Andy Theimer, Founder of RecipeBridge.com

Single Entrepreneur Spotlight

Andy Theimer

Milwaukee, WI

Founder of RecipeBridge.com

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1. My business and how I got started:

Sitting at a coffee shop several years ago with a co-worker.  We were thinking of problems to solve and hit upon the fact that most people who use the Internet to find recipes (over 80 million annually) go through multiple websites and Google searches before finding the right one.

2. Why my product/service is better than the competition:

New cooking and recipe websites appear every week but I feel we’ve found something different.  We took something that people are already doing; searching for recipes online, and made the experience much better.

3. A typical day for me:

I get up around 7am and head for the super-automatic coffee machine, best investment ever! Typically I spend the first hour reading up on the technology and online advertising space then it’s replying to emails. The rest of my day is a mix of writing out technical specs for new features, reaching out to potential partners, and setting up meetings.

4. What I love most about my business:

The online cooking market is gigantic and growing faster ever year.   We have the opportunity to shake it up and show people a different approach to finding recipes on the web and on upcoming ‘pad’ devices.

5. I’m cool because:

I can only assume “geeky intellectual” is the new cool for 2010?  I have a passion for finding and trying new things from mountain climbing to technology.  I like being unpredictable and hearing my mom say “you’re doing what?” when I tell her what I’m up to.

6. If my friends nominated me for an award, it would be “Most Likely to…”:

Haha…. hopefully they wouldn’t be able to predict that J

7. A movie made about my life it would be named:

“Maybe this time…..”

8. Strangest thing you’d find in my fridge, wallet or closet:

My bowtie collection.

9. Personal qualities I admire most in others:

I admire the ability to focus precisely on one thing and becoming excellent at it.  I’ve always been more of the “jack-of-all-trades” type and really admire people who do one thing and do it better than anyone else.

10. Three things I hope to accomplish in the next five years:

1. Travel to Cambodia
2. Move to another state
3. Sell off a company
4. + 5. TBD

Want to connect with Andy? Find him on LinkedIn and his mountain climbing blog!

Maria Murnane, Author and Entrepreneur

Single Entrepreneur Spotlight

Maria Murnane

New York, NY

Author of Perfect on Paper

Founder of Waverly’s Honey Shop

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My business and how I got started:

I’m what you might call an “accidental entrepreneur.” One day I quit my job and ended up living in Argentina for a year playing semi-pro soccer and writing a novel (true story!). It’s a romantic comedy called Perfect on Paper, and as part of the story the main character, Waverly Bryson, comes up with a line of witty greeting cards for women called Honey Notes. Here are two examples:

Front: Ever feel like you don’t know anything at all?
 Inside: Honey, congratulations. At least you finally know that.
Front: Is it worse to be fake or bitchy? 
Inside: Honey, just face it. If you’re asking, you’re probably both.

After Perfect on Paper came out, I couldn’t believe how many readers asked me to sell the Honey Notes in real life, so I decided to give it a try! I also thought it would be fun to create other Honey products, so I built a site called Waverly’s Honey Shop and added Honey Tees and Honey Totes, all featuring witty quotes from Waverly Bryson.

2. Why my product/service is better than the competition:

Honey, there’s only one Waverly Bryson!

3. A typical day for me:

Ha! Impossible to answer. Take today, for example. This morning I’m doing this interview. When I’m done I have a call with my Web developer. Then I’m expecting a shipment of Honey Totes, which I have to package up and then send to the fulfillment center for Waverly’s Honey Shop. In between I’m answering fan email, updating my author Web site ( HYPERLINK “http://www.mariamurnane.com” www.mariamurnane.com), and lining up some speaking engagements with women’s groups who want to hear the crazy story behind how my book and Waverly’s Honey Shop came to be. I also have a yoga class at 4:30, after which I will happily rush back to my computer to keep working, even though today is Friday.

4. What I love most about my business:

See above.

5. I’m cool because:

I don’t need Facebook to remember my friends’ birthdays.

6. If my friends nominated me for an award, it would be “Most Likely to…”:

Play soccer four days a week until I can’t walk anymore.

7. A movie made about my life it would be named:

Just Do It

8. Strangest thing you’d find in my fridge, wallet or closet:

In high school I bought a stuffed animal in the shape of a carrot and put it in my parents’ fridge. It’s still there!

9. Personal qualities I admire most in others:

Sincerity, reliability, sense of humor

10. Three things I hope to accomplish in the next five years:

Ack! I am afraid to answer this because it might come back to haunt me, but here goes:

1) Get Perfect on Paper made into a movie
2) Write another novel that people like as much as the first one
3) Grow Waverly’s Honey Shop into a popular product line that is available not just online, but at a brick-and-mortar store near you! 

Want to connect with Maria? Follow her on her Fan Page and Twitter!