How local founders bring the power of place wherever they go

People start businesses for countless reasons. For independence, for adventure, for a legacy. But regardless of why they start, the act of opening a business has reverberations that carry far and wide. 

The cumulative effect of each mom-and-pop shop, each coffee house, each art gallery? Home. And home isn’t built in a day. It’s slowly built by people who are crazy enough to make their ideas happen. The people who look at the “for lease” sign on a storefront and have visions of what the future could hold. 

In a world where homogenization is killing our sense of place, independently owned businesses stand as beacons of identity. 

Entrepreneurs are a boon to small towns across the U.S. The economic impact of local businesses is clear. Small business owners employ 56 million workers and bring in over $16 trillion in revenue. But one shouldn’t overlook the impacts that aren’t easily measured. They provide spaces for people to gather, boost hometown pride, and ultimately, drive social cohesion. Because of them, people can feel they belong.

A place to feel seen in Beacon, New York

Known for its historic charm and fall foliage, Beacon, New York has been called the coolest small town in America. When Andrea Podob and Carolyn Baccaro landed in this upstate community, they were tired of Brooklyn.

“I didn’t want to be in the city anymore, and Beacon is the type of place where you can create a different life for yourself,” says Andrea.

Andrea and Carolyn joined forces to open Hyperbole, a handmade goods store and art gallery, on the town’s Main Street in 2019. A browse through their space—now a community favorite— reveals expertly crafted clothing, jewelry, and original art. 

Hyperbole offers a place for independent designers and local artists to be seen. Giving visibility to emerging creatives is the core of Hyperbole’s mission. 

“We had a lot of friends who make their own jewelry or clothing or some type of craft. We wanted to give them a place where they could sell their work.”

Andrea feels the vision she and Carolyn brought to life in Beacon simply wouldn’t have been attainable in the city. The artists’ scene in Beacon is attracting young people and keeping them there. Small towns like Beacon are proving to be the best places to launch a thoughtful brand.

“It’s more affordable to be a creative here than in the city, or any big city for that matter. You have the mental and physical space to create.”

Hyperbole is just one of a number of vibrant stores dotting Beacon’s Main Street. Andrea and Carolyn are part of a close network of shops that include their neighbors King + Curated, Little King, and Miss Tea.

A place to gather in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Walk into Virgina Johnson’s 4,000 square-foot space in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and you’ll hear the whirring of Bernina sewing machines and the dense chatter of patrons. Gather Here is a yarn store and sewing studio, and its name has double meaning, pointing to its role as a community hub and the knitting technique. Locals come to buy crafting supplies, take knitting classes, use the equipment, or just meet other crafters.

“We believe that everybody is a maker and that anybody can make something,” says Virginia, who opened Gather Here in 2011. “There is something amazing about craft. When you enter a space that is centered around fiber arts, you immediately have something in common with these other people.” 

Born in Luzon, Philippines, Virginia is a self-proclaimed Navy brat who lived in dozens of towns and cities, always adjusting to a new school, new neighbors. Stitching is something that held her together no matter where she was. When she settled in Cambridge, she felt Gather Here could be a way to replicate the sense of community and craft that made her feel at home. 

“I’m not originally from Massachusetts, so I wanted to find a way to put down roots,” says Virginia.

“I figured if I build it, they will come. And they did.”

What sociologists call third places—social environments that aren’t home or work—are disappearing. Gather Here bucks this trend, providing a place where people can connect. Throughout Cambridge, spaces like Gather Here, Albertine Press, Bōm Dough, and We Thieves are using creativity to drive community engagement.

Virginia has always seen craft as a source of shared experience.

“My craft skills came from my grandma, who was just a badass in every definition,” says Virginia. “In my Filipina heritage, we’re always looking to take care of one another—not just in the family sense, but in a community sense.” 

A place to share culture in Tiburon, California

When Hector left his home in Monterrey, Mexico twenty years ago, he sought to keep his culture alive in Tiburon, California. Similar to Virginia, he decided to do this through a brand that had community at its center.

“My mom would send me care packages of hot sauce made from our family recipe. Friends started telling me that it was such a good hot sauce—that I should bottle and sell it.”

Tia Lupita began as a single jalapeño hot sauce in 2017 and now the brand’s sustainably sourced salsas, chips and tortillas are sold in national retail chains as well as online. Hector even landed on Shark Tank.

The mission of Tia Lupita is in its name. Lupita is the name of Hector’s mother. And tia is Spanish for aunt, often used as a term of endearment. 

“People asked why I called it Tia Lupita and not Mama Lupita. My answer is yes, she’s my mom, but she’s your aunt. That’s my way of welcoming you to our family and our community.”

Those who support Tia Lupita also support the Mexican communities that grow its ingredients. One of Hector’s special ingredients is cactus, or nopales, grown in the northeastern region of Mexico. 

“Nopales can grow in deserted, barren land, and farming nopales is a way people are able to still make a living off their land.”

Through Tia Lupita, Hector has cultivated a sense of home not only for himself, but for the fans of his brand, and for farming communities in Mexico.

Commerce as a universal, connecting force

Though Hector, Virginia, and Andrea and Carolyn had different journeys that led them to the small communities they chose, they all have something in common. Whether they hailed from Mexico, the Philippines, or just downstate, they used the power of entrepreneurship to make their new homes feel like home. Opening a business was a way of putting a stake in the ground. 

And they aren’t alone in their states. From 2022 to 2023, the number of new Shopify stores grew by nearly 49% in California, 67% in Massachusetts, and 43% in New York. But it’s more than numbers.

“There are so many stats about what small businesses do for their communities, it’s easy to just think of it as statistics, and not think about how small businesses affect your actual life,” says Virginia. 

“Business owners are often the ones investing in their own communities, volunteering in schools, responding to the needs of neighbors—they’re the ones that care.”