Group Helps Those With Entrepeaur Spirit Grow

Individuals gather at The Muse this past week to hear the story of Ashley Flaherty’s path to business ownership.

Oskaloosa, Iowa – A group of individuals interested in starting and or growing their businesses meet every Friday at 7:30 am.

Helping one another grow their entrepreneurial dreams into a successful reality is the ultimate goal of the group.

Pam Blomgren is one of those individuals who has been there since the beginning, helping the group grow and finding its focus since 2015.

That time frame is when the notion of co-working was gaining traction, and the idea of having a location within the community for entrepreneurs in their early day’s stages was being talked about.

Blomgren says that the movement was a little premature in finding a permanent place for home office entrepreneurs in addressing an actual physical location, and the group has evolved.

Starting at Smokey Row Coffee in Oskaloosa, the group is now meeting inside Pizza Ranch due to COVID concerns, only after going virtual for a time for those with concerns about being there in person.

The group now holds gatherings at local businesses, and learns the stories from those entrepreneurs, learning their path to ownership, while also offering words of advice.

This past month, the group gathered at Muse Music Store just off the downtown square along Market Steet.

Ashley Flaherty, the owner at Muse, hosted the group to her store, and said she enjoyed the opportunity to host the group inside her store. “It was kind of like my self-reflection of my journey here.”

The process was a good one for Flaherty, sharing how she got to this point with others versus sharing with close family members.

For Flaherty, she can see her success in the ideas she grew up with, such as treating people a certain way and treating customers according to how she would want to be treated.

After sharing her story, Flaherty took part in a question and answer session and getting to understand the questions that others were thinking about.

“You’re not reinventing the wheel here, you know, some of it is like, keep it simple.”

Flaherty puts much of her success with brother Zack, who helped her plan long term.

Even though she took the time to develop a business plan, Flaherty says that much of it has changed. She explains that the only thing that remains of that original plan is their mission, which is to inspire people and make them believe they can do whatever they want, and be a showcase for that. “Learn, teach, dream, develop.”

Her face and name were connected with the business community before the Muse, which came from helping her grandfather Pat Flaherty run his music store inside Penn Central Mall.

Flaherty says she’s been part of the Exchange for about a year and a half, back when she was still working for her grandpa. “At first, I was a little intimidated because I didn’t know a lot of people.”

“It was really awesome. They [the Exchange] were very welcoming and nice and friendly, and they share things that may work for them, and it might work for you,” Flaherty shared. “It’s a lot of like-minded people who come together every week and share their ups and downs and offer you great criticism and feedback that helps you grow.”

“The group’s very genuine, and they care, and they want to help in working with other small businesses.”