The Loew Down

Cassidy Loewen
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  • Entrepreneurship

The Loew Down is the podcast where Hamilton's small business community tells its own story — origin stories, pivots, hard lessons and the real advice that only comes from someone who's actually been through it. 

  1. Oct 29

    Erika's Story: Every Month Starts From Zero

    A full calendar and a great reputation can still leave you starting every month from scratch.    Everyone can see how busy you are. Nobody can see what next month looks like.    Hamilton event photographer Erika Matkovich says it out loud, and shares what has helped her keep the calendar full:  • The one source she says brings in 95% of her business  • The month she already knows will be slow, and what she's thinking of doing about it  • The one question she has for anyone using AI photos in their business  • Her answer to the closing question, and how she ends it    She's a real Hamilton small business owner talking about a real month, not a framework or a course.    If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically.    Resources Mentioned:  Matko Photo: Instagram @matko.photo Website matkophoto.com  The Loew Down | Because your story matters.  Send us Fan Mail

  2. Oct 22

    Heather's Story: She Wrote Them Goodbye

    You built something people loved, and the numbers still stopped adding up anyway, even though you did almost everything right. You’ve absorbed rising costs, watched the neighbourhood around you change, and still ended up writing the kind of letter you never thought you’d have to write. This week, Heather Elson of Mystic Kitchen (formerly Mystic Ramen) walks us through exactly what that looked like, from the letter to where things stand right now. - The real reason a restaurant that was doing almost everything right still couldn’t make the math work - What happened in the two weeks after the goodbye letter went up, and the number that still doesn’t quite make sense - The one piece of advice about running a business with your partner that almost no one tells you before it matters - Why the new location means going back to almost exactly where this all started, and what that’s teaching her - What she wants to be recognized for in our community once all of this settles (hint: it has nothing to do with ramen) This isn’t a turnaround story from a business book, it’s what happened to a real Hamilton small business owner, this year, in real time. If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically. Resources Mentioned: IG: @MysticKitchen.ca | mysticramen.ca Find Mystic Kitchen right now at The Be Café and Barkery, IG: @becafeandbarkery Mystic’s broth packages are also on the shelves at Coven Market, IG: @thecovenmarket, and on Uber Eats Wednesday through Saturday Shoutout to @insta.noodls, the food account that helped spread the word this summer & Electric Diner, IG: @electricdinerhamont The Loew Down | Because your story matters. Send us Fan Mail

  3. Oct 15

    Tish's Story: 64 Garbage Bags In One Day

    Thinking about going into business with your mom, your sister or anyone you love? Tish (Lateisha Brown) and her mom signed a lease the day after a Boxing Day shopping trip. Now three women run one Hamilton business together, and they have a rule for when mom is also your business partner. In this episode: •        The rule that keeps three women running one business, including the one who’s also mom •        The Christmas dinner scenario she says you don’t want •        The record day of 64 garbage bags of clothes, and what changed after it •        Why Tish says “we are not thrift” •        Her answer to the question I ask every guest: what do you want to be recognized for in our community? This isn’t a franchise and it isn’t a theory. It’s three women and a small team running a real, six-year-old small business in Hamilton. If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically. Resources Mentioned: The Reloved Boutique: IG @the.reloved.boutique website: therelovedboutique.com  TISH Jewelry: IG @tishjewelry website: shoptishjewelry.com The Loew Down | Because your story matters. Send us Fan Mail

  4. Oct 1

    Carly's Story: Even Therapists Need Support

    You've built something that helps everyone else, and you still don't know who to call when you're the one who needs support.    You tell yourself you're fine, you push through, and you assume everyone else has this figured out in a way you don't.    • The moment a Hamilton therapist realized her own burnout was showing up in her body, not just her mood  • Why even someone whose entire career is helping people find support still has trouble finding her own  • The 45-second practice she recommends to anyone who has no idea how they're feeling day to day  • What she wishes more business owners understood about the difference between being tired and needing real support  • What she wants to be recognized for in the Hamilton small business community, after almost two decades in practice    This isn't a framework from a course. This is a Hamilton therapist who built two practices from the ground up, telling you exactly what she tells her own clients.    If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically.    Content note: this episode includes an honest conversation about mental health and past  hospitalization.    Resources Mentioned:  Instagram: @ccpsychotherapy  Website: carlycrawfordfyvc.com    The Loew Down | Because your story matters.  Send us Fan Mail

