AVL Biz Weekly — June 10–16: Pitch Parties, Pollinators & Modest Mouse

Welcome to AVL BIZ Weekly—your local cheat sheet for what’s happening in Asheville’s small business + creative scenes.

Each week: hand-picked events, marketing ideas that actually work, and a little local flavor to keep things fun.

My name's Jason and I'm writing this (connect with me here).

Hey friends,

Get ready for a busy full week (my wife says “busy” means you’re not in control of your time).

We’ve got a Chamber growth session, Asheville developers talking real-world transit tech at Mojo, women entrepreneurs gathering around the power of intentional relationships, and founders pitching their ideas in Hendersonville.

Outside the business lane we have pollinators at dusk, pressed flowers, Dungeons & Dragons, Americana tea, rooftop comedy, garden comedy, and a Sunday on the French Broad.

And on the music side? Modest Mouse gets two nights at The Orange Peel, Wolfmother rolls through Monday, Spacey Jane lands Thursday, and brewery stages from Black Mountain to Asheville stay busy all week. Hell. Yes. 🤘

Choose wisely.

📋 On Deck

• Business Events: Chamber growth conversations, public transit tech, Thrive WNC author talks, and Hendersonville pitch night.

• Marketing Quickies: Three places home service businesses lose leads before they ever get a chance to quote the job.

• Fun Stuff: Pollinator walks, pressed flower art, Dungeons & Dragons, rooftop comedy, secret garden comedy, Americana tea, and riverfront Sunday plans.

• Bands & Shows: Modest Mouse, Wolfmother, Spacey Jane, The Ain’t Sisters, Brother Wallace, and more.

🙋 Want your biz featured in front of a few really smart AVL business owners? Email me for details

🗓️ Business Events

• 🗓️ PROpel AVL Grow Series — Wednesday, June 10 · 12:00 AM–1:00 PM (Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, 36 Montford Ave, Asheville, NC)

  The Chamber’s professional development series brings together local professionals for practical growth conversations and leadership development. Good for emerging leaders, managers, and business owners who want to sharpen the part of business that happens after “just figure it out.”

• 🗓️ The ART of Asheville Transit Tech — Thursday, June 11 · 6:00–7:30 PM (Mojo Coworking, 81 Broadway St Suite 201, Asheville, NC)

  The avl.js crew looks behind the scenes of Asheville’s ART Transit website, covering JavaScript, static site architecture, transit data, accessibility, and the practical engineering choices behind public-facing tech. Good for developers, civic tech people, UX folks, and anyone who appreciates software that has to work for actual humans.

• 🗓️ Thrive WNC: Meet the Authors — Cory Wall & Jessica Wade, The Power of One — Thursday, June 11 · 12:00–2:00 PM (The Mule at Devil’s Foot Beverage, 131 Sweeten Creek Rd, Asheville, NC)

  Cory Wall and Jessica Wade lead a conversation on intentional relationships, business growth, social media, and how one meaningful event can create real momentum. Good for women entrepreneurs, community-builders, real estate folks, coaches, and anyone trying to build a business without turning every interaction into a sales funnel.

• 🗓️ Pitch Party Hendersonville — Tuesday, June 16 · 5:30 PM (Hatch Innovation Hub, 822 Locust St, Hendersonville, NC)

  Founders and entrepreneurs pitch ideas, gather feedback, and connect with other builders in the region. If you’ve ever watched Shark Tank and thought “I could do that,” here’s your chance to see it happen locally, with fewer dramatic camera cuts.

Hosting something cool?

📬 Hit reply and tell me what you think. Or share an event!

💡 Marketing Quickies

Three places home service businesses lose leads before they get a chance to quote the job.

A lot of home service and professional service businesses don’t have a lead problem.

They have a “the lead came in while I was on a ladder / under a sink / driving across town / on a call” problem.

This week’s Show Up and Follow Up move: fix the spots where interested customers disappear before they ever become booked jobs.

