Nancy Steele is the founder of Folly Cove Studio LLC and the Director of their new program the Folly Cove Intensive. The intensive is a workshop for small business entrepreneurs or non-profit directors working in the health, wellness or food sectors. The Folly Cove Intensive will have professionals offering intensive guidance tailored to these participants’ needs. The program runs for 1 week each July 10th and 17th. Participants receive a stipend for their time, covering costs of losing business and leaving family.
Apply here:https://www.follycovestudio.com/folly…
Applications are due May 20th.
Kory Curcuru:
All right folks we’re back for another edition of Cape Ann Today. This should be a fun one. Nancy Steele is joining us and she is part of something called the Folly Cove Intensive. How are you, Nancy?
Nancy Steele:
I’m well. How are you?
Kory Curcuru:
Great. Thanks for joining us. Okay. What is the Folly Cove Intensive and how did this all come about?
Nancy Steele:
Yeah. So Kory, there are many small business entrepreneurs who find themselves in this situation. You’ve started something, you have a real product or a real service that you’re offering to customers and you’re sort of a year into it and you say, “What exactly is the right financial mechanism for me to grow? Is it a loan? Should I be seeking financing from investor?” Or you’re asking yourself the question, “I have some customers, I’ve had a lot of sort of one time visitors. How do I get repeat customers?” Or you’re asking yourself the question, “What kind of license do I need if I’m going to expand into a bricks and mortar space?” So those kind of legal things.
So the purpose of the Folly Cove Intensive is to help small business entrepreneurs, who have started and have started to realize that they have particular challenges they want to hack through with the help of professionals who we put together in a week residency on beautiful Cape Ann and we pay them a stipend. So they are paid fellowships for a week because that’s in recognition of leaving your business and your family for a week. And we match you up with other entrepreneurs, but also with business professionals to help you work through very particular problems that you are experiencing, that may stand in the way of your growth. What I didn’t mention, Kory, is that this first summer, it’s this July, we’re focused on three very broad verticals. So health, businesses, wellness, and food. And food includes sustainable farming as well as food products and services.
Heather Atwood:
So Nancy, it’s so interesting that you’re focusing on these three verticals, as you say. What is it about those spaces that you feel really needs your support?
Nancy Steele:
Yeah. And forgive the background drilling. That’s the Folly Cove Studio in its final stages of construction. So candidly, Heather, some of it is just about credibility. I spent 31 years at Pfizer Healthcare, something I know pretty well. I spent many years working at a hospital, both public hospitals and private hospitals. And in terms of wellness, I’ve been involved with a lot of different wellness products and services. So it’s an area that I can be personally helpful and also I know a lot of faculty. I’m also working at MIT now. I know a lot of faculty that could be helpful in those particular spaces. And food, I mean, which you being the queen of-
Heather Atwood:
Some food here.
Nancy Steele:
… I have friends who are helpful in those spaces, but that’s really what it’s about. It’s about leveraging the expertise of the people involved. Of course there are a lot of new businesses. I should just also answer that if you look at where a lot of the new business growth is coming from, particularly around the North Shore, a lot of it is focused on wellness.
Heather Atwood:
That’s interesting too.
Kory Curcuru:
Yeah. In my work with small business entrepreneurs over the years, Nancy, it’s one of the … because I like how there seems to be that 101 to 401 expertise at hand to help people whose questions run the gamut. And the one that I always get the most is they don’t know how to operate, “Am I an LLC, NIA, DBA? And I then escalate? How do I even start?” Or, “How do I pay myself?” So are those the questions that can get answered?
Nancy Steele:
That’s exactly the kind of thing. So that will get addressed both in the very first day where our financial faculty, but also later on in the week we have a legal person who would come in and answer questions like, does it make sense for me to stay a sole proprietorship? should I consider being a B Corp and instead of a LLC? If I’m doing a community service, am I up for the paperwork associated with that form of incorporation? So those are exactly the kinds of things, those are quick examples of things that we would be covering.
Kory Curcuru:
Right.
Heather Atwood:
So Nancy, I would love for you to cover just a little bit more of the work that you have done in this field, because you’ve worked with some very, very large startups, right?
Nancy Steele:
Yeah, I have. So in addition to big companies, within Pfizer, I started a small company called Pfizer Health Solutions, which offered services to payers, health plans, as well as employers to manage chronic conditions. And particularly with COVID, you see, there are so many services that are really focused on using telehealth to help people manage their condition or a family member’s condition, both in physical health, but also in mental health. And so I’ve spent a lot of time on digital therapeutics. So apps that can help people kind of self-manage and self care. And I’ve also spent a lot of time on things in the nutrition field. Pfizer, we had a big part of our business was consumer directed supplements, but other kinds of nutritional services.
And then in addition, I’ve worked a fair amount with studios that offer dance, yoga, and martial arts, helping them form their studios. I have a strong interest in particularly dance as a way in to wellness for people who maybe don’t otherwise choose to get exercise. So yeah, I’ve worked in sleep and sleep being a big wellness factor for all ages. So digital therapeutics for sleep, nutrition, maternal health. So those are some of the areas that I’ve worked in, in terms of startups.
