iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

God grant me the serenity not to reply to every comment in this thread. TNT Diner is correct. Tacoma needs more restaurants. But from people who know how to own and operate them.

reddit.com

Stop blaming downtown, or any Tacoma neighborhood, when a restaurant closes -TNT Diner - Tacoma News Tribune

Explore this post and more from the Tacoma community

010

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

So inspired by the co-op founders featured in this segment. We need to help co-ops get capital to launch.

youtu.be

We Found The Radical Solution That Could End Corporate Monopolies

YouTube video by More Perfect Union

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 11/07/2026

I saw Minions & Monsters last night at the drive-in. Literally an animated movie that could have been about anything (I mean Cthulhu, cool)—and it ends up being about… Hollywood. These people are so out of touch they can’t imagine something that doesn’t take place on the Warner Bros. back lot.

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Song Sung Blue was written for an audience of emotional babies. It could have been so cool if they would have written it for adults. I hated it more than I would hate another mediocre movie for what it could have been. What a waste!

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

News from the 2000s blogosphere and also glioblastoma—which is a word I scan for and almost expect when I see someone died at 48.

nytimes.com

Jill Smokler, Who Blogged as Scary Mommy, Dies at 48

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

I missed this when it came out but saw it referenced in a Substack post by @ninaroberts.bsky.social. What floors me about these articles is if basically rehashes a press release from an economic development report and doesn’t ask WHYYYYYYYY.

nytimes.com

Number of Businesses in New York City Plunged Last Spring, Report Says

011

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 03/07/2026

Take your average Main Street business revenue in a 1500 square-foot space x national average per sqft for commercial real estate and what you end up with will never cover living wage for 1 full time and 1 part time person to staff a shop. What’s broken here?

open.substack.com

The math ain't mathing

A simple look at national averages should explain why Main Street retail can no longer survive

120

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

This post starts with on Eddie Van Halen and vintage synthesizers and ends on why a lot in Lakewood, Washington sat vacant for 17 years until it became a Take 5 oil change. These things go together, right?

open.substack.com

When we blame people for policy failures

People and policy interact in ways that aren't always visible. What does that mean for Main Street?

020

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

When we pretend like it only takes a handful of dollars and pluck to break through the Oscar glass ceiling we do anyone still trying a disservice. Be honest about what it took to get where you are so we can burn the bridges we crossed and build new ones. Applies to small business as well.

open.substack.com

Survival of the Richest: Hollywood's Broken Talent Pipeline

Chloé Zhao and the Myth of the $100,000 Movie

010

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 12/06/2026

Great list for business owners wanting to know more about transitioning to employee ownership as an exit.

open.substack.com

🎙️ Ownership Economy Podcast Round-Up

A list of podcasts on employee ownership and more

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

I’m confused by a revitalization award going to the South Tacoma Business District. 1.) There is no STBDA—last year I discovered they hadn’t renewed their nonprofit status since 2009. 2.) There was no org mission of “revitalization.” With the wrong people in charge that’s a dangerous objective.

tacoma.gov

May Is Historic Preservation Month

Historic Preservation Month in Tacoma celebrates local heritage and history. Explore events, awards, and community efforts.

100

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

Happy 7th birthday to Fernseed! Some photos from our 2019 launch.

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

Here's a preview slide from my presentation. Brutal.

Chart: over 7 years The Fernseed paid $611K to landlords, lenders, banks & government vs. $130K to the owner. $4.70 out for every $1 I took home.

100

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 20/04/2026

I'm doing this tomorrow! Come take a behind the scenes peek at Fernseed's numbers. This workshop is free & produced by the City of Tacoma Business & Economic Development Department.

eventbrite.com

P&L Show and Tell with the Fernseed

What does it actually look like to run a small business in today’s economy?

110

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Financing terms, not risk, dictate how small business owners are treated in underwriting for CRE. Those terms favor development, not owner occupancy.

120

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

When I talk about business owners in Tacoma trying to do everything themselves, I'm frustrated by the self-started "buy local" campaigns that focus on shopping and consumer choices. Friends—there is literally a playbook for this that we are not using. @theamiba.bsky.social

amiba.net

Six Common Mistakes - AMIBA

local business, shop local, local economic development, 3 times the money, local economic impact, local dollars, independent business

211

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

tl;dr You can't just be a chef-owner anymore, you have to side hustle. Ingredients are too expensive and hotels can offer your employees better pay and health insurance that you can't. Customers float between concept restaurants that are hot one minute, old the next. Rent is $30,000/month.

hamflections.substack.com

The Math Doesn’t Work

And every chef in New York knows it

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Tariffs. But also: the record label for housewares era is over? I always wanted to start that business. I guess I'm glad I opened a retail shop instead. (Not that I'm doing great in that business either. Is everything over?)

nymag.com

Why Is Areaware Closing?

