Craft is often defined as skill in making things by hand, but this interpretation is being challenged by AI. Craft transcends physical interaction; historical figures like Mozart and Beethoven exemplify mastery without traditional methods.
Studio NEiDA operates at the intersection of architectural practice, research, and curatorial work, focusing on how buildings emerge from the material and cultural conditions of a place.
Turning skills into a fulfilling and profitable venture is a natural next step for active seniors. The transition offers a way to monetize years of dedication and hard work. Creating a business plan for a hobby allows for a low-stress entry into the market. You already understand the product or service better than most competitors.
This guided walk will spotlight 6 locally owned businesses, each offering a unique look into their story, products and services. At each stop, enjoy a short interview with the business owner followed by time to explore, shop and engage with neighbors.
Traveller check into hotels for easy access to historical Mayan sites and the cenotes beyond, with ambles through colourful squares and late, balmy nights digesting feasts over tequila tipples. Between cultural excursions and natural wonders, however, there's much to be said for the artisans in these parts. From crafted perfumes to handmade chocolates, these are the gifts and trinkets to make space for in your luggage.
For many of its staff, the job is a "side hustle," its owner says. Staff have polished the footwear of thousands of clients, including prime ministers, former premiers, former mayors, and men and women who work in executive suites of banks and law firms, according to the company's president, CEO and owner, Jenny Young. Young said she loves how "old timey" the business is and she doesn't plan on slowing down any time soon.
Long before they became destination stops, farm shops were practical lifelines in Cornwall; places where farming families sold what they reared, grew or made, and where local communities stocked their pantries. In a county shaped by smallholdings, dairy herds and mixed farms, the connection between land and table has always been close - and still, today, hyper-local food is something Cornwall does exceptionally well.
Tons upon tons of these single-use plastics end up in landfills or even floating in the ocean. Spanish design firm PET Lamp set out give another purpose to these otherwise short-lived materials. Partnering with artisans in communities from Chile to Ethiopia to Australia, the company celebrates both Indigeneity and sustainability, drawing upon time-honored global craft traditions while supporting local economies and recycling discarded materials.
A $5 church-sale lamp was never meant to be a business plan. But in 2011, when Pennsylvania mom and part-time marketing administrator Jocelyn Elizabeth watched her dad flip that lamp for eBay prices, it pushed her stroller-and-thrift-store hobby into what is now a seven-figure ecosystem, which includes the Crazy Lamp Lady YouTube channel plus NikNax, an online marketplace hosting more than 5,000 sellers and generating over $5.2 million in 2025 revenue.
Small businesses operating in niche sectors often face a paradox: projects become increasingly complex and large-scale, while the company's structure and resources remain at the level of a small, independent workshop. This is especially evident in architectural offices, design studios, creative agencies, and workshops working with unique physical objects. A church woodcarving workshop performing a full cycle of work on the creation of iconostases and interior ensembles for churches serves as a representative case.
The advertising industry has always been in the business of making things, such as the OOH billboard, the 30-second spot, the snappy social post, the standard website: final, finite assets polished and pushed into the world. Agencies were paid, often by the hour, for producing final versions of these things and then moved on to the next project. Even with generative AI entering the picture, much of the conversation remains focused on making those same things faster or cheaper.
