Risking the retail niche: Ped's Threads leaps and Sandra Altner weighs in on mentorship

Here’s How It’s Done: First-hand Stories From Enterprising Women In Manitoba

If you have ever dreamed about opening up a bricks and mortar store, this episode is for you. And if you love a good story where the stakes are high and the main character refuses to give up, it’s for you too!

For 20 years Cyndi Pedwell ran a successful home-based business, Ped's Threads, providing custom logo'd apparel and accessories to businesses, schools and sports teams. And then last March she made a big business leap.

On today’s show we are headed to the main street of Flin Flon, where Cyndi opened her first retail outlet in March of 2020. It was a dream come true for Cyndi when those doors opened to customers for the first time…yep just two days before the pandemic slammed them shut again. And she is the first to say that this year it’s been quite a ride so far.

“During COVID, most people were so excited to work from home in their pajamas. Right? And I was like, ‘No, but you took away my dream now of putting on nice clothes and going to work and having discipline because I'm a workaholic. When you work from home, you don't ever shut business off.’ Whether she was at home or at the new store, Cyndi definitely couldn’t shut business off this year.

Find out how Cyndi steered her business through some rough waters this year, and how COVID19 forced her to come up with creative solutions that resulted in new products and local partnerships.

And Sandra Altner, CEO of the Women’s Enterprise Centre of Manitoba also makes a special guest appearance. She has great advice for aspiring entrepreneurs and how peer mentorship can help you grow your business.

Be prepared to be inspired.