It Takes A Village (And Sometimes A Messy Middle) with Niki Toscani & Francesca Galarus

It Takes a Village (and a Messy Middle) | Niki Toscani & Francesca Galarus Hi friends - today we’re taking a little field trip to Fishtown, Philadelphia!! 🍷🥒 Niki Toscani of Fishtown Pickle Project and Francesca Galarus of Mural City Cellars are neighbors, fellow moms, and fellow food and bev founders who run their businesses with their life partners. They even share an accountant. They are true Philly business besties, and it just goes to show how powerful finding a group of entrepreneur friends can be. Niki’s pickle empire started as party favors at her wedding reception (yes, really) and is now in 170 retailers across PA, NJ, and DE. Francesca went from opening restaurants in NYC at 4 a.m. to running an urban winery that sources every grape from within 300 miles of Philly. ‼️JOIN OUR PATREON COMMUNITY 🥰 to support this work and keep these conversations going for the women who need them. ‼️   / herseatatthetable   We get into: ✨ Why a business bestie is a survival tool, not a luxury ✨ Sourcing locally, from backyard grapes in New Jersey to pickles that started as a hobby ✨ Building giving back into the business model: $1 from every house wine bottle at Mural City (over $50,000 donated!), and 5% of net profits at Fishtown Pickle Project ✨ Motherhood and ownership, including the question so many of us have thought and never said out loud Yes, it’s messy. Yes, Q1 is brutal. But you’ll laugh, you’ll learn something, and you’ll walk away inspired to tend the soil you’re planted in. 🌱 Chapters 00:36 Meet Niki & Francesca 02:11 How are we really doing after Q1? 07:22 Why every founder needs a business bestie 10:29 Pickles as wedding favors (a rom-com origin story) 16:16 From maître d’ to urban winery 22:26 Why Philly, why Fishtown 25:20 Every grape from within 300 miles 29:24 Fishtown, the incubator neighborhood 37:20 How they found each other, and becoming moms while building businesses 44:02 Has motherhood changed how you lead? 50:12 The question no one says out loud 53:12 Building community giving into your business model 1:05:23 Where to find them (and a Philly supper club?? 👀) Find our guests 🥒 Fishtown Pickle Project: fishtownpickles.com (store locator + nationwide shipping) 🍷 Mural City Cellars: visit them in Fishtown, Philadelphia. Almost all of their wine is sold right out the front door! muralcitycellars.com Support the show If these conversations light you up, join the Her Seat At The Table Patreon for as little as $3/month (basically buying me a coffee ☕). Perks go all the way up to an invite to my fall dinner party in Raleigh. JOIN OUR PATREON COMMUNITY