker 1 (18:10):
Yeah, how much time do you spend flipping on Tik TOK
every day?
You know speak.
You know mess around on socialmedia.
See how many likes you got.
I mean, every American's doingit.
Now you know it's not just youknow, the younger generation.
This is, this is pervasive inour culture right now and it is
the.
I think the opportunity is forthe person who can step away
from that and actually create.
(18:31):
And is that?
Do you feel like culture ingeneral appreciates that?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I think there's a big shift.
We were going 100 miles an hour, I think, towards the tech, and
then the pandemic changedeverything of how we think about
our daily life and our value ofour, you know, you could say
freedoms, or you know normaldaily life without you know
(18:59):
lockdowns, or you know worryingabout getting sick.
Those things put more value onthings that we had forgotten
about, like the handmadeindustry or how things are made
or where they're coming from thesupply chain.
You know whether you can, youknow get a certain product
quickly and so that it it.
It was a shock to the humansystem.
(19:22):
Um, that was a check, it waslike a check, you know.
But already we're starting toforget that check and we're
going back, you know, hyperspeed.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
People are going back to the office.
It's all that.
Stuff's happening, yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:39):
You know, and now the AI frontier, where you see the
threat to a lot of jobs, and sothere will be a pushback to the
hand, I think, and using ourhands to make things so that you
know we don't have to worryabout supply issues.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
So, for the person who wants to do that right, who
may not have the you know hightech startup and you know AI,
and they're like, hey, we're,we're, we're utilizing VR, ar,
uh, ai, you know, got all thebuzzwords and all the new
technologies.
You know, those are the thingsinvestors a lot of times want to
invest in, because they're like, oh, I can see a hundred X here
(20:19):
, right, yeah, on my investment.
Well, I just got a textilecompany, or I just got a.
How do I find people that arewilling to to get me out of my
nine to five?
Or or how do I start out?
You know, do I just do a, do aShopify site, or what?
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So I would recommend searching a green umbrella.
Green umbrella Okay, all right,that's our local sustainability
focus group, and a lot of timesthese activities fall under the
sustainability umbrella, and sothat is one place where you can
learn about what people aredoing in the ecosystem and
(20:56):
beyond.
You know they have affiliategroups and organizations across
America and if you, if you'relooking for a switch or you want
to see what's out there, likeum, you know, for, for, at least
for the sewing things, likewe're, we're offering the free
classes every Saturday, um, butyou know, I, I would, I would
(21:19):
urge people to get back to theearth and you know, drive an
hour East of Cincinnati or anycity that you're in, and try to
get into a rural area, andthat's where you'll find more of
these roots of you know workingwith your hands and you know
being more connected to acommunity, a closer knit
(21:42):
community.
I'm not saying that.
You know cities don't havecommunities.
There's lots of differentcommunities, but in in the rural
areas, usually it's like onecommunity, and so that also is
like a reset for for us, I think, and it's important to get back
to nature, yeah um so or gocamping or something.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
I mean it's just like you don't have to go far
outside of cincinnati, sincethat's a pretty big area.
But I mean you go down to redriver gorge, you can go to.
I mean, you go down to RedRiver Gorge, you can go to
Mammoth Cave.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
You can go to Serpent Mound.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Serpent Mound, You've got Ohio.
Eastern Ohio has a lot.
Go to that Arc of Appalachia.
Yeah yeah, there's tons ofstuff.
I mean, and we're not far fromAppalachia.
I mean it's part of Ohio, HalfOhio is Appalachia around here,
but I'm sure, wherever you're at, if you're listening to the
podcast, I mean I don't care ifyou're in Europe.
(22:28):
I mean there's rural parts ofFrance that you could go visit.
Usually an hour will get yousomewhere yeah, that's rural,
that they're growing things orthey're making something.
You know, my one of my favoritethings is we went into, we were
in Italy and we went, we made aburrata.
So we were, you know, we got tosee it made and we got to put
our hands in it and it was, itwas a cool thing, you know, it
(22:50):
was like doing something.
You know that I grew up in thecity.
I've been in the city my wholelife.
You know, I'm kind of scared ofthe woods.
You know, I think there's weirdthings in the woods, you know,
and it's and I feel comfort likeI could be in the worst
neighborhood in America and I'dprobably feel more safe there
than if I was in the woodssomewhere.
Right, but you know, if youhave an idea, know that there
(23:13):
are resources out there for you.
There's places you can go.
You mentioned the greenumbrella.
Speaker 2 (23:18):
Are there If you have an idea.
Actually an idea can change theworld, which is a pretty
beautiful thing.
If you think about it.
One little idea can can have abutterfly effect that is
affecting everybody.
That's kind of what.
Um, if you look at humanhistory, you see these
inflection points, you know, andso um, I mean we're doing that.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I did that, we.
I mean that happened with thecompany we started.
It's here at my coworking space.
It happens all the time.
I mean it's it's.
It's happening right now, wherewe're on the podcast, we're
talking and people are listeningto this, right.
So it's little things thatcould spread ideas, right, and
that's the thing.
Yeah, it's, it's, it's can.
How do these ideas spread?
How do we?
How do we make money and dogood at the same time?
(24:01):
Possibly there's people outthere that are attracted to that
concept.
The problem I always see withstartup people is they've got a
nine to five gig right.
They're working somewhere Firsttime, first time entrepreneurs.
Yeah, maybe first timeentrepreneurs that didn't.
