I guess it’s been building for a while, but I’m officially on the Formula 1 bandwagon. I’ve never voluntarily watched athletic events, and I've certainly never spent money on one, but here I am trying to figure out how to make a friend with an apartment along the track in Monaco. Yes, I know there are grand prix races in the US, but I’m in it for the champagne and glamour, people.

 I should give due credit to Dream Space graduate Robert who is opening SimRace Orlando. I learned a lot about racing culture and Formula 1 working with him on his Powerhouse Business Plan. So I was thrilled when my favorite podcast, Acquired, released an episode on the history and business of Formula 1.*

Opening your first retail location is a lot like having a first baby. The experience takes over your brain and consumes your world.

Though my first pregnancy in 2023-24 feels like ancient history thanks to the fog of parenthood, I remember it all too well. I counted down to every appointment, my husband attended them all, and I recounted them in detail to my mother. (If memory serves, Sheila even attended an appointment! All small businesses are family businesses, amirite?) I read books, took e-courses, traveled to the end of the internet to find the perfect glider-rocker, and you better believe I had my hospital bag ready six weeks before my due date.

I see something very s...

👋 Hi, it's Faith! I'm exciting to share my first official Pedal blog today. I'll be popping up alongside Sheila and Abby now and again, so if something sounds new or foreign to these pages (like competitive running or vegetarian cooking), don't panic...it's just me. Enjoy!

If you’re like me and 90% of my friends, your new years resolutions involve some version of: “getting to the gym more,” “eating healthier,” or “running a marathon" -- fun crowd we are, I know. But we’re also committed, and training for and running a marathon will keep us motivated all year long.

What do we do first? We develop personalized training plans. Getting “marathon ready” is anything but standard, so how lo...

Imagine for a moment that you’re dating someone you really like. You’ve been together for six months, and so far, so good. You’re excited about your future together. 

Now imagine a fairy swoops in and says it’s time for you to commit to being with this person for the next 10 years. What would you say? Certainly if you’re dating Christian Bale or Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises (just me?), you’d say yes. But anyone else? That would feel like a lot of pressure to put on a new relationship.

That’s exactly what’s happening when a new business signs a lease. No wonder the typical five to ten-year lease terms can feel really intimidating.

Turns out, people with advanced degree...

I’m sure I’ve told you before about my favorite podcast Acquired. I won’t bore you with all the reasons I love it, but I will say this – I am a superfan. I listen to old episodes (IKEA, Costco and Rolex are some of my faves), and I listen to new ones as soon as they drop. I own the merch, and I belong to their Slack channel where other nerds fans like me discuss the show and all sorts of related topics. 

So you can bet that when the (second, ever) live event at Radio City Music Hall was announced for July 15th, I blocked off the date in my calendar. And when tickets went on sale in early May, your girl snagged front row seats. I was so excited to go, and when Abby wasn’t available to join m...

If at any point you’ve been in a romantic relationship that lasted, let’s say, a year or more, you are surely familiar with the idea that the head-spinning early days of infatuation don’t last forever. In fact, legit scientific studies have shown that this period of “omg he’s so cuuuute chewing with his mouth open” lasts about six months.

Thanks to very real things like brains and human evolution, none of us can outsmart the chemical reactions that happen inside of us when we’re staring down the promise of new, exciting, this-is-definitely-the-thing-I’ve-been-missing love.

😑 But we all know how this story goes. After that first period of flooding dopamine, the drugs wear off, life beg...

While Abby hosted a houseful of family, I traveled across the pond to London which was, as advertised, unbelievable at Christmastime. We were very fortunate to have had perfect weather and only one mediocre meal, so all in all it was a smashing success. 

On the day of our return flight home, I thought about how the actual travel part of taking a big trip is largely forgotten. In these days of mobile boarding passes, we rarely have the IAD to LHR ticket stubs to keep as mementos. So unless the “getting there” was particularly memorable (like the time my poor child vomited the entire way from Iceland to Paris), we forget about it pretty quickly upon arrival. 

Can you guess what that ...

When Netflix dropped Nonnas, a "feel-good" Vince Vaughn flick about the restaurant business, we just knew we needed to write about it.

Here’s the synopsis: After losing his beloved mother, a man risks everything to honor her by opening an Italian restaurant with actual nonnas — grandmothers — as the chefs.

Cute premise and who doesn't love Italian food, but what made our blood pressure rise to dangerous Florida PTA book banning levels was the Hollywood treatment of opening a restaurant. Yes, it’s “based on a true story,” but just like Vince Vaughn’s forehead, the story is pumped full of neurotoxins to make opening a restaurant look smooth and carefree.

This is what infuriate...