Monthly Archives: May 2020

Charlotte Community Talk: Jordan Dollard



As we debate the future of brick-and-mortar retail, pop-up markets have attracted shoppers in greater numbers than ever. We have quite a few of them here in Charlotte, and a lot of you have probably visited one to do some holiday shopping during December. Someone who has really grabbed ahold of the idea of organizing pop-ups ins Jordan Dollard, of Esther and Elsa. Once a retail store owner herself, Jordan changed gears to organizing markets for a number of popular venues — and business has taken off.


Charlotte Community Talk: Andrew Wilen



If you’ve turned on your TV on a Saturday morning.. or caught a news show with a cooking segment.. chances are, you’ve seen Chef Alyssa doing her favorite thing for the cameras. In just 7 years, Alyssa Wilen and her husband, Andrew, have gone from hosting her first cooking class… to a new kitchen, catered lunches, take-home meals, and now, home delivery and online classes to still reach out to the community that can’t get enough of her. The online classes are just one way Chef Alyssa’s Kitchen has learned to grow and be flexible, in trying times that cut 95% of the beloved brand’s revenue in a very short time. Andrew Wilen joins to tell us about their growth, and more recently, their pivot.


Charlotte Community Talk: Kristin Beck



There are plenty of social challenges in Charlotte, and gratefully, also a great number of non-profit organizations tackling those challenges, too. The annual SEED20 program is just one effort from Social Venture Partners that identifies and connects the community to some of the most innovative ideas for solving social problems. Social Venture Partners has invested more than $1.5 million dollars in 21 organizations since 2005, in addition to $350-thousand dollars just for SEED20 since 2012. That is a lot of good for our community! And SVP has just named a new SEED20 class in its first-ever online celebration and vote. Kristin Beck is joining us on Charlotte Real Estate Talk to tell us how this all works.