When Army veteran Dennis Guy returned to the Mt. Oliver neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he felt a renewed call to serve—this time through storytelling. When his local fire department faced permanent closure due to a lack of volunteers, Dennis stepped in. Leveraging his background in video production and marketing, he created a compelling recruitment campaign that brought in new volunteers and kept the department’s doors open.
That successful campaign didn’t just help his community—it sparked a business idea. Dennis and his wife, Samantha, launched First Sip Studios, a multimedia marketing agency dedicated to helping startups, nonprofits, and local communities share their stories with impact.
You know the old saying, “You have to spend money to make money.” Growth takes capital, and for a lot of small businesses, that extra cash is going to come in some form of debt.
Businesses have been struggling as a result of the pandemic and the negative shift of the economy. Most small businesses have had to reframe their operations in these difficult times. And small businesses owned by veterans are no exception.
Yes, the business world can be very competitive and harsh. But it doesn’t have to stop you from thriving. While competition is unavoidable, there are also endless opportunities to collaborate with other businesses in order to diversify your audience, reach new customers, and improve your products or services.
As a business owner, you have to be a lot of things. You need to be innovative, confident, goal-oriented, passionate, and persistent – to name a few. What you should NEVER be? Stagnant.