Bobcat Neighborhood

Valerie J. Allen, BBA ’88

Valerie J. Allen

BBA ’88, a graduate of OHIO’s College of Business and owner of Valerie Allen Counseling, LLC

Tell us a little bit about your business.

I do relationship counseling with couples, and often their issues are the result of infidelity and a breakdown of trust. I’ve been in business for six and a half years in West Chester, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati.

由于冠状病毒的影响和社会距离措施，你是否看到寻求你服务的人有所增加?

这种情况一直很稳定，因为我仍然有能力与那些想要切换到电话或视频会议的人交谈. I also have people who are willing to come into the office. I'm just doing that with more sanitizing and social distancing. I have my office set up where I am farther away and not sitting right up close. I don't greet them at the door. I stagger my appointments, so when people come in, they're not waiting in the waiting room.

Social distancing orders have caused a lot of stress with families and with couples. It’s interesting because, at first, it almost seemed like the stress was so big and so new, and they knew that they couldn’t control it, so it made everything else in their lives seem not as important. They kind of banded together against this big pain. They were like, “OK, we can do this.” But as it’s dragged on, 人们继续粘在一起，他们互相生气，这变得更有压力. And I also find that there's some grief that goes along with this. I have people who feel loss for their graduating seniors, and people who feel loss for vacations that they were going on.

What kind of role did Ohio University play in your career as a business owner?

Interestingly, my undergraduate degree from OU is in business marketing, 所以我在newbb电子平台获得的学位与其说是帮助我成为一名治疗师，不如说是帮助我成为一名商人. I went on to get my master's degree at the University of Dayton. A lot of therapists don't have a lot of business acumen; it's a very different thought process. So, I’ve found it to be an advantage to have my business degree from OU to help me in my counseling business. And, on the other side of it, I learned a lot about life and a lot about relationships at OU. My husband is also a Bobcat, and he has his marketing degree from OU as well, so everything I learned, and continue to learn really, through my relationship with my husband becomes very valuable for me to draw on with my work.

Counseling is, in a lot of ways, a right-brained thing. I use a lot of intuition, a lot of interpersonal communication, 但在市场营销中，更多的是关注左脑活动，比如知道如何以发展业务和寻找客户的意图来推销自己, which isn't something that counseling people really learn how to do in their studies. The accounting, the finances, the structure of my business, those are the kind of things I learned at OU.

How did you find out about the Bobcat Neighborhood, and what prompted you to join?

I think I saw it on the Facebook group, “You know you went to OU if,” and I thought it was a great opportunity to be recognized as someone who is a business owner and a Bobcat. 这不仅是推广我自己的生意的好方法，而且让公众知道他们可以通过在商店购物或利用校友拥有的企业的服务来支持校友网络.

What advice would you offer to fellow Bobcats who are thinking about starting their own business?

I guess the thing that comes up for me is that as you're graduating, you don't need to know exactly what you're going to do. Your life will unfold as mine did. I changed my career direction at age 40. I was in marketing, so I was in the business world, and then I was a stay-at-home mom for a while and then just decided to do something completely different. So, you don't have to know right now. And, if you do want to start your own business, 我认为你应该记得把自己放在那里并承担风险，因为如果你不能意识到前面会有风险，你就看不到任何潜在的回报.

Ann Gynn, BSJ ’93

Ann Gynn

BSJ ’93, graduate of OHIO’s Honors Tutorial College and owner of G Force Communication
 

Tell us a little bit about your business.

I started, solely own, and operate G Force Communications. When I need people (expertise), then I work with contractors including some Bobcats. My go-to graphic designer is a graduate from OHIO (Stacy Vickroy, BSJ ’92). I have a communications consulting practice, so I help organizations plan marketing and PR strategies and then I help them implement their strategies. 我在接触营销(内容营销协会-教育资源)工作，在那里我一直是编辑顾问, but I also work with small and medium businesses who don’t have marketing staff so they outsource. I’m based in Cleveland, specifically Rocky River, where I do special initiatives that involve all parts of the city. For example, in 2014, Cleveland hosted the Gay Games, which is an inclusive event that is held around the world. It started in 1982 and it’s an equal playing field for everyone focused on inclusivity for LGBTQIA+. It was recently held in Cleveland and Akron and I led the marketing on that.

I was hired out of college as a reporter and editor working for Gannett in Indiana. I was hired after interviewing with them on campus. In 2000, I moved back to Cleveland where my family is from and where I wanted to live long term, which put me into a marketing related job. I was bored out of my mind in the 9-5 world, so when I realized I wasn’t a clock watcher, I started looking for outside opportunities. 一个了解我的技能和无聊程度的人给了我一个9个月的合同，为世界上最长的航班处理公关, which was in Dayton during the 100th anniversary of flight in 2003. I initially thought, it’ll be a good resume builder, but then I decided to go out on my own.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business?

Some clients have put projects on hold; others have shifted what they’re doing. For Content Marketing I’m writing content about COVID-19, so their traffic has increased. Another client has seen business increase and has more traffic to their website, so they started a new marketing campaign. So, it’s been a mix of that.

What role did Ohio University play in your success as a business owner?

Looking back, I think my experience at OHIO was invaluable to what I do today. It started with being a journalism major. Having to take the breadth and diversity of courses like economics or statistics which, at the time, I wasn’t thrilled to take, taught me how to manage the learning process. This was invaluable to me as a reporter when I had to write articles about particle emissions, or today, when I deal with clients from all sorts of industries that aren’t my expertise. To be able to work with them and understand their process and industry trends is the skill. I get topics that I don’t necessary like, that’s mundane, but they were paying me to write about it, so even when I think it’s boring, that’s okay.

It’s that ability to learn and know how to learn, and that’s something people don’t appreciate enough, especially in specialization areas. I had both the pleasure and requirement to have to take a lot of subjects at OHIO, which helped me in my career.

The Post was the second invaluable experience I had. I had the privilege of being the editor-in-chief of The Post, which led me to understand the bigger picture. The editorial independence given to The Post gave me a new responsibility that I didn’t know I could take on. As I look back now, it gave me the courage to take on challenges and deal with people and businesses in my career.

What does it mean to you to be a part of the Bobcat Neighborhood?

It was one of those things that I just noticed recently. I saw the opportunity to sign up, and I thought it was a great idea, and I looked forward to figuring out how to work together with fellow Bobcats. I can be helpful to another business or they can help me. All of my business is based on referral work and people I have connections to, so that’s where the Bobcat connections are powerful ones. I might meet with someone who is a Bobcat, but who I’m not familiar with, and because we both went to OHIO we already have a shared experience to talk about together. Sharing the Athens experience and being on campus at OHIO is really special. 我在商界遇到的同事可以分享这个机会，你们熟悉彼此的语言和知识基础. You can say “Scripps,” and they immediately know what you mean, which is really fun.

Have you connected with any fellow Bobcats through your business?

I have a Bobcat in half my clients. I work with a lot of Bobcats, including people who graduated from the ’80s to the 2000s, so it’s fun. The graphic designer I work with on a freelance basis was the graphics/design editor for The Post during my junior year. We published the paper every night, so there would be a different graphics editor every night of the week. It turns out Stacy Vickroy was the design editor, so when I was named editor, she and I worked together for two weeks and then she left school for an appendectomy, and we started working together again 10 years later. You never know when you’re going to run into a Bobcat or when they’ll pop back up in your life. She graduated in ’92 and I graduated in ’93, and we started working together in 2004.

What advice would you offer to your fellow Bobcats who may be considering starting a business?

Don’t start a business until you’ve worked for someone else. I did some adjunct teaching at Cleveland State, and I still talk to people now who are like “that’s what I want to do,” who see the glamorous side of self-start-ups, 但你必须在其他环境中工作，才能明白不是每个人都以你的方式看待事情，有时你不得不工作，做一些你不想做的事情. It’s helpful to have worked for other people before you start your own business.

The other thing is to have a plan, but don’t perfect your plan. I’m very practical, and I used to think I would need to have a two-income family and find a husband before I went out on my own. I needed a steady income. So, 我的建议是把钱存起来，这样你就可以自由地走出去，而不是等待事情变得完美, because things won’t be perfect. Look for opportunities out there and take advantage of them smartly, but plan for it.

Josh Thomas, BSHCS ’97, and Jessica Thomas, BA ’99  

Josh Thomas

BSHCS ’97, a graduate of the Patton College of Education

Jessica Thomas

BA ’99, a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences, co-owners of Brenen’s Coffee Café

Tell us a little bit about your business.

We are a coffee shop and deli. We purchased the business in 2000 from the previous owners. Josh managed the business from 1997-2000 with Jessica coming on board to help manage in 1999.  We currently employ between 26-30 part-time employees. We are located in Athens.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business?  Tell us more about the free meal initiative Brenen’s has sponsored during the COVID-19 outbreak?

Oh, absolutely! We're were down around 80 percent in sales for the months of March and April. The free boxed lunches for those in need was an idea by Brent (BA ’01) and Sara (BSED ’97) Hartman of O'Nail-Hartman Insurance here in Athens. We are customers of his, 他想通过购买30盒盒装午餐来表示对我们的支持，然后我们将盒装午餐分发给社区. It was a win-win. It gave us some much-needed business and gave the community some needed free meals. From there it literally snowballed, and we are still doing them Monday-Saturday and will be through at least June 12 if not longer.

What role did Ohio University play in your success as a business owner?

Obviously, Josh's degree prepared him for his role as manager then owner. While Jessica's degree was in a different field, she, as well as Josh, spent all her years at OU working in dining services. This experience, coupled with being able to get to know the community as a whole, helped prepare her for understanding of what Athens needs and has to offer when running a business here. In our early years, we got to know many people at Ohio University and developed a great town/gown working relationship.  

What does it mean to you to be a part of the Bobcat Neighborhood?

我们是newbb电子平台社区的新成员，但我们认为这是与大学再次合作展示校友和他们的企业的好方法. It's especially nice to have this as a resource for any alumni looking to work with other alumni. I can't say that we've had anyone specifically mention using it to find us, but I know we've receive multiple donations for the free lunches from other alumni around the country, 我不禁认为，newbb电子平台社区将是一个很好的起点，任何人都希望支持他们的公开大学校友.

