12 Creative Entrepreneurs You Should Know About for Small Business Saturday 2019

Here at Marigold & Grey, one of the most rewarding things that we do (besides creating custom and pre-designed curated gift boxes for corporate events, wedding welcome, and ongoing client appreciation) is actually getting to work with the small business owners who create the goods that make up our gift sets! We also love collaborating with other business owners by appearing on their podcasts, speaking at their educational conferences, and even getting to know them while having them as our clients. We love supporting fellow small business owners and there's no better time to give them some extra love than on Small Business Saturday!

This list was VERY hard to compile since there are so many we'd love to recognize. But nonetheless...drumroll...here is our list for 2019! 

TYLER WHITMORE OF TYLER WHITMORE INTERIORS

If you ever suffer a serious building fire and find yourself without a place to operate your business amidst a bazillion client deadlines, trust me when I tell you that Tyler is the next-door neighbor you want to have! As you may have already read here, she opened her doors to us on the morning of our building fire, handed us a spare set of her studio keys, and told us to make ourselves at home and "do our thing." Her generosity has been nothing short of a Godsend to us as we've worked to rebuild the business over the last several months. From allowing us to move in for a few days to pull off our holiday photoshoot to lending us materials she had in her inventory like rugs and fabric so we can properly style our projects to be photographed before they go out the door, we all secretly refer to her as our "Fairy God-Neighbor." On top of being a kind and generous soul, she is an amazingly talented interior designer and owner of a successful and highly sought-after real estate staging business in the Washington, DC area. You can learn more about her and her services here. 

Image credit: Tyler Whitmore Interiors

JC OF CAPITOL KETTLECORN

We especially love supporting local small businesses and JC of Capitol Kettlecorn is certainly no exception. When we reached out to him with interest in partnering with him on wedding welcome gifts and corporate events by including his popcorn in our gift boxes, he didn't just send us one sample bag and call it a day. Not JC. He physically showed up to our studio in person and delivered a huge box of samples of all flavors in all sizes. His Washington, DC-inspired flavors include Filibuster Butter, Constitutional Cheddar, and Democratic Detox. He's been amazing to partner with this holiday season and we can't wait to include his brand in more of our custom gift design projects into 2020 and in the years to come! You can buy his popcorn here. 

Image credit: Capitol Kettlecorn

JENNY & RICK MUFFLER OF JUST WRITE STUDIOS

We have partnered with Jenny and Rick for several years and it's been one of the best partnerships we've ever had. From calligraphy to graphic design to engraving, Jenny and Rick are the most talented husband & wife duo and go above and beyond to help us consistently look good in front of our clients. In addition to helping us with welcome letters, booklets, and gift tags for our custom gift design projects, they do a ton of work for high-end weddings planners, engaged couples, and some corporate projects as well. You can meet them here.

Image credit: Just Write Studios

MELISSA DORN OF LISSA RYAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Melissa spends so much time at Studio Marigold & Grey that we might as well consider her a full-time member of our team. She's definitely become part of the family! We rely on her to photograph our finished gift projects which is essential to keeping our portfolio current. She rolls with the punches, has a positive attitude, and is a breath of fresh air each time she visits. But don't mistake her laid back personality for being lax on the job. Quite the contrary! Her attention to detail and commitment to getting the perfect shot each and every time are second to none. Considering she is so insanely busy running her successful fine art wedding photography business in the DC area (and beyond!), we consider ourselves very lucky to have her! You can learn more about her and see her breathtakingly beautiful work here.

Image credit: Michael & Carina Photography

JON'LL BOYD OF COMPLETELY YOURS EVENTS + THE PLANNERS SUITE CONFERENCE

Not only does Jon'll plan, design, and execute large-scale weddings and corporate events to perfection, she also pours her time and energy and knowledge into other upcoming planners to help them do the same. One of the ways she does this is by hosting her annual conference called 'The Planners Suite.' It's a mixture of main stage conceptual presentations, hands-on interactive workshops where attendees break out into smaller groups, an opening networking mixer, and even a formal gala to close out the event! Her personality is magnetic. She's an encourager by nature, but don't worry, she isn't afraid to tell you the cold hard truth if you need to hear it if it means it will better you as a business owner and in turn, benefit your business. I am so honored to be speaking at her 2020 event all about innovation in business versus imitation, a topic I'm super passionate about! You can meet Jon'll and learn more about her event planning business here and her educational opportunities here. 

Image credit: Chip Dizard Weddings

Image credit: Kirth Bob Photography

VICKY THEODOROU OF HEIRLOOM CATERING & EVENT DESIGN

Quite simply, Vicky of Heirloom Catering makes food stylish. She comes up with the most incredibly unique, innovative, and eye-catching ways to display her culinary creations. Oh, and the food is delicious too! We've done client gifting for Vicky, been involved in several editorial shoots with her, have even hired her for a few events, and even featured her on our blog for a special 'Holiday Hostess' series. She's hard-working, passionate about her craft, and her attention to detail is second to none. You can learn more about her and Heirloom here. 