  5. Sep 17

    Andy's Story: Views Aren't Sales

    You built something people love walking through the door for. Scroll through your Instagram and you'd never know it.    You've been posting consistently, maybe even trying the trends everyone tells you to, and it still isn't bringing anyone new through that door.    • The real reason your view count might be lying to you about what's driving customers in  • Why one Hamilton small business owner tells his hospitality clients to skip the trending dance completely and what he has them do instead  • The difference between content that gets views and content that gets you remembered  • Why he deliberately works with fewer people on purpose, and what happened right after he did  • What he wants to be known for in the Hamilton small business community (hint: it's not “the social media guy”)    This isn't a framework or a course. It's the real advice one Hamilton agency owner gives the food and hospitality brands he works with every day.    If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically.    Resources Mentioned: Instagram: @socialby_andybWebsite: socialbyandy.com  Send us Fan Mail

  6. Sep 17

    Cailen's Story: The City Told Her No. Twice.

    Ever hit a wall as a small business owner with absolutely no one nearby who's been through it before? You Google it, you ask around, and you still end up piecing it together completely alone.    Here's the relief: it gets figured out. Cailen's story is exactly what that looked like for her, coffee cart, permit fight, and all.    • The city rejected her original plan, again and again, over months and what she had to build from scratch to finally get approved  • The moment she realized there was no one local she could call for advice, and what she did instead  • How a customer's syrup swap turned into her best-selling matcha  • The very first event that pulled a six-hour line, except for one 200-strong uninvited guest  • What she said when asked how she wants to be recognized in her community. Not the answer you'd expect from someone running a coffee business  •  She's doing this from a repurposed horse trailer parked in Hamilton. This isn't a framework, it's what actually happened.    If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically.    Resources Mentioned: Pinkies Coffee Co. Instagram & Facebook: @pinkiescoffeeco Greenbelt Coffee (local roaster, Parkdale) Small Bites Baking (baked goods partner)  Send us Fan Mail

  7. Sep 17

    Kristen's Story: Nobody Told Her She'd Be Okay

    You know that feeling of facing something scary in your own body, completely alone, with no one there to tell you it's going to be okay? You've probably told yourself that's just what it costs to build something alone. Here's what that isolation turned into for her: • A pelvic floor injury at 28 that nobody warned her about and what she says would have changed everything if just one person had said the right thing at the time. • The pregnancy complication that came from something every new mom does without thinking twice and what it revealed once she finally listened to her body. • A one-hour conversation with an AI expert that changed how she runs her clinic, her conference, and her podcast and the systems she built because of it. • A photo of herself running into the ocean at 51 that she could barely get through without tearing up on the mic and what it taught her about needing other people. • What she said when we asked what she wants to be recognized for in our community not the clinical answer you'd expect from 25 years in the field. She built this as a Hamilton small business owner, one patient at a time. This isn't theory, it's what happened. If this one hit home, hit follow so the next conversation lands in your feed automatically. Resources mentioned: Blueberry Therapy blueberrytherapy.ca IG @blueberrytherapypelvichealth Kristen's podcast: The Hole Shebang AI coaching: Callan Faulkner / The Uncommon Business  Send us Fan Mail

  8. Jul 30

    Katie’s Story: Building a Business When Your Brain Won’t Quiet Down

    Our season finale, and what a conversation to close on. Katie from Cake & Kale is a Hamilton-based custom cake and wedding cake artist, a mom of two boys with a third on the way, and someone who has spent years being radically honest about mental health while building a business that runs entirely on precision and detail. She lives with OCD, anxiety, and depression. And she makes wedding cakes for a living. She went full-time in 2022 and has been figuring it out, out loud ever since. In this conversation we get into what Pure O OCD actually looks like when you're mid-build on a wedding cake, the summer before her wedding when a panic attack brought her to the darkest thought she'd ever had, and the cat named Butters who somehow showed up at exactly the right moment. We also talk about what it looks like to run a business at 60% capacity, why she made hiring decisions before she needed them, and the guilt of not enjoying pregnancy when you're expected to love every second. Find Katie at @cakeandkale on Instagram and at cakeandkale.ca. Because your story matters. 🎙️ Send us Fan Mail

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About

The Loew Down is the podcast where Hamilton's small business community tells its own story — origin stories, pivots, hard lessons and the real advice that only comes from someone who's actually been through it. 

Information

  • Creator
    Cassidy Loewen
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    20
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 The Loew Down
  • Show Website
    The Loew Down