Chef Mark Gresge missed making soup. From 1992 to 2014, Gresge ran the beloved local French restaurant L’étoile. “To me,” Gresge says, “French country cooking was the perfect cuisine. Depth of flavor, locally sourced product, a true sense of region in the cooking.” L’étoile had always run catering alongside its restaurant operations, but the growth […]
Mike Appleby figured he’d keep his big city job when he moved to Charlottesville. Appleby’s Boston-based employer kept him on to run a development team when he moved to C’ville to get married. But Appleby quickly came to love the area—“it’s the nicest place I’ve seen anywhere,” he says—and five years later he hatched a […]
After selling the tech business he’d built over 15 years, Eric Walter wanted to do something more rewarding. “More fulfilling spiritually,” he says. “Out from behind a desk and outside.” His Chicago tech business, Gorilla, had Patagonia as a client. “Sustainability infused everything they do,” says Walter. “That changed something for me.” After considering a […]
Crissanne Raymond developed an original veggie burger recipe more than 30 years ago in her hometown of St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands. Riffing off of her mother’s lentil soup recipe, she built a burger from a lentil and barley base, flavored it with roasted vegetables and tamari, and used it to feed her growing […]
Entrepreneur and Max Boxxer founder Richard Crisler is a man for all seasons, but summer might suit him best. His first business endeavor was Yo Wear, launched at Duke University when he was a student, which produced Duke- and fraternity-themed boxer shorts that sold on campus and through fraternal organization magazines. “After I graduated and […]
Years ago, Cynthia Chiles’ mom made hand-lettered fliers to let people know when to come pick apples from the family’s orchards. She took out a classified ad when fruit was ripe. When Chiles took up a leadership role at Crown Orchard 15 years ago, she still did the marketing herself. “I have a degree in […]
There are more 1099 contractors in the workforce than ever before and their numbers continue to rise. The term “1099” comes from a series of IRS documents that are designed to report income received outside of salaried employment. This can include investment returns, tax refunds, and income made as an independent contractor or freelancer. The […]
When Rachel Brozenske, VP with Allison Partners, sat down on a Wednesday morning in October with Linnea White, the two of them were feeling out the possibility of a coach-client relationship. Brozenske has been a business coach for more than a dozen years; White bought the boutique Darling, just off the Downtown Mall, with a […]
Two days into training camp with the Chicago Bears, Maurice Covington’s hamstring tore—and took his future plans with it. “Being focused about football and wanting to make it to the NFL and then having that taken from me,” says the former UVA wide receiver, “that transition was terrible.” A decade later, Covington has turned that […]
A teacher changed the course of chef Antwon Brinson’s life. Now, as he trains Charlottesville residents for kitchen careers, he’s trying to do the same for his own students. Brinson says he never thought he’d become a chef. He enjoyed cooking growing up, but didn’t consider it a career until high school. “I had a […]