WAUPACA – Heidi Jo Schroeder bought her first camera at a rummage sale when she was 12 years old.
In 2003, her love of photography turned into a business, which she called Heidi Jo Photography.
Now, she has rebranded her business – giving it a new name and a new location in downtown Waupaca.
Blush Pictures opened on Aug. 1 in the historic Old Mead Bank on Jefferson Street.
“This is my building. I was meant to be in here,” she said. “I literally stumbled upon it. I always wanted something old with character.”
Schroeder photographs weddings throughout the state and said what spurred her to look for space was the fact that many brides-to-be wanted to meet with her in a central location.
In addition, she wanted to focus more on her maternity and children photography.
Schroeder drove past the Old Mead Bank with a friend, who told her it would be the perfect building for her.
Of course, people say to her, “You know what happened there,” referring to H.C. Mead, who was known for working around the clock at his bank and lived in a back room of the building. He was found murdered inside of the bank in October 1882. After two trials, his killer was never identified except through rumor.
Schroeder says the murder is part of the building’s history.
“As long as he stays out of my pictures, it’s good,” she said.
Schroeder said photography is something she always wanted to pursue.
She received a bachelor’s degree in business and math from college and took correspondence courses in photography through the New York Institute of Art. She also shadowed prominent wedding photographers before starting her own business.
In May 2008, she completed the E-Seed program through Fox Valley Technical College – a 15-week entrepreneurship training series.
That is when she decided to rebrand her business.
“I wanted to go with something more modern that didn’t have my name in the title,” she said. “I wanted to stay with pink, because it’s my signature.”
Schroeder, who was more of a tomboy growing up, says that pink became her life when she was pregnant and learned that the baby she was carrying was a girl. Daughter Haveah is now 2.
Schroeder decided on Blush Pictures for her new name, because she said the word “blush” can have many meanings, and she loves to capture someone blushing. As a result, pink will always be a splash with her.
“When you see it, you’ll think of Blush,” Schroeder said.
GRAND CHUTE — Dale Walker brings an unusually varied career track to his post at the Fox Valley Technical College . The Milwaukee native and family man has hopped around the country at times making a living and progressing, and said he remains a great believer in economic development.
Q: You've been in many different industries in a professional capacity. How does a person know when it's time to move on?
A: I always say (it's) when you're not making a difference. It might be time for you look where you can take your talents to have more of an impact.
Q: What brought the Fox Valley Technical College to your attention?
A: I was drawn by the Venture Center. The opportunity to teach and instruct budding entrepreneurs. I had started two businesses myself, so I felt I had something to offer people contemplating that. I taught six months in the E-Seed program (first).
Q: What's one of the first things you teach in the Venture Center?
APPLETON — The economic recession seems to be having little effect on entrepreneurship in the Fox Cities, some experts say.
"I attribute this to optimism despite the economy," said Amy Pietsch, director of Fox Valley Technical College's Venture Center. "I believe in the uncertainty principal, that the best innovations come out of times of prolonged uncertainty."
FVTC's Venture Center is among the regional resources individuals can seek advice about starting a business. While the E-Seed program at the Venture Center is geared to entrepreneurs, it also offers business support through courses and workshops.
"Our business and community leaders put into place specific programs that nurtured an economic development strategy that included small business owners and entre-preneurs," Pietsch said.
The E-Seed program is a 15-week course providing enrollees with the opportunity to develop a business plan. The program also brings expert speakers from the business community to consider legal, management, accounting, financing and marketing issues.
The Venture Center found that of the 150 people that graduated from the E-Seed program in 2007, 134 were still in business. At that time, Pietsch sat down with 50 of the entrepreneurs and found that they had created more than 200 local jobs, $13 million in gross revenue, $350,000 in sales taxes and $80,000 in property taxes collected.
Dave Lindenstruth, Appleton-based franchise owner of HuHot Mongolian Grill and Appetize Inc., said the E-Seed program was a critical part of his company's success.
"It allowed an opportunity to meet and network with entrepreneurs in various stages of business startup," he said.
When going through the E-seed program, sometimes entrepreneurs don't get the answers they expect.
"If you don't know whether you're willing to make that leap, this helps you decide and sometimes deciding not to do it is just as important as doing it," said Andrew Maracini, owner of Superior GIS Solutions LLC in Grand Chute and fall 2008 participant of the E-Seed program.
Maracini said the 15-week E-seed program was invaluable.
"The networking opportunities were incredibly helpful," he said.
Lindenstruth said knowing he wasn't alone also built his confidence.
The Farm Market Kitchen has been hatching successful entrepreneurs from its Algoma incubator for several years. The Kewaunee County News introduces one of these new business ventures in the first issue of each month.
The Kewaunee County News caught up with Charley and Cheryl Pawlosky of Oshkosh selling their Wisconsin's original brat sauce Saturday at the Green Bay Farmers Market. Old Man Charley's brat sauce is a blend of 18 ingredients in five 16-ounce flavors: original, horseradish, spicy mustard, onions and sauerkraut and hickory smoke. The Pawloskys can be reached at
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or (920) 420-4100. A Web site is under construction.
Q. You call it Wisconsin's original brat sauce. Are their other brat sauces out there?
A. There are none. We are it.
Q. You're kidding.
A. You'd think somebody else would've created one. I've been making sauces for years for family and friends. I had a steak sauce, barbecue sauce, picante, marinara, you name it. That's what I was going to market originally, until I came up with a brat sauce in January.
Q. What does it taste like?
A.You've never had a sauce like this. I've reformulated it and thickened it. It's tomato-based. Not spicy, but lots of flavor. I found out people in Wisconsin, generally, don't like spicy.
Q.Who's Old Man Charley?
A.The photo on the jar is my dad, Joseph. My kids call me Old Man Charley.
The sauce can be used wherever ketchup is used. The horseradish flavor goes well with shrimp or mozzarella sticks. A lady suggested it as a sloppy joe sauce. One customer also suggested it would be good in a bloody mary.
Q.Even more versatile than salsa?
A.The first thing I tell a customer is go home, open your refrigerator and grab your ketchup. Take it and throw it in the trash and put this in its place.
Q.So who makes the best bratwurst?
A.That's a tough one. Depends on how you cook it. Johnsonville and Klements, of course. But there are a good number of local butchers with great brats ... I don't know who makes the best brat, I just know who makes the best brat sauce.
For business owner Chris Holso, having a 6-year-old named Abby by her side all day as she helps customers isn't a distraction at all.
Abby, a golden retriever, serves as a conversation-starter as new people shuffle in to Postal Express & More on Appleton's north side. The friendly dog diverts clients' attentions in the few minutes it takes to process shipments.
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"It takes the edge off. It's definitely that ice-breaker," she said of the dog's daily presence. "She quietly waits for them to visit with her."
At some businesses, every day is Take Your Pet to Work Day. Workers find it convenient and pleasant to have their furry friends nearby. Others are welcoming to pet owners and let dogs inside while they shop.
Happy pet owners — whether they're shoppers or employees — can boost businesses' bottom lines.
Ann and Alan Noyce have it both ways. As owners of Two Paws Up Bakery in Appleton, which specializes in pet treats and products, they bring their two dogs to the store and welcome customers' well-behaved animals.
"The owners love to be able to take their pets shopping," Ann Noyce said. "There aren't that many places you can take your dog."
She said working with her black Labrador and Labrador/ pointer mix, who are "like our kids," makes the time pass. Plus, they serve as greeters.
As a business owner who makes many of the treats she sells — some are even decorated for the seasons — she is protective but not overly worried about having unfamiliar pets in the store. Most shoppers keep a watchful eye over their companions.