To Serve with Love

I’m sitting by myself, the steady thrum of others’ voices around me, and I’m looking at a white sign with neat black lettering: “WHERE HOT COFFEE AND WARM CONVERSATION FLOW.”I’ve got the hot coffee part—it’s steaming pleasantly in a glossy brown mug—and I can hear the groups talking around me. There are some college students in the corner of the room. (I can tell they’re in school because of their tired eyes trained on the laptops perched in front of them, even as they continue to hold conversation with each other.)

Drinks, Dogs, & Dreams

Entrepreneurs are sometimes the kind of people who come up with an idea and ruthlessly execute it. Others stumble into businesses ownership when their hobbies or passions lead them down a winding path of challenges and unexpected joys. Walt and Michelle James, the new owners of the Downtown Tavern, fall into the latter category. They are a pair of charitable entrepreneurs who were flung into the revitalization of downtown Jackson.

Woodstock Bake Shop: Finding Triumph in the Toil

Before opening his bakery’s doors, Matt Childress spent several years racing cars competitively. Because of his competitive background, he grew up knowing he didn’t want to work a “normal job.” He took his love for vintage aesthetic, his mom’s cake recipes, and his dad’s idea for a name—Woodstock Bake Shop—and ran with it. September 11, 2012 he opened for business on Innsdale Cove in Jackson.

Five Questions with LOLO

Instead of exploring the seemingly rich platitudes that most mediocre artists tend to in their formative years, West Tennessee’s Lauren Pritchard has taken another route. Pritchard, who now goes by her stage name LOLO, is a performing veteran with an impressive credits list ranging from Broadway to Jay Leno. LOLO is now signed to DCD2, a label started by Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz.