Marcella Giuffrida is the co-founder of Forte Vita, a heated, weighted workout studio in Brentwood, Los Angeles, and the founder of MGPR, a boutique PR and social media agency specializing in emerging lifestyle and wellness brands. Before opening Forte Vita, Marcella built her career in New York’s luxury fashion PR world, later returning to LA to represent wellness and lifestyle clients, one of which led her to creating monthly puppy yoga events that unexpectedly planted the seed for a fitness studio of her own.

In early 2025, after struggling to find a studio she and her co-founder genuinely loved, Marcella spotted an opportunity: combine a luxury workout experience with the built-in community they had already cultivated. Within weeks, the two secured a hidden upstairs space above their favorite coffee shop, signed a $5,500/month lease, invested $100,000 of their own savings and began building Forte Vita from scratch. By October, just six months after the first spark of an idea, they opened their doors with a 20-person team, 5–6 classes a day, and a focus on elevated, stress-free fitness.

In its first month, Forte Vita reached 30% class capacity, driven heavily by TikTok and a smart, scrappy PR approach. Marcella shares how she built a cohesive brand before opening, leveraged influencers and brand partnerships for zero-cost amenities, and designed a guest experience that feels calm, intentional and premium in contrast to traditional big-box fitness studios.

Marcella breaks down the real costs and realities of launching a boutique fitness studio in LA, the operational challenges of the first 30 days and how to build a brick-and-mortar business that stands out in a saturated market, through authenticity, community and an eye for thoughtful details.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How a puppy yoga event sparked the idea for a boutique fitness studio
• Launching Forte Vita in 6 months with a $100K budget
• Breaking down the numbers: $5,500 rent, 21-person max classes, 5–6 classes/day
• How TikTok became their #1 customer acquisition channel
• Building a luxury guest experience vs. the traditional fitness chaos
• When to do PR, when not to and how authenticity beats paid press
• Growing to 30% capacity in month one and the surprising class times that work

If you’ve ever thought about opening a fitness studio, creating a wellness brand or building a brick-and-mortar business with strong community and storytelling, this episode is packed with insight.

Resources & Links

Forte Vita Website: https://www.fortevita.co/

Forte Vita Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fortevita.co/

Marcella Giuffrida Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marcellagiuffrida/

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Brittney Wysong is the founder of Artsy Studio, a 1,700-square-foot process-based art studio for kids in Trussville, Alabama. Before opening the studio, Brittney spent a decade in healthcare marketing and graphic design, balancing a full-time corporate role with raising two young kids. A single visit to an open art space with her toddler sparked the idea for Artsy, a place where kids could create freely without the limits of traditional classrooms or the distractions of home.

Within months, Brittney found an older, character-filled building in the center of town, signed a two-year lease for $2,800 a month, and began transforming the space with hand-painting walls, building custom tables, and renovating late at night while working full-time and caring for a newborn. She tested the concept by tarping her garage, inviting 20 moms and their kids, and letting chaos and creativity run wild. The response confirmed the demand, and Artsy Studio officially opened in March 2025 to a packed, wall-to-wall grand opening crowd.

Today, Artsy Studio hosts process-art classes, open studio hours, workshops, lessons, birthday parties, seasonal camps, and even at-home craft kits through its new “Artsy Anywhere” line. Brittney serves 100–125 unique kids a month while steadily growing the business, expanding offerings, and learning how to navigate seasonality, pricing, staffing, and the realities of year-one brick-and-mortar life.

In this episode, Brittney breaks down how she launched a neighborhood creative space in under 90 days, why environment changes everything for kids' creativity, and what she’s learned transitioning from corporate marketer to full-time founder.

We cover:
• The lightbulb moment that inspired Artsy Studio
• Testing the idea by turning her garage into a DIY mini-studio
• Finding a below-market, character-rich space and negotiating the lease
• How she funded the buildout with ~$30K in savings and family support
• Her philosophy on environment-based creativity for kids
• Why she hand-built most of the studio herself (and what she outsourced)
• How process-art classes, open studio hours, and parties drive revenue
• Seasonality, homeschool demand, and early business learnings
• Going full-time on Artsy just two weeks ago
• Trusting your gut as a founder and keeping some ideas close to the chest

If you’ve ever dreamed of opening a kids’ space, launching a creative studio, or starting a community-centered retail concept while juggling work and family, this episode is a candid look at how one founder made it happen with speed, scrappiness, and a whole lot of paint.

