Two dozen local business owners gathered at Atlantic City’s Carnegie Center last night to listen to a live interview with the founder of Grace & Glory Yoga, Allie Nunzi. Nunzi, interviewed by Route 40, talked about how she started her business with under $1,000 in the bank and had to think from the beginning about making sure there were “feet on the mat.” By focusing on the people coming in the door she was able to build a sustainable business that – five years in – now includes two locations and a non-profit spinoff, The Leadership Studio.
The interview was the first in Route 40’s Business Bootcamp series. The series, sponsored by Fox Rothschild partner Jake Perskie, aims to bring together local entrepreneurs to listen to live interviews with successful business owners.
L-R: Jake Perskie of Fox Rothschild, Elinor Comlay and Bill Sprouse of Route 40 and Allie Nunzi of Grace & Glory Yoga at Business Bootcamp Episode 1.
Experts hired by local authorities two years ago identified ‘developing entrepreneurial services’ as a target of the Atlantic County Economic Development Strategy, since small business owners often provide better-paid jobs that the South Jersey area, dominated by low-wage tourism jobs, needs.
Nunzi, who is eight months pregnant, also had advice for attendees about how to handle the days when it seems like the business is never going to work, and how to try and manage the divide between personal and business time. “Entrepreneur is a pretty sexy word right? Everyone calls themselves an entrepreneur these days, it seems. Here’s the dirty truth: nothing about it is sexy,” Nunzi wrote in an Instagram post ahead of the event.
Tickets for Episode 2 of the Business Bootcamp series, featuring a live interview with Little Water Distillery’s Mark Ganter, are on sale here. The event is FREE to Route 40’s Supporting Members, or previous Bootcamp attendees (email us for a code).