1. Put the next action above the scroll.

Open your website on your phone. Not your laptop. Your phone.

Can someone immediately tap to call, request a quote, or send a message without hunting through a menu like it’s a cursed escape room?

If not, fix that first.

For home service businesses, the top of the mobile site should make the next step painfully obvious:

• Call now

• Request a quote

• Text us

• See service areas

• Read recent reviews

  Pretty is nice. Booked jobs are nicer.

2. Add a missed-call text-back.

If you miss a call, the lead should not have to wonder if anyone is alive over there.

Set up an automatic text that goes out when someone calls and you can’t answer.

Something simple:

“Hey, this is [Business Name]. Sorry we missed your call. What can we help with? Send us a few details and we’ll get back to you shortly.”

That one message can save the job while you’re still finishing the one you’re already on.

3. Ask for the review before the good feeling expires.

The best time to ask for a Google review is right after the job is done and the customer is happy.

Not three weeks later when they’ve already forgotten your name and are back to arguing with their dishwasher.

Simple version:

“Thanks again for trusting us with the project. If you’re happy with the work, would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It really helps local customers find us.”

Send the direct review link. Make it easy. Then make it part of the system, not something you remember only when business gets slow.

Local Business Spotlight

This week: Lindsay Levine came to The Beauty Boost Asheville as a regular attendee, worked her way through every role in the operation, and eventually took it over. A year and a half in, she's running rooms where women feel brave enough to show up alone.

If you run a local business and want to be featured, reply to this email.

The Beauty Boost Asheville — From Regular Attendee to Owner, Building a Room Where Women Finally Feel Brave — Featuring Lindsay Levine

Story

Lindsay Levine has been in every possible role at The Beauty Boost Asheville before she ever owned it. She came as an attendee five and a half years ago, became an ambassador, then a partner, and even managed a downtown restaurant where the previous owner hosted events on the rooftop. When that owner moved out of town, taking over wasn't a stretch — it was the next logical step. She's been running it for about a year and a half.

The Beauty Boost is a national brand operating in 34 cities, but Lindsay's version in Asheville is built around something specific: creating space for women to show up, find community, and connect with local women-owned businesses they wouldn't have found otherwise. The format ranges from weekend retreats to fitness samplers to empowerment workshops. The draw for vendors is what Lindsay calls "signature experience stations," where a sports massage therapist might offer two-minute mini massages at a fitness event in exchange for email addresses and Instagram follows, and often books clients on the spot.

The real measure of it shows up in her DMs. One recent message: "This is a grown woman — after going to just two of your events, I realized I am more brave than I thought I was because I showed up alone." She gets versions of that regularly. Women telling her they finally made friends in Asheville, found their hairdresser, or felt proud for getting themselves out the door. Even the vendors feel it — solopreneurs who work alone, suddenly in a room with other female entrepreneurs having what Lindsay calls "me too moments."

Day in the Life

1. Favorite coffee or breakfast spot? High Five Coffee in Woodfin, where she's been a regular for nine years. Also Burgers and Bagels for something quick, or Green Sage in North Asheville because there's actually parking.

2. Fitness routine? Three mornings a week at Burn Boot Camp North Asheville [verify specific location link], plus walks at Beaver Lake for her nervous system.

3. First-time visitor to Asheville/WNC? Two options depending on how much they want to hike: Laurel River Trail in the Marshall area followed by pizza at Vinyl Pies and Big Pillow Brewing, or Catawba Falls Trail with a stop at Hillman Brewing. Always cocktails at the Omni Grove Park Inn for sunset, and live music somewhere. "We are so spoiled with live music here."

Want to work with them? Find The Beauty Boost Asheville on Instagram @thebeautyboostashevillenc, reach out at [email protected], or join their community app for members.

🎉 Fun Stuff Around AVL

• 🗓️ Garden Pollinators at Dusk — Friday, June 12 · 5:30 PM (The North Carolina Arboretum, 20 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC)

  An after-hours look at the pollinators keeping WNC gardens alive and dramatic. Good for gardeners, nature nerds, and anyone who wants to be outside without pretending it’s a networking event.