Have you connected with any fellow Bobcats through your business?

Yes, weekly it seems like. Especially now. There have been multiple stories, 但我可以告诉你，就在最近，我们有游行110的校友和现任会员newbb电子平台，为盒饭项目捐款. During the phone call, 他们特别想让我们知道，当他们想起他们在雅典的时光时，我们的企业是他们认为的“家”. 知道你的生意对别人来说意义重大，即使他们已经离开很多年了，这是一种非常特别的感觉. You feel like you're doing something right. 在过去的几个月里，我们经历了很多这样的时刻，当人们告诉我们这样的事情时，我们真的无法表达我们的感激之情.

What advice would you offer to your fellow Bobcats who may be considering starting a business?

Work hard, every day. 太多的人认为拥有自己的企业是一件有趣的事情，他们是老板，可以来来去去，只是监督事情. Unless you have the greatest product in the world that people can't live without, it probably won't go that way. The old saying of "You get out what you put in" is so true when it comes to owning your own business. The hard work will almost always pay off, but you have to be patient and be persistent. Your customers may not even realize it at the time, but they will appreciate your effort and will become loyal customers. Just stay focused and work hard, and all the good things you want will come to you in time.

Laura (Brooks) Valls,
 BFA ’12

Laura (Brooks) Valls

BFA ’12, a graduate of the College of Fine Arts and owner of Ellebrux

Tell us a little bit about your business.

I am the creator of Cincinnati-based jewelry and fine-art brand Ellebrux. I create colorful hand-painted and laser-cut jewelry, embroidered landscape paintings, and gifts. Ellebrux is a one-woman business, and I sell my work in small shops around the Midwest, in person at indie craft shows, and on my website. 我使用充满活力的颜色和纹理组合来创造轻松愉快的珠宝和艺术，灵感来自怀旧, nature and a love of color. All of my work is designed, laser-cut, and hand-painted in my studio where I also run my online store.

I started my business in 2014 as a way to create a career around my artwork. Being an entrepreneur allows me to make my own hours, be my own boss, and create things I’m passionate about.

In addition to my online shop, I have created album artwork and poster design, worked in partnership with brands like Maker’s Mark for creative experiences, and make custom embroidered paintings. In 2018, Ellebrux was voted into the top three Indie Craft Show Vendors in Cincinnati, and my work has been featured in many local and regional gift guides and publications.

How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your business?

Before COVID-19, I made the majority of my sales at indie craft fairs around the Midwest, which are in-person events where I set up a booth and sell to consumers directly. I participate in these events almost every weekend from May through December, and now those events are cancelled or held online. This has forced me to move my business completely online and has impacted sales and the growth of my business. 在我的生意中，我最喜欢的部分之一就是亲自会见我的客户，以及在手工展览日令人兴奋的喧嚣, so I hope they will be safe to attend soon.

What role did Ohio University play in your success as a business owner?

My experience at Ohio University has influenced my business infinitely. The friendly, open, 雅典的乐观氛围帮助我与社区建立联系，并享受建立业务的过程. A couple things specifically come to mind when I think of how Athens has influenced me as a maker.

During the summer of 2012 after graduation, I worked on the mural surrounding the Athens mainstay natural grocer The Farmacy. 作为一名职业艺术家，这个夏天让我看到了这种生活方式，并给了我追求它的动力. 这证实了我想每天都做艺术，为了把我的精力集中在一个可持续的创客和画家的职业生涯上，经历起起落落是值得的.

我生意成功的另一个原因是来自Alpha Omicron Pi姐妹会的持续支持. 他们一直是我生意的积极力量，并通过购买我的商品继续支持我的品牌, commissioning paintings, and sharing my work even now eight years after graduating.

What does it mean to you to be a part of the Bobcat Neighborhood?

The Bobcat Neighborhood will be a great place to connect with other businesses. 我已经在目录中发现了艺术家和小企业主，我没有意识到他们是newbb电子平台, and so I hope in the future some fellow alumni will discover my business here, too.

Have you connected with any fellow Bobcats through your business?

Two businesses stocking my jewelry and goods right now are fellow Bobcats, Handcrafted Kent and Threefold Gifts. Sometimes at shows I will make small talk with my booth neighbors, and when I discover we are both Bobcats, it always leads to a happy conversation about restaurants we crave and Athens memories. 知道我们在同一个小镇度过了许多年，有着共同的经历，我总是感到一种同志情谊. I know I’m biased, but I think Bobcats make the coolest stuff, so it’s easy to support my fellow Bobcats in the creative field!

What advice would you offer to your fellow Bobcats who may be considering starting a business?

我之所以创业，是因为我想在经济上有保障的情况下，拥有一种创造性和充实的生活. So, my advice would be to imagine the life you want to live and figure out how your business can support that. Starting a business, particularly a creative business, means that your work and life will be closely tied together, so you really have to love the work. I love what I do so much that it has been worth the sweat and the stress, and I think that makes all the difference.