Speaker 2 (24:17):
They didn't get the right the first time, and then
they didn't ever made the jumpagain.
Speaker 1 (24:21):
Yeah Well, I mean, I could do whatever now because I
work for myself, you know.
But you've got people thatyounger.
They have that nine to five.
Maybe they just bought a house,maybe they got a kid or two.
They have responsibilities totheir family.
They want to get out of thatnine to five world and they want
to build something.
They want to do somethingartisan.
Right, you see it with Etsypeople all the time.
(24:41):
But there's so much competitionon Etsy Most folks don't know
how to build a Shopify store anddrive traffic.
Right, I would say affiliatesare a good way to do it right
now.
If there's anything, maybestart a YouTube channel, do
those kinds of things.
But you have to find time inyour day to be able to do this
(25:02):
work and you have to find waysto put it out there.
There may not be investors forwhat your idea is.
You may just have to do thework yourself.
And you know, use whateverextra money you've got saved up.
Try to find time at night onthe weekends to to do these
things and figure out a way tomarket your business somehow.
Speaker 2 (25:25):
If you are interested in those.
You know Etsy style, you knowhandmade um, artisan um
businesses and and businessmodels.
Uh, I'd encourage also, youknow these, these are
traditional positions that folksdo apprenticeships for and you
(25:46):
know that whole apprenticeshipkind of format has disappeared.
Um, so, endeavor to like, findfolks that are, you know,
masters in that craft, and if itreally means so much to you,
then that's, you know that'skind of the approach.
You should see how they do itand see if you can learn from
them.
Speaker 1 (26:05):
Network in your own community essentially yeah.
And your own, your own friendsgroup, right?
I mean there's or there's,there's, there's craft groups
you can kind of get into andfind that you could talk to
those folks.
Maybe you find somebody likeyou're talking about in one of
those groups.
But whatever it is you're doingand I think a lot of people too
they want to start a t-shirtcompany or something real basic,
(26:27):
right that they think that, oh,I'm going to do drop shipping
or I'm going to do this thingthat's going to make me a whole
bunch of money and I'll have toput a whole bunch of time into
it.
Well then, the flip side ofthat business, that's one Etsy
business, right.
Then the flip side of thatbusiness is something that is
actually a craft that takes time, that you can use your hands
doing, that.
You can build things on theweekends or at night or whatever
, and everybody's got thesereally creative ideas.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Whenever I go on sites like that, I'm like, wow,
that's that was, that's a goodidea, that's cool that they did
that.
Yeah Well, um, I agree, and it'swhat we're trying.
So there's, we're also trying tobuild a network of these makers
across America and kind ofcategorize it by craft, the
first one being textiles andgarment making.
Textile crafts includes, youknow, the, the raw material,
(27:19):
from the spinning of the yarn tothe weaving of the actual
fabric, and then you knowprinting, whether it's block
printing or screen printing, um,and then the garment making, or
the product making, so makingthe clothing, or you know, bags,
accessories, um and so, insteadof going, you know, I see a
future where, instead of goingto the mall to buy something in
(27:44):
the you know most sustainablefuture, um, you know, you're,
you're, you've, you've got anapp like DoorDash that you log
in and you see some sort ofclothing you like.
You get to choose the fabric,you do a 360 spin to do a
perfect fit, and then thecentral distribution laser cuts
the fabric, sends it to thelocal sewer, that's on the
(28:07):
network.
They finish it and if they havea tailoring shop, the client
can go in, get it, you know,fitted, and then they also have
a point of contact in case theyneed it to be mended.
Wow, that'd be wild.
I'd use that.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
Cloudsonecom.
Cloudsonecom.
Oh man, well, jeremy, this hasbeen enlightening.
If somebody wants to get a holdof your business, right, they
want to learn more about whatyou're doing, or they want to
get in touch with Alloy or justchat with you about handmade
things and startups, how do theyreach you?
(28:44):
How do they find your company?
How do they find Alloy?
How do they find if you want toshare your personal information
?
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Yeah, let's see you can go to FritzMFG.
Yeah, um, let's see you can goto, uh, fritz M F Gcom.
Speaker 1 (28:59):
Okay, Is it all on there?
Is that like a?
Does that get them everythingyou're doing?
Speaker 2 (29:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
Okay, what about like a LinkedIn or something?
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Oh, linkedin, jeremy Fritz hand linkedincom forward.
Slash in, slash, fritz hand.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
F?
R I T-I-T-Z-H-A-N-D.
There you go, yep, and we'llput it in the show notes, guys.
So if you're listening on apodcast, you know you go to our
side, hustle dot money, or youjust go into the podcast
description and you will be ableto find these links.
Thanks for having me, I love it, jeremy?
Yeah, this is.
(29:31):
We don't always get to talkabout fabrics or handmade stuff
on this show.
We're usually talking about,you know, vending machines or
real estate or something likethat.
So this is.
It's exciting to have somediversity and some different
industries in here.
It's good to be here.
Yeah, all right.
Well, thank you, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, thanks for joiningus on this week's episode of
Side Hustle City.
Well, you've heard from ourguests.
(29:52):
Now let's hear from you.
Join our community on Facebook,side Hustle City.
It's a group where people shareideas, share their
inspirational stories andmotivate each other to be
successful and turn their sidehustle into their main hustle.
We'll see you there and we'llsee you next week on the show.
Thank you.
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