• 🗓️ Pressed Flower Art Workshop — Thursday, June 11 · 1:00–4:00 PM (The North Carolina Arboretum, 20 Frederick Law Olmsted Way, Asheville, NC)

  Susan McChesney leads a hands-on Oshibana workshop using pressed flowers and botanicals to make art. Perfect for plant people, crafty people, and people whose camera roll is 37% “pretty leaf I found.”

• 🗓️ 5J Barrow: A Special Sunday on the French Broad River — Sunday, June 14 · 4:00 PM (Olivette Riverside Pavilion, Asheville area)

  A riverfront Sunday with music, food, and a little fresh-air reset along the French Broad. Strong pick if your weekend needs fewer tabs open and more actual sky.

• 🗓️ Family-Friendly Dungeons and Dragons — Monday, June 15 · 5:00 PM (Well Played Board Game Café, 162 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC)

  A beginner-friendly D&D session built for families and younger adventurers. Good for kids, parents, and adults who still respect the sacred drama of rolling a natural 20.

• 🗓️ High Noon Americana Tea: Celebrating America’s 250 Years at Amaris Farms — Saturday, June 13 · 12:00 PM (Inn at Amaris Farms, 872 Barnardsville Hwy, Weaverville, NC)

  A red, white, and blue afternoon tea on a working farm, celebrating America’s 250th with loose-leaf tea, summer bites, and mountain views. Twenty seats, which is basically Asheville’s version of “blink and it’s gone.”

• 🗓️ Rooftop Comedy Featuring Zain Zaidi — Thursday, June 11 · 8:00 PM (The River Arts District Brewing Company / RAD Brewing, Asheville, NC)

  Modelface Comedy brings Zain Zaidi to a rooftop stage in the River Arts District. Good option if your week needs fewer “quick calls” and more laughing at someone else’s problems.

• 🗓️ Secret Garden Comedy — Friday, June 12 · 7:00 PM (Wicked Weed Funkatorium, 147 Coxe Ave, Asheville, NC)

  Stand-up comedy in a garden setting because Asheville refuses to let comedy happen in a normal room. Bring a friend, grab a drink, and enjoy an evening that is somehow both classy and chaotic.

🎧 Bands on the Horizon

• Congress the Band, The Gringos, The Band Solstice & Olympic Vibe — Wed, Jun 10 · 7 PM @ The Orange Peel

• The Saylor Brothers — Thu, Jun 11 · 6 PM @ Pisgah Brewing

• Spacey Jane — Thu, Jun 11 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• The Ain’t Sisters — Fri, Jun 12 · 8 PM @ Pisgah Brewing

• Brendan Lane & The Sugar Packets — Fri, Jun 12 · 6 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Modest Mouse w/ Silver Triplets of the Rio Hondo — Fri, Jun 12 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• The Nature Boys — Sat, Jun 13 · 6 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Modest Mouse w/ Silver Triplets of the Rio Hondo — Sat, Jun 13 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Jonathan Byrd — Sun, Jun 14 · 6 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Sunday Jam: Alex Bazemore — Sun, Jun 14 · 6 PM @ Pisgah Brewing

• Wolfmother w/ Love Gang — Mon, Jun 15 · 8 PM @ The Orange Peel

• Matt Heckler — Mon, Jun 15 · 8 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Golden Folk Sessions — Mon, Jun 15 · 8 PM @ The Grey Eagle

• Brother Wallace — Tue, Jun 16 · 8 PM @ The Grey Eagle

That's the week.

Go pitch the idea. Watch the pollinators. Fix the follow-up. See Modest Mouse. Ask for the review before the customer forgets how good the job looked.

And if you know a business owner who should be reading this, forward them the email.

See you around town,

Jason De Los Santos
Pixelated Stories Digital Marketing
(828) 585-4293