By: Catherine Bleish
Central Texas has always been a hotbed of progressive thought and action. It is currently one of the most thriving Bitcoin meccas on the planet. This is evident by the large number of Bitcoin-centric businesses in the area, the Bitcoin-heavy media (The Liberty Beat, The Crypto Show, Natural News) , and the nationwide Bitcoin speakers and advocates who reside in the area (Cody Wilson, John Bush, Myself). This is in addition to the growing number of Bitcoin-friendly businesses in the area, many of which are run by women.
To celebrate “Why Women Love Bitcoin”, I would like to present a profile on a few of these Central Texas entrepreneurs and ask them questions about their Bitcoin-friendly businesses. The three women I highlight are extraordinary women in that they are brave, confident, risk taking ladies who are willing to put in the effort required to make a living while doing what they love. On the same coin, they are ordinary women just like you and me, who serve as inspiration to anyone wanting to start their own business in the Bitcoin space.
Meet the Central Texas Ladies of Bitcoin: Stacie Frost (Frost Homestead), Sarah Stollak (World on a String), and Jessica Arman (My Magic Mud). Their products are unique – chicken eggs, handmade jewelry, and tooth powder – but they are united in their love for Bitcoin.
Stacie Frost
Business: Frost Homestead
Website: http:www.facebook.com/FrostHomestead
Description: We are a working homestead. We sell rare breed show chickens and ship fertile hatching eggs nationwide. We currently breed purebred Wheaten and Blue Wheaten Ameraucanas as well as Black Copper and Blue Copper Marans.
Sarah Stollak
Business: World on a String
Website: worldonastring.us
Description: Crochet jewelry in pearls, gemstones, glass, and other beautiful materials from around the world. Violinist, fiddler, guitarist, singer, songwriter.
Jessica Arman
Business: My Magic Mud
Website: mymagicmud.com
Description: My Magic Mud all natural tooth powder that gives you a dentist-like clean while whitening and polishing your teeth. My remedy is sold in biological dentist offices and health stores all over Texas.
Getting Started
I asked each of these women to describe how they started their business from dream to reality. You will find that each of these ladies were inspired through their hands-on experiences: shopping the farmers market, learning to knit, and trying home remedies for their kids. While you read their answers think about what inspires you in your day to day life; is there a business opportunity calling you?
Stacie Frost (Frost Homestead): My husband and I first got interested in raising chickens after a trip to a local farmer’s market. There was a woman selling green and blue chicken eggs. At the time we only had a small lot (1/8th of an acre) in the city but we had enough space to have a few hens, so we set out to find some colored egg layers. We started out with just a couple Easter Eggers, mongrel colored egg layers. A few years later we moved onto a larger piece of land and decided we wanted to get more serious about chickening. After researching breeds we discovered several that piqued our interest, particularly purebred Ameraucanas that lay blue eggs and French Marans that lay the darkest brown eggs in the world. We set out to get some of the best lines available and for the past few years have bred and culled our stock into perfection. Working with Texas A&M we have had our flock certified free of infectious disease, a necessary measure for shipping live birds across state lines. Today we have a thriving base of loyal customers in the Austin, TX area and successfully ship fertile hatching eggs to every state in the continental US.
Sarah Stollak (World on a String): My mom taught me how to knit in 1993 and I’ve been creating ever since. When I moved to Austin in 2004, I started an artisan booth at local markets, street fairs, and special events. Vending was supposed to be temporary while I found a real job, but almost a decade later here I am, still a full time creative entrepreneur.
Jessica Arman (My Magic Mud): I worked customer service for an operation that provided raw ingredients to companies that formulated them into their own blends to create detox products and other supplements. I learned a lot over time until one day I discovered that some of the ingredients I was working with were actually ancient – (thousands of years ancient!) – oral remedies. My research led me to an original blend that works in a synergy to produce better results than any of the ingredients used by themselves. What started as a remedy for my children ended up as a business by what seems to be an accident. My daughter posted a cute before/after picture, that she created with her phone, to my facebook wall. I started getting a flood of interest. I sent this out to about 50 people for free and even sent this to a biological dentist, Dr. Griffin Cole, just to make sure that others were seeing the results that my family did. I have brutally honest friends and even Dr. Cole said that he would heavily scrutinize the product, so it was a little nerve wracking. The results came in from everyone and I was blown away. I had an acquaintance call me crying because this was the first time she was no longer in pain in months. People were posting pictures showing their sparkling smiles. Dr. Cole told us that it was his and his wife’s new favorite product – he now sells this in his practice. He’s only endorsed one other product in over 20 years of being a practicing dentist. We then started running ads on liberty radio programs and boom, it became a business. My entire family is involved; even my mother-in-law is a sales rep. We hire our friends and we’re at several farmers markets in central Texas. Our family is flourishing for the first time in years.