The Main Street Business Insights podcast is back! Recorded live at our 2026 national conference in Tulsa, host Matt Wagner sits down with Brandi Hines-Lee, owner of Agitsi Stained Glass in the Route 66 Main Street District.

A third-generation stained glass artist, Brandi learned the craft by watching her mother and grandmother work. After her mother passed away, she left her job and opened the studio the two of them had planned to run together, naming it Agitsi — “my mother” in Cherokee.

Losing the person she turned to with every technical question shaped how she runs the shop: no one through her door gets stuck without someone to ask.

That instinct built the business. Custom commissions led to teaching, teaching created demand for supplies, and a wholesale account required a brick-and-mortar storefront — one she found because another artist she had met while volunteering as a mentor invited her to join the artists working in Red Fork. She signed that first lease just before COVID closed the state, then redesigned her teaching studio into a layout other studios now follow, a survival story that later brought Good Morning America to Tulsa.

Brandi and Matt also talk through the pressures on the shop: rising freight and material costs, and big-box retailers selling supplies at her wholesale price. Her answer isn’t price. It’s the relationships a supplier can’t stock — answering a student’s question whether or not they buy a class, and asking what her community needs when sales go quiet, which is how hand-beaded graduation feathers for Indian Education seniors came to cover a month’s rent.

Being Cherokee, Brandi says, is about being one with the community: understanding, resilient, and always teaching. It is why everyone through the door is treated as somebody’s daughter, mother, brother or uncle, and why her students are anything but competition.

Plus: Matt shares why the podcast went quiet for a few months, and what's coming next!

Connect:

• Learn about Agitsi Stained Glass
• Learn about the Route 66 Main Street District in Tulsa
• Learn about Main Street Oklahoma
• Learn about Made Originals
• Join MSA’s Small Biz Hub

Join us next time for more insights into the evolving landscape of Main Street business.

Join host Matt Wagner for his conversation with Patrick Jackowski and Matt Horne, the duo behind Firehouse Coffee 1881, a thriving coffee shop housed in a firehouse in historic Fort Monroe, a decommissioned military compound located in Hampton, Virginia. Fresh from their appearance as featured panelists at the Virginia Retail Alliance's Retail Matters Summit, these young entrepreneurs are redefining what it means to be business owners in today's rapidly evolving retail landscape.

In this episode, we dive deep into:

- Introduction to Patrick and Matt: Discover how two lifelong best friends transformed their childhood bond into a powerful business partnership. Patrick and Matt share candid insights about how their complementary strengths and lifelong friendship created the perfect foundation for their entrepreneurial venture.

- Gen Z Entrepreneurs: Step into the world of Gen Z entrepreneurship, making up only 8 percent of all business owners – but not for long. Learn why this generation is uniquely positioned to disrupt traditional business models and how their digital-native perspective is reshaping customer experiences. Patrick and Matt offer a fascinating glimpse into how their generation's values and vision are influencing their business decisions.

- Journey to Ownership: Follow the remarkable story of how these young entrepreneurs' longtime dream of business ownership collided with an unexpected opportunity. Hear about how a historic firehouse-turned-coffee shop caught their attention and how they knew instantly it was their chance to create something special. They share the serendipitous way they decided take the leap and the gut instincts that told them this was their path.

- Success Stories and Challenges: From forming their business plan to overcoming funding challenges, Patrick and Matt share their innovative solutions to funding obstacles, their strategies for winning over their community, and the valuable lessons they learned about perseverance in the face of doubt.

Connect:

• Check out Firehouse Coffee 1881’s website

• Follow Firehouse Coffee on Facebook

• Follow Firehouse Coffee on Instagram

• Subscribe to Firehouse Coffee’s YouTube channel

• Follow Firehouse Coffee on LinkedIn

Episode Links:

- Watch video interview

- Listen on Apple Podcasts

- Listen on Spotify

- Subscribe for updates

Join us next week for more insights into the evolving landscape of Main Street business.

In this episode of Main Street Business Insights, host Matt Wagner sat down with The Barbershop Conversation podcast team, co-hosts Kenneth Bentley and Davion Hampton along with executive producer Emory Green Jr., in Goldsboro, Florida.

Launched in 2021 to encourage local and regional voter turnout, The Barbershop Conversation podcast is focused on delivering current events and political news, along with local coverage, through a positive lens. Outside of their work educating the community through the podcast, Bentley is also the Board Chairman of Historic Goldsboro Main Street, a designated Main Street Community as of 2022. Bentley is also involved with Goldsboro Front Porch, a youth community resource center that supports area high school students with tutoring and employment. Green is the owner of Elite Styles Barber Lounge in Goldsboro, Fla., and Hampton is a contractor in the historic Midway community.

In their conversation, Bentley, Hampton, and Green discuss the importance of youth community involvement, encouraging entrepreneurship among residents, fostering equitable partnerships, and their founding mission of serving the community.

Further Reading: Listen to The Barbershop Conversation | Follow Elite Styles Barber Lounge | Learn about Historic Goldsboro Main Street | Learn about Florida Main Street | Read a press release from the Florida Department of State honoring Goldsboro Main Street