Resources & Links
Artsy Studio Website: https://www.artsystudio.co
Artsy Studio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artsybham

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Sam Saverance is the co-founder of Bunna Cafe in Bushwick and the creator of Farley’s Sloppy Joes in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. Before opening restaurants, Sam worked as a freelance designer, spent time in finance, and began hosting food pop-ups, one of which evolved into Bunna Cafe, a beloved Ethiopian vegan restaurant that’s been a neighborhood fixture since 2011.

In 2024, Sam launched Farley’s, a 300-square-foot diner-style concept dedicated entirely to the sloppy joe, America’s most nostalgic sandwich. Built for just $2,500 a month in rent, Farley’s runs a lean, efficient operation serving sloppy joes, chips, and sodas while keeping prices affordable and margins healthy.

Over the past decade, Sam has seen the Brooklyn dining landscape transform, from the early days of Smorgasburg pop-ups to a post-COVID world where consumer habits, rent pressures, and oversaturation have changed the rules of running restaurants. Rather than chasing trends, Sam focuses on neighborhood-first growth, organic marketing, and owner presence, building goodwill the old-fashioned way, one customer at a time.

In this episode, Sam breaks down how he opened Farley’s on a shoestring budget, what it takes to survive as a small operator in NYC today, and how to create a concept that feels fresh, fun, and deeply local.

We cover:

• How Bunna Cafe went from pop-up to a Brooklyn institution
• Letting the space shape the concept instead of forcing an idea
• The post-COVID reality of NYC dining and consumer behavior
• Opening Farley’s for under $2,500/month rent with minimal buildout
• How to price affordably without killing margins
• The operational playbook: warmers over fryers, chips over fries
• Neighborhood-first growth and building goodwill as an asset
• Collaborating with local food makers and small brands
• Why Sloppy Joes might be the next big nostalgia food trend
• How to test concepts through pop-ups before going permanent

If you’ve ever dreamed of turning a pop-up into a permanent restaurant, opening in a tiny footprint, or experimenting with low-cost, high-creativity food concepts, this episode is a refreshing, first-hand look at how to do it without losing your mind or your money.

Resources & Links
Farley's Sloppy Joes Website: https://www.farleysnyc.com/
Farley’s Sloppy Joes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/farleyssloppyjoes

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Benjamin Berg is the founder and CEO of Berg Hospitality Group, the team behind B&B Butchers and more than a dozen restaurant concepts across Texas. Ben started out as a bellman at the Lake Placid Lodge, worked his way through fine dining in Las Vegas, Mexico City, and New York, earned his master’s at Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, and spent over five years at Smith & Wollensky before striking out on his own.

In 2015, Ben opened B&B Butchers in Houston with $1.7 million raised and no prior track record as an owner. His first-year revenue hit $9 million, eventually growing to $17 million annually with 28–30% profit margins. That success fueled the growth of Berg Hospitality Group, which now operates 14 restaurants and employs more than 1,400 people.

Ben also shares his losses and mistakes. In 2023, Ben opened a modern Chinese concept he believed would take Houston by storm. Instead, it cost $5.5 million to build-out, had six-figure monthly losses, and closed within 14 months. In this episode, Ben breaks down what went wrong, the rules he broke, and how that failure reshaped his playbook for growth.

We also dive into the real economics of steakhouses, why private dining drives profit, how he manages margins across concepts, and what it takes to scale a hospitality group without losing touch with the guest experience.

We cover:

• How a bellman became a multi-concept restaurateur
• Lessons from Cornell’s hospitality program and Smith & Wollensky
• Opening B&B Butchers with $1.7M and hitting $9M in year one
• Scaling to $17M and 28–30% margins on a single unit
• The waterfall effect: how steakhouse economics really work
• How Houston’s dining scene evolved and why local ownership matters
• The $5.5M failure why it happened and what he’d never do again
• His rules for site selection: parking, access, visibility
• Why 12–14% margins are now considered excellent post-COVID
• The future of Berg Hospitality and why he’s focused on scaling fewer, better brands

If you’ve ever dreamed of opening a steakhouse or building a hospitality group, this episode is a brutally honest masterclass in restaurant economics, site selection, and scaling smart without losing your shirt.

Resources & Links
Berg Hospitality Group: https://berghospitality.com
B&B Butchers: https://bbbutchers.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/berghospitality
Benjamin Berg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-berg-5b180976/

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Arnold Byun is the co-founder of Maum Market and Store.

