A-1 Cellular Repair, LLC, ARcare, Chaotic Kingdom Wrestling/Bumps and Bruises Pro Wrestling Academy, CWP Productions, Gene Summers Construction, Inc., Jack & Diane's Boutique, Red Door Book, SERVPRO of Little Rock

Chad Williams,

Pinnacle Signs & Graphics, Springhill Wine & Spirits, Simmons Bank, Southern Trophy, LLC, The UPS Store #4591, North Little Rock Junior Cotillion, Arkansas Portable Toilets, North Hills Family Dental Care, Judge Rita Gruber, Windstream Enterprise, Callahan Real Estate, Inc.

Please email Brenda if you are interested in joining!

How long have you been in business? I have been a business owner in NLR since 1991. Our first Moe’s location in the state was opened in NLR 17 years ago, which is incredibly hard to believe!

What is your favorite part about having your business in Central Arkansas? The community support has been unwavering. As a startup, then maintaining all those years but most recently, being a restaurant to survive the pandemic has been incredibly heartwarming and reminded me of how amazing the people of North Little Rock are and why it is a great place to do business. The community, Chamber members and City leaders and friends are the only reason we are still open and operating today, a year later. Everyone has literally called for support and continually reminded the public of how important it is to support our locally owned businesses in order for our community and city to grow and get through tough times together. When we’ve needed help the most, the people and city of North Little Rock have been there for us in a huge way and I will be forever grateful.

How did you get started? My husband and I visited the first Moe’s on Peachtree in Atlanta in 2003 and fell in love with the food and the brand. At the time, there were only a couple of fast casual restaurants in our market and certainly no Mexican or southwest and we thought central Arkansas just had to have a Moe’s! We love the fact that to this day, you can get really good food, fast and in a fun atmosphere. We are very proud of the fact that we have never owned microwaves or freezers and serve fresh food made in-house daily.

What are the biggest challenges you face as a business owner in general, or as a woman? Women business owners certainly face a different set of challenges in business, but everyone faces challenges every day. The way in which we choose to respond is what will determine our successes or failures. I always try to focus on the challenges of our industry and be a part of the solution, not the problem. It’s not that women’s views are necessarily better, but they can be very different at times, and that different approach can be invaluable to any organization’s leadership team. Every business should strive for a more inclusive and balanced view and leadership model to include all segments of modern society. 

If you could change one thing about your business, what would it be? Today’s climate has created this narrative that the restaurant industry is no longer a great career choice and that is so wrong. All I read is that staff is underpaid and overworked, so people are choosing to leave the hospitality industry as a whole. That is very unfair and simply not true. There are great opportunities for a career path in the restaurant business. We are working very hard to try to change that narrative by being an employer of choice and providing a great environment that people enjoy working in while certainly being compensated fairly. The people on our team are the most important part of our business and always the number one priority of our business. 

Do you have any important advice you could share to another person or woman who wants to start their own business? Follow your dreams. They are only yours and no one else can achieve them for you or take them away. Focus on education and while working hard in every position you can to gain experience, find a mentor and be open to learning and new ideas. Allow someone to guide and help you along the way. There are very successful women in business, but successful male role models are also a great resource and have been invaluable to me as I have grown my business. I could have never done it alone. 

Join Us THIS THURSDAY!!

The North Little Rock Chamber, in partnership with The North Little Rock Young Professionals, is hosting “A Night in the Caribbean” Business After Hours, presented by TruService Community Federal Credit Union.

For more details, please call 501-372-5959 or email Elyse.

Executive & Artistic Director, Ballet Arkansas

RSVP: 372-5959 or nlrchamber@nlrchamber.org

The scramble will be held across two days with tee times assigned from 9 am-1:30 pm, 12 minutes apart.

Please contact Kathleen for more details.

Please join us for a fun, free and unique event on the Arkansas River. The collective host organizations are inviting only our members to come out to Rockwater Marina in North Little Rock and Rock City Yacht Club in Little Rock to enjoy an evening on the River and have the opportunity to view the downtowns of North Little Rock and Little Rock from the middle of the Arkansas River. 

There is no cost to attend this event, as this is a member only event, but please RSVP to downtownpartnership@downtownlr.com

We hope to see you on the river!