“I’m exhausted and thrilled!” Minnesota women-owned businesses shine in State Fair spotlight

Ten years ago, Emily Kisa began putting together a business to sell Turkish jewelry imports. After working with St Paul-based WomenVenture and making several iterations to evolve her product line, Kisa’s business shifted into one that sells colorful handcrafted Turkish textiles and imported ornate hair and home accessories.

This summer, she achieved a longtime goal: opening her KISA booth in the West End Market at the Minnesota State Fair.

“It’s so much fun to see things fly off our shelves. I’m exhausted and thrilled!” Kisa said. “You plan for this months in advance. You are physically bringing in product, building out your booth, creating your brand story, you have to get signage, you have to guess how much product you will sell, which is a feat!”

Kisa credits WomenVenture, a Community Development Financial Institution, with guiding her as she built her business from a dream to reality. In addition to her State Fair booth, she operates a brick-and-mortar KISA store in the resort town of Nisswa, Mn and has an online store at www.kisaofficial.com

“I was naive when I started,” Kisa admitted. “I took the WomenVenture ‘How to start a business’ class and they held my hand. I have done financial and bookkeeping workshops and had a capital loan through them. WomenVenture helped me build confidence and grit.”

WomenVenture Chief Executive Officer LeeAnn Rasachak expressed satisfaction in seeing KISA’s first time booth at the State Fair.

“This is one of the largest state marketplaces to showcase your products or services, an amazing place for businesses to launch,” she said.

Rasachak proudly pointed to a number of other WomenVenture businesses that got in front of the massive crowd of fairgoers with their products. They included Ambero Hot Sauce, Ms Bev’s BBQ and dry rubs and Steller Handcrafted Goods at the International Bazaar; Roots, Shoots and Leaves mobile garden center in the West End Market, Baba’s Food Company and Urban Glow Mocktails by Urban Growler in the North End and Namaste Brows and Boutique and Lip Esteem in the Grandstand.

Many of those businesses have taken advantage of the support work offered by WomenVenture, which works with entrepreneurs throughout the state of Minnesota as well as small business owners in Western Wisconsin.

“We have dedicated teams for lending, business coaching. If someone has an idea or a side hustle they want to turn into a full time business, or you’re growing and expanding, you can meet with us. We are located in St Paul but we meet with people virtually,” Rasachak said. 

She also stressed that WomenVenture helps small business start-ups with financing, helping them to access up to $100,000 in small business funding when many traditional banks and lending institutions turn them down.

“We don’t want you to cash out your 401K and max out your credit cards to finance a new business,” Rasachak said. “We can get you on the path to finding capital so you can own your own business and build generational wealth.”

WomenVenture will celebrate its 25th anniversary at its annual fundraiser.  The “Women Mean Business” gala is coming up on October 10 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Keynote speaker for the elegant evening will be entrepreneur and media personality Sheletta Brundidge, founder and CEO of media and marketing company ShelettaMakesMeLaugh.com.

For more information on the gala, or to buy tickets or sponsorships, go to https://www.womenventure.org/about/women-mean-business/