Carolyn Iannone and Cody Homan launched their podcast final 12 months. (Credit score: Lilly Parnell)
In late 2018, Cody Homan was consuming lots of his meals at Love Lane Kitchen in Mattituck and, over time, met its proprietor, Carolyn Iannone.
I observed they at all times had fish on their menu, stated Mr. Homan, supervisor of Brauns Seafood Co. in Cutchogue, a longtime household enterprise. I made a decision to wholesale fish to Carolyn and our friendship grew from there.
Final 12 months, Mr. Homan and Ms. Iannone launched their For the Love of Enterprise podcast that targeted on the ins and outs of operating a North Fork enterprise.
Brauns opened in 1928 and is likely one of the largest fish distributors in Lengthy Islands. The Homan household has owned the enterprise since 1961 and Mr. Homan is about to take over when his father, Ken, retires.
Eager to pursue a profession in meals and journey journalism, Ms. Iannone took a administration place at Love Lane Kitchen in 2009 to be taught extra concerning the trade. When she was given the chance to take possession, she purchased the restaurant and has been operating it ever since.
The thought for knowledgeable podcast had been of their heads for years, however they did not know the place to begin. Final summer time, they determined to work collectively to develop For the Love of Enterprise, which explores the ins and outs of doing .companies on the North Fork.
The Occasions Assessment just lately sat down with the podcasting couple to debate their resolution to embark on the brand new venture, how life has modified on the North Fork, and the post-pandemic restoration.
Occasions Assessment:The North Forks’ recognition has soared in recent times, shifting from a hidden Lengthy Island gem to welcoming nearly as many out-of-towners because the South Fork. How are you leveraging native tendencies to create success to your companies?
Iannone: The North Fork is a secure haven for many individuals. There could also be a little bit of controversy concerning the inflow of full-time residents after COVID. With so many individuals, the issues we love concerning the North Fork could also be threatened, however the brand new individuals I’ve met are actually cool and it is apparent they’re invested within the space.
Homan: I take advantage of social media to our benefit to draw vacationers and new residents. I need to inform our story as authentically as potential. We use our Instagram to coach individuals on wholesaling and shopping for fish. Authenticity will outshine all of your competitors. And that is what Ive tried to instill in Brauns. We attempt to not fear what everybody else is doing, we run our personal race.
TR: Though COVID-19 continues to be round, hopefully we’re previous the worst. Have any of you skilled any form of readability because the pandemic?
Homan: We have been each severely affected by the closing, Carolyn as a restaurant proprietor and I offered to eating places. For Brauns, we targeted on the retail facet of the enterprise, particularly the fish market. Popping out of COVID, we realized we had an excellent, strong staff. Folks having the choice to work remotely additionally labored in our favor as a result of many made the North Fork their everlasting residence throughout this time. The North Fork is right here to remain.
Iannone: There was nice readability as soon as the chaos and mud settled. There was a second once I actually thought this was it, I did not know if we may return. However fortunately my staff was there to assist me. I noticed I may loosen up a little bit. We have realized to scale issues higher, it is not as delicate as I as soon as thought. The pandemic made me understand that my restaurant isn’t a enjoying card. There’s at all times a silver lining.
TR: The 2 of you determined to tackle the function of podcasters final 12 months. You additionally determined to problem your self a bit by saying For the Love of Enterprise in the course of your busiest weekend. What made the 2 of you determine to begin a North Fork enterprise podcast?
Homan: I had been kicking across the thought for a podcast for fairly a while. I purchased the tools however by no means actually had the time to get began. At one level I casually talked about this to Carolyn and her eyes lit up.
Iannone: As soon as we actually began speaking about it, the extra excited we acquired. I recommended we do one collectively, to maintain one another motivated and accountable.
Homan: Nobody else was actually doing a North Fork enterprise podcast on the time. I wished to be one of many first. We actually wished to spotlight the companies and folks that make the North Fork particular, and Carolyn additionally had an identical thought.
Iannone: It was very troublesome to begin the summer time. Not solely as a result of we have been so busy, but in addition due to all of the individuals we wished to interview. It was delayed till October. Nevertheless, we have been contacting individuals and scheduling the interviews for weeks upfront. There’s a lot that goes right into a small enterprise and there are such a lot of variations in what individuals do and on the similar time, there are such a lot of similarities. This impressed the podcast. It doesn’t matter what you promote, all of us have these frequent experiences on the North Fork.
TR: What was the most effective factor about beginning this podcast?
Iannone: Each dialog we now have on our podcast is about proudly owning and operating an unbiased enterprise, the struggles and successes of the individuals who make up the North Fork. We’re fascinated to listen to their tales. We’ve additionally discovered quite a lot of camaraderie. So many occasions, Cody and I’ve been reminded as enterprise homeowners that we weren’t alone, we may do that. That is been the primary theme of the episodes we have put out thus far. Highlighting their tales was one in all my favourite issues.
TR: Might you stroll me by creating an episode?
Iannone: Once we first acquired collectively final summer time to begin brainstorming concepts for the podcast, Cody and I discovered that we had quite a lot of overlapping individuals on our lists of potential interviewees. This made issues a lot simpler. Once we determine on a visitor, we now have a normal checklist of questions we ship them earlier than the tape that will get their inventive juices flowing, like what was the toughest factor about proudly owning what you are promoting, what was probably the most rewarding, are you most proud ; We attempt to not make it too scripted or inflexible. Once we movie, we speak, holding the dialog to enterprise. Relying on who it’s and the way effectively we all know them, we now have one thing actually particular about their strengths that we need to talk about. For instance, I’ve the most effective conversations with Lucy from Sang Lee Farms about pricing and strategic worth and ensuring our clients are spending their hard-earned cash correctly. It was an excellent and fascinating dialog as a result of I already knew about her.
Homan: After which after we document, Carolyn will edit the episode. She fully taught herself the way to edit the podcast by Youtube tutorials, which is fairly superb.
TR: What do you two have deliberate for this 12 months?
Homan: We determined we would not go loopy attempting to document and edit over the summer time after we have been each busy. We plan to have seasons for the podcast, giving ourselves a break when our companies take off.
Iannone: And I believe that brings us again to what I discussed earlier concerning the silver lining of the pandemic. As a result of that is one thing we do only for enjoyable, we do not need to maintain ourselves to loopy excessive requirements. We make it up as we go alongside and are not afraid to chop one another some slack. It is all about having an sincere dialog with the superb individuals behind the companies right here. We need to be a method for these individuals to share their tales and have a good time all their onerous work.
For the Love of Enterprise might be discovered on Spotify. New episodes are launched two Fridays each month.
