In today’s very special What’s Possible episode, I am chatting with retailer: Amy Cseh. She is the owner of Schoolhouse Salvage — an architectural salvage and vintage finds warehouse in Mentor, Ohio, outside of Cleveland. 

Amy does NOT come from a retail background, and yet she has put in the effort to learn and grow a wildly successful retail business. After 8 years of business, she had the most successful sales period ever, right smack in the middle of all the chaos and shutdowns! Amy shares her journey as a business owner, what was instrumental in getting her to this point and what she’s learned along the way. 

Connect with Amy Cseh

• FB @schoolhousesalvage
• IG @schoolhousesalvage
• Schoolhousesalvage.com 

About your host, Wendy Batten

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of the Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dreams and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/ 

For more support from Wendy

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Free resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE. 

Subscribe & Review on iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rockstar, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well. Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they are also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!

XO Wendy

Extra Resources for Retailers:

Please read my Facebook post for updated information and resources for retail business owners.

Wondering what to do next in your retail business?

Download the Shop Owner’s Game Plan. It’s free and will help you plan out 7 big moves for your retail business.

In today’s very special What’s Possible episode, I am chatting with retailer Jeff Lee. He is the owner of The Vintage Nest Home & Gifts in the historic downtown of Mount Holly, North Carolina outside of Charlotte. 

Jeff shares the story of how he grew his retail business from an antique mall booth to a 10,000 square foot and addresses several of the bumps and learning lessons along the way. He’s the quintessential “accidental shopkeeper” who was a hobbyist turned store owner. I know you will relate to him and his business journey. 

Connect with Jeff Lee

• FB @thevintagenest
• IG @thevintagenesthomeandgifts
• Thevintagenesthomeandgifts.com

About your host, Wendy Batten

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of the Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dreams and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/ 

For more support from Wendy

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Free resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE. 

Subscribe & Review on iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rockstar, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well. Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they are also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!

XO Wendy

Wondering what to do next in your retail business?

Download the Shop Owner’s Game Plan. It’s free and will help you plan out 7 big moves for your retail business.

In today’s very special What’s Possible bonus episode, I am chatting with retailer Wendy Johannes. She is the  owner of WeJo in Honesdale, Pennsylvania – a reclaim, reuse and recycle shop with furniture paint, crafts, home decor and gifts.  

She’s one of my retailers in our Inner Circle who is thriving during this pandemic. I’ve been so proud of her, she has made business decisions based on her numbers. She set a goal to increase her paint sales by 50% and she did it!!! You’ll hear her story and be completely motivated to focus on a profit-creator in your retail business like WeJo did.

Connect with Wendy Johannes 

• FB @wejoarts
• IG @wendyatwejo

About your host, Wendy Batten

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of the Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dreams and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/ 

For more support from Wendy

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Free resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE. 

Subscribe & Review on iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rockstar, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well. Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they are also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!

XO Wendy

Wondering what to do next in your retail business?

Download the Shop Owner’s Game Plan. It’s free and will help you plan out 7 big moves for your retail business.

Our main job as retail business owners is to learn and get better and better. There are always going to be storms to weather and we can only strive for being prepared.

The bottom line is the retailers with core foundations are the ones who are doing exceptionally well — and even thriving — through these current times. 

In today’s episode, I have tried-and-true tips for being prepared for the worst… and how to make it out on top while building our “entrepreneurial grit.” 

Yes, I acknowledge that now is exceptionally tough for retailers. But I want to lighten the mood, share my own personal shop story about how things can go sideways at any given moment… especially when skunks are involved. 

Listen up to hear what I learned from #skunkgate.

Wondering what to do next in your retail business?

Download the Shop Owner’s Game Plan. It’s free and will help you plan out 7 big moves for your retail business.

About your host, Wendy Batten

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of the Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dreams and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/ 

For more support from Wendy

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Free resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE. 

Subscribe & Review on iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rockstar, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well. Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they are also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!

XO Wendy

When we’re in the middle of hard times, no one wants to think about the “lessons” we are learning at the same time. It’s so much easier to look back at those events ⁠—from a safe distance⁠— and reflect on our takeaways years later.

Right now, as retailers it is tough. We are facing pandemic shutdowns and change, social unrest and more.  We are too deep living in it. It’s hard to see the good right now. We are personally developing, testing our strength and stepping up to the challenges. 

I can’t help but remember the lessons I learned running my cafe years ago. I had something horrible happen in my business. I lost trust with my employees, completely lost confidence and just got tired. Luckily, my loyal customers rallied behind me and helped me realize I still had a passion.

This is a story about endurance and committed to the success of a retail business with questions to ask  yourself if the business is still viable.

You can’t make business decisions from deep inside exhaustion and being emotionally heightened. So let’s chat about this, because we’re all going through these emotions and tiredness now.

Wondering what to do next in your retail business?

Download the Shop Owner’s Game Plan. It’s free and will help you plan out 7 big moves for your retail business.

About your host, Wendy Batten

In case we haven’t met yet, I’m Wendy, a small business coach and founder of the Retailer’s Inner Circle, where I help other independent shop owners learn how to gain the right business skillsets to see more profits, paychecks, and joy as they navigate running their retail business. 

Through online classes, business coaching programs, speaking, and a top-ranked podcast, I’ve helped hundreds of retailers around the globe reclaim their dreams and see the success they want from their beautiful shops. My signature private coaching community, The Retailer’s Inner Circle, has helped retailers around the world build their retail business skill sets and confidence. 

I am proud to have been featured in several major publications, including my own business column in What Women Create magazine. I have been privileged to be a guest on top-ranked podcasts and sought-after as a guest speaker and teacher for several brands, associations, and communities that are passionate about the success of independent retailers.

When I’m not coaching, you will find me either DIYing and renovating my very imperfect old crooked cottage by the sea in the UNESCO World Heritage town of Lunenburg, NS, or blogging about our travel and RVing adventures and the weird fun things we get up to in our coastal village. I’d love to invite you to check out one of my free resources for real retailers at https://wendybatten.com/free-resources/ 

For more support from Wendy

Retailer’s Inner Circle – Join Wendy inside the best retailer’s community

Free resources for shop owners 

Hang out and connect with Wendy on IG 

All of Wendy’s programs and services for shop owners can be found HERE. 

Subscribe & Review on iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I’d love you to consider it. Subscribing means you won’t miss an episode! Click here to subscribe to iTunes!

If you want to be more of a rockstar, I’d love it if you could leave a review over on iTunes as well. Those reviews help other retailers find my podcast and they are also fun for me to go in and read. Just click here to review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. So grateful for you! Thank you!

XO Wendy

Extra Resources for Retailers:

Please read my Facebook post for updated information and resources for retail business owners.