Image credit: Andrew Propp of Washingtonian

Image credit: The Every Girl

PINAR OF PINAR'S PATISSERIE

To be fully transparent, we only recently discovered Pinar and her cookie creations and I'm so glad we did. After only a couple of months of working together, we've realized that she can take any idea we have and bring it to life in the form of a cookie. Oh and they taste good too! But even more than that, she's reliable, extremely responsive, and an all-around joy to work with. We look forward to more projects with her in 2020 and beyond! Rumor has it she'll even be competing in the Food Network's Christmas Cookie Challenge which airs on December 9, 2019! In the meantime, you can see more of her work here. 

Image credit: Pinar's Patisserie

NATARSHA WRIGHT OF 'THE PURPOSE TO CREATE' PODCAST

I first met Natarsha when she attended Tuesday Together meetings which I led out of my home several years ago as part of the Rising Tide Society community, now owned and operated by Honeybook. She was there networking and making connections for her wedding photography business, Natarsha Wright Photography. Since then, oh my goodness, this highly driven entrepreneur has accomplished so much! She's expanded her photography offerings beyond weddings to now focus on brand photography for creative entrepreneurs and her commitment to the creative community doesn't stop there. She also began a podcast called 'Purpose to Create' geared towards helping creative small business owners up-level their brands. I was lucky enough to be a guest on her podcast and we had an absolute blast together. Natarsha is funny, authentic, super smart, and the type of person who just lights up the room. The episode we did together airs in December but in the meantime, check out all of her episodes and subscribe to the podcast here. You can check out her entire website here including her current photography offerings and opportunities for mentoring and education! 

Image credit: Darika Harris

LAUREN & RACHEL OF SWEET ROOT VILLAGE

This powerhouse duo behind the DC-area floral design business Sweet Root Village is the perfect combination of natural born talent and old fashioned hustle all wrapped up into one. As artistic as they are, don't underestimate them. They are equally as business savvy! While they've been featured in almost every national wedding publication around and their business continues to grow leaps and bounds year after year, they remain humble and hard working and never lose sight of the fundamentals: building a solid team and treating clients and fellow vendors incredibly well. As busy as they are, they still make time to pour into other small businesses in the community. Case in point: During their busy fall season when our fire occurred this past September, they sent six of their team members (including themselves) over to help us assemble gifts, pack boxes, and get things shipped out the door in time to meet a major deadline. We were falling more and more behind due to losing our studio space and having to wait on replacement inventory, but they dropped everything to come and help us and it's a gesture I will never forget. I cannot wait to pay it forward to another business owner in need just like they did for us that day. You can meet Lauren and Rachel and Team Sweet Root here along with their gorgeous floral creations!

Image credit: Sweet Root Village

DONI BUCKLER OF THE SCRUB BAR

We've had the pleasure of partnering with Doni for the last couple of years and she's one of the most open minded, client focused, hard working vendors we've ever had. On top of owning and operating a full-time salon and spa in Southern Maryland, she also runs The Scrub Bar which means she's cranking out bath bombs, body scrubs, lotions and more. (And this is on top of being an active mom of three!) We consider her to be some kind of superwoman because on top of all she has on her plate, she still somehow manages to answer emails quickly and no matter what, she never misses our deadlines. You can learn more about Doni and her business here. 

Image credit: The Scrub Bar

STEVE & ERIN SOK OF SOK VISION

We credit Steve with our very first brand promo video. To be honest, I didn't even want to do one because I hate being in front of the camera. But thanks to his attention to detail in getting us prepped for film day along with his calm disposition once we began shooting, the experience was out of a dream. We have a few other projects with Sok Vision lined up in the near future and cannot wait to reveal them to you. In the meantime, you can meet this husband and wife duo here. 

Image credit: Elizabeth Fogarty Photography

JERROD SMITH OF SHOTWELL CANDY CO.

Imagine being a corporate attorney and coming home at 8:30 pm and being tired from a long day at the office but feeling so passionate about something that you happily devote several hours of work to your side hustle. Oh, and with a wife and three kids as well. This is the story of Jerrod Smith of Shotwell Candy and how his passion for caramels made with the freshest of ingredients lured him away from a career in law into the world of entrepreneurship! Jerrod started small and through his strong work ethic and commitment to quality, his business has grown tremendously. We've had the pleasure of partnering with him for the last couple of years and certainly way more this year as he's featured all throughout our 2019 Ready-to-Ship Holiday Collection! He's a dream to work with. He's positive, accommodating, always on time, and not to mention, his caramels are delicious! You can meet Jerrod and his business here. 

Image credit: Shotwell Candy Co.

I really hope you've enjoyed getting to know these super special individuals and learning more about their businesses. I hope you'll do whatever you can to support them and hopefully even share them with your own network of friends and family. When you make the conscious decision to support a small business, you really do make a huge difference. 

And p.s....if you missed the last small business lineup we did in honor of Small Business Saturday, don't worry, you can still see it here!