55 - Building Two Brands in Separate Cities with Andrea Metzler Artwork

Local to Legend

Local to Legend is the podcast for local business owners like you, looking for the resources and tools needed to create a scalable, profitable, simply irresistible brand. What makes local businesses different than small businesses? Local businesses have their own little ecosystems they work within. Some local business owners have the hopes of being sold to Unilever (Schmidt’s) or getting a HGTV show (Joanna Gaines) or being sold in Target (Ben & Jerry’s). Others want to be a legend in their own community where people know, love, trust, and refer them all the time. The cool thing about being a legend is it’s fairly subjective, right? We have legends in Des Moines, Iowa (my home base), but they aren’t legends in the country. We have legends in the country, but they aren’t legends in the world. What I’ve come to discover in hundreds of conversations with local business owner is this: they desire MORE for themselves. They want to expand, but how? They want to grow their business, but what do they do? They want to pivot, but what will that mean? Local to Legend is about that conversation. And I'm thrilled to have you here.

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Local to Legend

55 - Building Two Brands in Separate Cities with Andrea Metzler

March 07, 2022 • Emily Steele

In this week’s podcast episode, Emily chats with Andrea Metzler, owner of Art Terrarium in Des Moines, Iowa and Desert Rose Cactus Lounge in Bend, Oregon. Andrea joined to chat about starting a retail business and juggling two brands in two separate cities.

Andrea’s career path has given her a wide variety of experience in many different industries. From using her degree in communications from the University of Northern Iowa to work in the film industry to joining her roommates' tech startup in Austin for real estate referrals to community building for a Des Moines co-working space, Andrea learned a ton. It was an idea to host an event in the skywalk for local artists, however, that sparked Andrea’s interest in opening her own space. Creating Art Terrarium was Andrea’s first voyage into entrepreneurship on her own and she quickly had to learn the ropes of running a retail business.

Andrea walks listeners through her experience learning Shopify, sourcing inventory, hiring and managing people and what she does to work through challenges that arise. Just a few years ago, Andrea moved to Bend, Oregon, where she decided to open up another plant store, this one named Desert Rose Cactus Lounge. Now as owner of two stores in separate cities, Andrea had to cultivate a team she trusted and learn how to balance her responsibilities.

If you’ve been curious about what it’s like to build, own, & operate multiple stores from afar, listen to this episode with Andrea!

Tune in for topics like:

Andrea’s career journey
Origins of the Art Terrarium name
Advice for business partnerships
Tips for managing people
How Andrea manages two businesses in separate cities
What’s up next for Art Terrarium

Links from the episode:

Art Terrarium Instagram
Art Terrarium website
Desert Rose Cactus Lounge Instagram
Desert Rose Cactus Lounge website
Andrea’s Instagram
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