Kory Curcuru:
So now Nancy, what’s the thumbnail info on folks who want to find out if they’re eligible or not, or how to sign up for the Intensive, how can they go about doing that?
Nancy Steele:
Yeah. So you just go to follycovestudio.com and everything is really kind of organized in the one website, it’s one-stop shopping, you’ll find out the qualifications, the communities we hope to draw entrepreneurs from, which by the way is kind of North Shore and Gateway Communities everywhere from Lynn all the way up to Haverhill. So a broad set of communities, this is Beverly, Salem, Damhorst, of course Gloucester, but also Lowell, Lynn, Haverhill, Lawrence. So we really want to be helpful to North Shore entrepreneurs from all over. You’ll see also the application, which all the applications have to be in by May 20th, which is why I’m really grateful that you guys are doing this interview today, to get the word out and you’ll see what you get. You get that stipend, but also what are the services that are going to happen during the course of the week?
It’s also going to be a lot of fun. We’re going to have some evening parties and time to swim and take walks. I should have said this at the beginning. So this is being sponsored by Manship Artists Residency, which I’m sure you know very well. Rebecca Reynolds and I are partners in this endeavor, the fellows will sleep at Manship and they will work during the day at Folly Cove. And those two locations are a 10 minute walk from each other, or a one minute drive from each other. So, there’ll be time to enjoy the beauty of Manship.
Heather Atwood:
It’s so beautiful there. That would be a very special place to stay, for sure. I’m sure that … well, I’m not sure, but I’m guessing that you might extend your services to artists at some point, because they’re always struggling with how to be an artist and actually run a business.
Nancy Steele:
Yeah. Actually I’m really glad you raised that up Heather, because one of the reasons that this is a real, real opportunity to work with Manship is, many artists of course need to have a side gig, which in addition to offering or working on community arts development projects, often they find themselves wanting to teach yoga or do something else. So there’s that connection. And the other connection is that we’re going to have a portion of the Intensive, an entire half day devoted to the subject, which will be done at Manship, about how you connect your enterprise with arts and culture organizations. So the notion that we shouldn’t be living in two separate worlds. The arts are good for people who are in small business, small business can work closely with artists to help reach a broader audience, but also to increase the depth of the goodness that they do for human psyche. So, we’re going to create that synergy as well.
Heather Atwood:
I love that. I think the synergy is often there, but for you to identify it and say, let’s work with that more is great.
Nancy Steele:
Great. I’m glad.
Kory Curcuru:
Yeah. So just to reiterate Nancy, the main details for folks who are interested where to go and the dates for the Intensive?
Nancy Steele:
So, the only place you have to go is follycovestudio.com. It’s all there. Everything you need is at follycovestudio.com, one string, follycovestudio.com. The dates, there are two weeks. One is the week of July 10th. And the other is the week of July 17th. And in the application, the applicant would indicate if one week versus the other week is better for their life. And you can guarantee that we’ll match you to that week. But what was the other question you asked Kory?
Kory Curcuru:
Well, we know and the deadline to apply is May 20th, right?
Nancy Steele:
May 20th.
Kory Curcuru:
Is there a cap on the number of businesses that you can accept for this?
Nancy Steele:
Yeah. There’re only going to be a total of six entrepreneurs, three in one week and three in the other.
Kory Curcuru:
Okay.
Nancy Steele:
And so it’s the first year. It can’t be super big because we need to tailor the … So for example, the financial coaching will be tailored to those six people, because you’re going to send some indication about what your financial challenges are, which is all in confidence. You’re going to send that kind of information in advance. And the expectation is that faculty adjust their coaching to those realities. And so that’s why it’s limited.
Kory Curcuru:
That’s impressive.
Heather Atwood:
That’s very impressive.
Kory Curcuru:
To have that kind of attention. That is huge.
Nancy Steele:
Well, I mean, frankly, thank you for saying that. What I’ve learned over the years of doing this kind of work is so often, and these are amazing programs. I’m a mentor at E-for-All and they’re amazing. I work at MIT now in a program called Catalyst, which helps postdoc fellows advance their medical device, product ideas, and also their healthcare service ideas. And I find that often what happens is that because the education or coaching isn’t tailored, you kind of, you’re sitting there, you’re nodding your head, you’re taking notes in your notebook, but when you get back to wherever back is, you don’t necessarily know what am I supposed to do with that marketing idea. And so the concept here is that while you’re still physically here working together in the studio, we’re going to work on the actions for what you do do with that marketing idea. So, that is how it’s, I guess, different from other innovation or entrepreneurial programs that are out there now.
Kory Curcuru:
Very cool.
Heather Atwood:
It’s a tutorial.
Nancy Steele:
Yes.
Heather Atwood:
Right. Well, it would be so much fun to follow up with you and find out how this all went.
Nancy Steele:
Okay. Yeah.
Kory Curcuru:
Yeah. I appreciate your time, Nancy. Thanks so much for being with us.
Nancy Steele:
Appreciate yours. All right. Take care you guys, see you.