After nearly a decade managing some of New York’s most acclaimed restaurants including Eleven Madison Park, Bouley, and Atomix, he found himself jobless during the pandemic, sitting in Los Angeles with no plan, no network, and plenty of time to think. What started as a $1,000 experiment with 10 folding tables and 22 Korean American friends selling ceramics, art, and baked goods would soon become MAUM, a growing platform for Asian-owned brands that now spans 70+ markets and three retail stores across New York, San Francisco, and Orange County.

Arnold and his co-founder, Kioh Park, built MAUM as a modern hospitality company disguised as a market, one that curates not just products, but people and stories. They run every event themselves, hauling U-Hauls, setting up booths, and designing immersive, community-driven experiences that consistently draw thousands. Today, MAUM operates on a mix of consignment, pop-ups, and percentage-rent retail deals, rethinking what it means to grow a profitable, mission-driven brand without outside capital.

In this episode, we unpack how Arnold turned a pandemic layoff into a thriving cultural business, why MAUM’s first 30-day pop-up did $80K in sales with no price tags, and what he’s learned running 70+ markets while raising a family. We also dive into how he negotiates landlord deals most brands can’t, why he believes e-commerce isn’t worth chasing, and what’s next as MAUM becomes a bridge for Asian brands entering the U.S.

We cover:

• How a pandemic layoff sparked MAUM’s $1,000 origin story
• Lessons from managing Eleven Madison Park and Atomix
• Why consignment and pop-ups beat traditional retail leases
• Turning cultural storytelling into a business advantage
• Negotiating percentage-rent and semi-permanent store deals
• Running 70+ markets and working with 2,000+ Asian-owned brands
• The realities (and grind) behind “community-based” entrepreneurship
• Why Arnold says he wouldn’t do it again, but wouldn’t change a thing
• The future of MAUM as a bridge for Asian → U.S. brand expansion

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to build a community-driven retail brand from scratch, this episode is for you.

Resources & Links
MAUM Website: https://maum.market
MAUM Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maum.market
MAUM Store Website: https://maum.store
Arnold Byun LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arnoldbyun/

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Amadeo Falce is the founder of Blue Dove Coffee, a viral coffee brand that started as a cart in Union Square and has since expanded to a brick-and-mortar café on Canal Street. A former Army paramedic turned entrepreneur, Amadeo started Blue Dove Coffee in September 2023 with a welded cart, a disabled-veteran permit, and a relentless work ethic that had him waking up at 2:30 a.m. and getting home at 9 p.m. seven days a week for 6 months straight.

In less than a year, his viral “day-in-the-life” videos racked up millions of views, doubling sales and bringing customers from all over the world to his Union Square cart. That momentum led to the opening of Blue Dove’s first brick-and-mortar café at 307 Canal Street in Lower Manhattan, a sleek, Italian-inspired coffee shop built with grit, vision, and a few hundred thousand dollars of self-taught mistakes (his “$75K tuition”).

In this episode, we dive into how Amadeo went from roofing to roasting, scaled from a single cart to a storefront, and built a premium coffee brand from the ground up, all without outside capital or prior experience in hospitality. He shares the hard truths about permits, buildouts, content strategy, and what it really takes to go from the street to Soho.

We cover:

• How a disabled-veteran permit unlocked his entry into NYC vending
• The 2:30 a.m. grind that built Blue Dove’s foundation
• Turning viral TikToks into real-world revenue
• Why he calls $75K in mistakes “tuition”
• Coffee Cart economics: from $1K/day to $2.5K/day
• Coffee Store economics: from $2k/day to $6k/day
• Opening Canal Street for $8.5K/month rent and a few hundred thousand buildout
• How to choose the right espresso machine (and the ones that fail fast)
• Expanding to Chelsea and beyond through data and demand
• Why he plans to sell Blue Dove within 3–5 years and return to solar
• The mindset shift from soldier to CEO to storyteller

If you've ever dreamed of running your own coffee cart or coffee shop, this is a must listen to hear what it takes to build a successful coffee business.

Resources & Links
Blue Dove Coffee: https://www.bluedovecoffee.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluedovecoffee
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bluedovecoffee
Amadeo Falce: https://www.instagram.com/amadeofalce

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Tyler Burnett never planned to reinvent dentistry. But after a 2017 visit where a dentist told him he needed eight fillings on the spot, he walked out skeptical and down a path that would lead to founding Wally, a membership-based dental company built around no insurance, no drills, and no surprise bills.

