Our next guest is a regular listener of this program who heard one of our shows about business start-up incubators. She ended up enrolling in one and now her toy manufacturing company is selling its products to most major retailers in the United States. Mike Switzer interviews Donna Brin, founder of Pueri Elemental, located in Myrtle Beach, SC.
After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.