Nonprofits have their own approach to business and this week’s guest has plenty to share from his unique vantage point, which involves a beloved, Atlanta mainstay: Piedmont Park. Widener leads the charge for the Piedmont Park Conservancy, a member and donor-funded nonprofit working in partnership with the City of Atlanta to maintain and enhance historic Piedmont Park. Founded in 1989, the Conservancy raises more than $5 million each year to do its job. This year the Piedmont Park Conservancy is not only celebrating its 35th anniversary, but the 120th birthday of Piedmont Park itself. Widener discusses the Conservancy’s dynamic with the City of Atlanta, the Conservancy’s diverse revenue streams, its master plan, and much more.

Atlanta has no shortage of museums and cultural institutions, and overflows with world-renowned art, history, political, and science exhibits. This week’s guest tells us all about one of those museums and how they make it work as a nonprofit business. Since opening in 2003 next to Centennial Olympic Park, the Children’s Museum of Atlanta has become the city’s premier source of hands-on and exploratory learning for young children. It receives more than 160,000 guests annually and has welcomed more than 3.4 million visitors to date. Link discusses his approach to leadership in the nonprofit museum space, how they work together to complement the surrounding museums, and much more.

As consumers, it’s easy to take for granted all that goes into a retail business, especially independent ones. Evolution, adaptation to customer interest, and rebranding can be part of the process. And this week’s guest has experienced all of that and more. After being a longtime employer of Sq/Ft, a popular gift shop on the downtown Decatur Square in Decatur, Georgia, Sierra Wallis purchased the store and eventually decided to rebrand. The store had morphed from its original incarnation as a primarily a shoe store to a full-fledged gift shop specializing in playfully fun and cheeky gifts, including puzzles, greeting cards, T-shirts, books, housewares, jewelry, socks, and much more. Wallis discusses the process of rebranding, the art of curating inventory, the significance of operating a small retail store, the importance of delegation, and other topics.

This week’s edition of “Lenz On Business” is extra special with a pair of fantastic guests. Raphael Holloway kicks off the show to tell us more about Gateway Center and how this Atlanta-based nonprofit focuses on the needs of the homeless community. Since 2005, Gateway Center has been making efforts towards their vision of making homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring.

They specialize in housing placement and stability, health and wellness, family and community engagement, job skills training and placement, and adult and financial literacy. On Saturday, May 4, Gateway Center will be hosting its 3rd annual Everybody Vs. Homelessness 5K at Westside Park in Atlanta.

Throughout the second half of the program, Diane Capriola takes us behind the scenes of Little Shop of Stories, the popular downtown Decatur children’s bookstore, and how she made her dream a reality. Little Shop of Stories is presenting the inaugural Decatur Children’s Book Festival May 3–5 in downtown Decatur, and Diane tells us all about it.

On “Lenz On Business,” we often take a look at folks who are using business to make a difference in the world, and this week’s guests do just that. Their work has an incredibly positive impact on the community, and they do this in a big way through the power of music. Amplify My Community is a nonprofit that produces concerts and festivals in order to raise money for other nonprofits working to alleviate homelessness and poverty on the local level. Its signature event is the Amplify Decatur Music Festival, which is presented by Lenz and produced in partnership with Eddie’s Attic. It includes four days of musical events, taking place April 11-14 on and around the Downtown Decatur Square in Decatur, Georgia. The big Amplify Decatur Music Festival ticketed event drops Saturday, April 13 in the Decatur Square. The show features Melissa Etheridge, Dawes, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Run Katie Run, and Jitterbug. You can learn more and purchase tickets by visiting amplifydecatur.org.

Sabol is the award-winning owner and president of Atlanta-based plumbing service, PlumbWorks. He’s also a master plumber himself. One of the city’s leading plumbing companies, PlumbWorks has been in business since 1989. The company proudly bears an A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau. This week Sabol returns to the show and talks with guest host Belinda Skelton about the business and an array of timely issues.

Family businesses are an American tradition, and this week’s guest has a unique perspective of the concept. Sue left a corporate recruiting role after 20 years to join her husband in running Plumb Works, the family business. She talks about the transition, the unique challenges, and the opportunities she’s experienced since she began this role 18 months ago. One of the city’s leading plumbing companies, PlumbWorks has been in business since 1989. The company proudly bears an A-plus rating from the Better Business Bureau. They specialize in an exhaustive amount of plumbing repair, maintenance and installation services. Everything from emergency plumbing and commercial services to drain cleaning, sewer line and water heaters. Plumb Works even has its own free, how-to online video course. Plumb Works Academy teaches simple plumbing maintenance and repair tips. You can visit plumbworksacademy.com to learn more. And you can learn more about PlumbWorks at plumbworksinc.com.

College football season recently wrapped up, and many serious fans may be struggling to fill that void. However, Atlanta is the best place to get your college football fix in the off season thanks to the Chick-fil-a College Football Hall of Fame. The Hall has been operating in the city since 2014, and it’s located in the heart of downtown Atlanta’s entertainment and attractions district. It features more than 50,000 square feet of entertainment and exhibit space and a 45-yard indoor football field. Beaudin has been with the Hall of Fame since 2015. In 2020, she was appointed CEO, making her the first female leader of the institution. She discusses what brought the Hall to Atlanta, how she became CEO days before the pandemic shutdown, the economic impact of the attraction, and much more.