A serial founder from Canada with exits in digital media and fintech, Tyler applied his obsession with customer experience to one of the most outdated industries in healthcare. He and his co-founder launched Wally with a simple promise: $249 per year for unlimited cleanings, diagnostics, and exams and a goal to make going to the dentist something people actually want to do.

In this episode, we unpack how Wally pivoted from dentist SaaS to owning the full patient experience, validated demand with 500 pre-launch signups, and now serves 25,000 members across five locations in New York and New Jersey. Tyler also breaks down how Wally’s plug-and-play clinic model lets them open a new location in 24 hours for $100–200K (compared to traditional $1M+ dental buildouts), how AI is helping remove diagnostic subjectivity, and what it’s really like raising $20 million in venture funding for a brick-and-mortar healthcare startup.

We cover:

• The “8 fillings” moment that sparked Wally’s founding story
• How $249/year unlimited preventive care works economically
• The pivot from SaaS for dentists to direct-to-patient clinics
• Testing early demand with 500 signups and a two-day pilot
• The plug-and-play clinic model: $100–200K and 24-hour launch
• Scaling from 5 → 100+ locations by 2026
• How AI improves diagnostics and patient education
• Raising ~$20M in a tough brick-and-mortar fundraising climate
• Building a preventive-first dental brand people actually love
• The lessons (and near-death moments) from growing a venture-backed IRL startup

If you’ve ever wondered how to build a modern brick-and-mortar healthcare brand, this episode dives into everything from validating demand and operating lean to changing an entrenched industry through design, speed, and relentless focus on the customer.

Resources & Links
Wally Website: https://www.hiwally.co

Wally Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wallyhealth/

Tyler Burnett LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyburnett/

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/

Ann Cantrell thought she was building a career in fashion. She spent over a decade in product development at Ralph Lauren, Coach, and Brooks Brothers, turning sketches into products and learning the vendor, margin, and production game. But all the while, she was quietly stockpiling binders of ideas, gift products, fixtures, and concepts, planning for the day she’d open her own store.

In 2007, after securing a $150K home-equity loan and leaving corporate life behind, Ann opened Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store in a 520 sq ft “vanilla box” in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Ann ran the shop by day and freelanced on Mondays and Thursday mornings to make ends meet. Six years later, she moved into a bigger 1,100 sq ft space on Fifth Avenue in Park Slope, quadrupling her foot traffic and planting herself on what Time Out later named the “coolest street in New York City.”

Nearly 18 years in, Blue Ribbon is thriving, up ~40% since pre-COVID, with tens of thousands of SKUs, thousands of vendors, and a team of four full-timers and eight part-timers. Ann balances the store with her role as a professor at FIT, where she teaches sustainability and fashion merchandising, while still doing what she loves most: "zhuzhing" the shelves, curating seasonal stories, and building community through happy-hour Thursdays, mahjong cohorts, and even a cult-favorite $1 NCRT print machine that draws collectors citywide.

We cover:

• How Ann pivoted from corporate fashion to independent retail
• The 10-year “always be planning” phase before opening in 2007
• Breaking down the $150K opening budget: rent, website, and inventory
• Why she chose a no-frills vanilla box over a costly buildout
• Lessons from moving to Park Slope and quadrupling foot traffic
• Operating at scale: tens of thousands of SKUs, thousands of vendors
• Structuring a small but mighty team (buyer/GM, logistics, store, marketing)
• Surviving COVID and coming out 40% stronger with online + events
• Why candles, cards, and candy remain the top sellers
• The philosophy of one extraordinary store > many average ones

If you’re curious about what it really takes to open and sustain an independent retail gift store in NYC, this episode is packed with hard numbers, survival tactics, merchandising insights, and community-building lessons from someone who’s been building in Brooklyn for nearly two decades.

Resources & Links
Annie’s Blue Ribbon General Store: https://www.blueribbongeneralstore.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anniesblueribbongeneralstore

Sponsored by Signs and Mirrors, the leading sign and furniture shop for retail stores.

Opening Soon Links & Resources
→ Signs and furniture for retail stores: https://signsandmirrors.com
→ NYC and Houston’s first self-portrait studio: https://fotolab.studio
→ Follow us on Instagram: @openingsoonpodcast
→ More episodes and guest info: https://www.openingsoonpodcast.com
→ Your Host Alan Li: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-li-711a8629/