fbpx

Meno

Like many entrepreneurs, Jerri Hobdy does not have a business background. With a Bachelor of Fine Arts and years of experience in furniture design, she has taken a more creative journey to starting her business. Leveraging her passion and expertise, Jerri has created Meno, a sustainable furniture store, and will celebrate the grand opening of her showroom in Denver on May 16th.

Designing for major furniture brands since 2013, Jerri has been afforded a unique perspective into the industry, recognizing outdated processes that could be altered for a more sustainable operation, and over the span of many years developed a business to address the issues she was witnessing. Meno is a Greek word describing a symbiotic relationship and is the ethos for Jerri’s business focused on a circular business model. Setting Meno apart from other furniture stores is the commitment to reducing waste, championing climate friendly materials, and lowering the carbon footprint of logistics.

Meno is positioned as a meeting place of meaningful sustainability and appealing design. Jerri describes her motivation saying, “My goal is to not only do things differently but to actually show the industry a fresh business model and approach that can be profitable, all while being transparent for the customers.”

The road getting here has been filled with challenges, namely barriers to accessing traditional lending capital, but through her resilience, patience, and creativity, Jerri has taken advantage of other resources available to build her business acumen and confidence. Prior to COVID-19, Jerri participated in SBDC workshops and the Leading Edge course to gain a stronger business framework. Through the SBDC’s support, Jerri was able to deepen her understanding of core business concepts and strengthen her positioning as a business owner. Jerri describes how helpful it was to have a safe space to learn and ask questions, setting her up with a strong foundation for her business.

Jerri’s advice to other entrepreneurs is to start building your network and talking about what you are creating. She encourages saying, “the more you talk about your product the more succinct your pitch becomes and the easier it is to communicate ideas to others.” She also describes the benefit small business owners have in their ability to act nimbly and to benefit from the problem solving that naturally comes with a more “patchwork” process.

Starting May 16th customers can visit Meno’s showroom in downtown Denver on 18th and Blake in the Free Market building.  The showroom features handpicked vintage furniture as well as Meno’s hand-poured home fragrance line for a hyper-local shopping experience.  Shop online and learn more at menohome.com or on Instagram at meno.home.c

Zoe’s Coffee

In May of 2008, Vaughn and Judy Pepper started a small coffee kiosk business. For many years, they dreamed of turning this kiosk into a full coffee shop. In 2012, they were able to turn this dream into a reality and they expanded into a full coffee shop—Zoe’s Coffee. They explained that location played an extremely important role in the new venture. “Judy and I established the shop based on demographics of the area.” The

Read More »
Nova Engineering

An affinity for science and its potential applications drove Manhar Karsanbhai to pursue his Bachelor of Science at Colorado University in electrical engineering. After spending several years gaining experience in semi-conducting, storage, and research and development with companies from Colorado to California, Manhar decided it was time for a change. “It’s a big leap going from corporate America to jumping in to business ownership,” he said. Nova Engineering was established in 1979 and Manhar took

Read More »
Fiesta Time Inc.

Fiesta Time Inc. is a family business that started seven years ago in Brighton, Colorado. The Jurado family opened it services with only ten tables and seventy chairs, and since then has grown to be a driving force in the party rental industry. Fiesta Time is now much more than just tables and chairs, offering a whole repertoire of frame tents, pole tents, linens, dance floors, and sound systems. Having a strong foundation is essential

Read More »
Timberleaf Trailers

Kevin Molick is a custom cabinet contractor and outdoorsman. The idea of building a teardrop trailer for his camping adventures intrigued him so he built one to suit his needs. It wasn’t long before he was getting inquires on social media about how one of these trailers could be purchased which moved him to start building more trailers. By the end of 2016 he had built and sold 12 of these custom made trailers. “We

Read More »
Old School Heros

Tom Concannon, owner of Old School Heros, had the business plans set, loans lined up, and was even doing walk throughs to lease a space for his brick and mortar sandwich shop in Thornton, a dream that had been in the making for more than 25 years and one he had been actively pursuing for the past four years. But suddenly all those plans fell away. Sound familiar? As restaurants shuttered across the country, grappling

Read More »
Mother Tucker Brewery

After decades in corporate America Deb and Scott Tucker agreed it was time to start living their dreams. So after 30 years, with one of the pair in risk management, they decided to take a calculated risk at owning their own business and started Mother Tucker Brewery. They started practicing their craft in their garage inviting neighbors to come in and taste their wares. Their brews were a hit with neighbor and friends. After many

Read More »
Skip to content