“What was already a fragile business model just collapsed.”

110

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

Washington D.C.! I’m coming out again March 14-18 ish with @mainstreetalliance.bsky.social—I would love to meet up if you’re local and doing Main Street, local self reliance, placemaking stuff. DM me!

010

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

Placemaking examples in Seattle

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Every time a business owner gets sick, injured, or simply needs time away for personal matters we have to do this. It’s exhausting for all involved. Let’s fix the system so we can exit this extractive tech platform eventually. One can dream, right?

gofund.me

Donate to Standing with Hailey Through Her Recovery, organized by Maggie Turney

On Monday, February 1, 2026, Hailey Hernandez, owner of Side Piece Kitchen, wa… Maggie Turney needs your support for Standing with Hailey Through Her Recovery

100

Reposted by Katherine Raz

Andy Greenberg @agreenberg.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people writing to me to ask about encrypted/secure/private tools for comms, collaboration, and organizing. So @lhn.bsky.social and I talked to experts and assembled this: the Wired guide to organizing in an age of surveillance. www.wired.com/story/how-to...

wired.com

How to Organize Safely in the Age of Surveillance

From threat modeling to encrypted collaboration apps, we’ve collected experts’ tips and tools for safely and effectively building a group—even while being targeted and tracked by the powerful.

2237154

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Ughhhhh I gotta do this this year. I know a lot of people have a lot better reasons to be tired but I’m tired of having to migrate off one tech platform after another because of the shitty shit they pull. Leave Substack guide here is handy!

010

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Got a request to add Fernseed to a list of businesses that participated in the Jan. 30 shutdown so people can support us. Organizer is planning to hand out the list at the March No Kings protest in Tacoma. Let me explain why this is misguided.

020

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 18/02/2026

Sorry, First Citizens Bank. You thought you were just going to call and remind me my line is renewing in May and verify our annual revenue and not... get into a whole conversation about what our business financial needs are and how you can or can't meet them and the systemic reasons why? Oh, boy.

010

Reposted by Katherine Raz

Economic Opportunity Institute @eoionline.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

Relative to income and population growth, Washington’s budget has actually declined by 60% overall. From 1995 to 2025, the state’s yearly operating budget shrank from 1.55% to 0.63% of total personal income for every one million residents. More at opportunityinstitute.org/blog/post/wa... #WALeg

opportunityinstitute.org

Total income has increased overall, it has not done so equitably

The share for those at the top has grown far more than for everyone else. From 1995 to 2025, total income for the top 1% nearly quadrupled. What about the rest of us?

021

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 16/02/2026

Regardless of where you stand on this issue, it’s enraging that an organization called the Tacoma Business Council is making HB 2489 the hill they die on. Here’s a link to their alert on it. Tacoma Rising is also asking its list to oppose this bill. Again: why is this your issue? Of all the shit?

mailchi.mp

🚨 HB 2489: Take Action TODAY

010

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 13/02/2026

Join me in a cozy little 45-minute rant about how the deregulated banking system has allowed extractive “investors” to take over Main Street. Meanwhile business owners—the people who actually do the work—can’t buy buildings, and not because they can’t afford them.

open.substack.com

Storefront Revolt Podcast Episode 02: Explaining the Owner-Occupant Finance Trap

Thoughts on the near impossibility of running an independent retail business during late stage enshittification of everything. Part personal narrative, part research project, part how-I-did-it, writte...

010

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

I just told a consultant in my Instagram comments that I am more than happy to share any Fernseed bookkeeping or metrics with people teaching business and entrepreneurship for good, not evil. I mean that. My books are open!

Donut-shaped pie chart in bright colors showing Fernseed percentage expenses in payroll (27.8%), credit card fees (2.7%), cost of goods (37%), bank fees and interest (3.35), rent (14.3%), software (3.1%), and supplies, meals, etc. (6.9%). Chart title says Fernseed 2025 Expenses

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

I wrote this post about the practical reality of getting financing to renovate a commercial property when you own a small business. It's way harder than it needs to be because '90s banking deregulation ruined everything. This one is for paid subscribers only, but I offer a 7-day free trial.

storefrontrevolt.substack.com

How we secured $468,000 in loans to renovate a garden center

A detailed look at which banks lent to us—and which didn't—and how the owner-occupant lending trap limits potential for brick-and-mortar borrowers

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 29/01/2026

Donate to fund micro grants to Main Street businesses impacted financially by ICE occupation in Minneapolis.

mainstreetalliance.org

Open for Tomorrow Fund — Main Street Alliance / Main Street Action

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

I'm currently leading the 1,000 Main Streets group in Tacoma, open to businesses throughout the South Sound. Join our email list to get updates on future actions & meetings here: tacoma1000mainstreets.myflodesk.com

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 26/01/2026

I haven’t seen any updates in all this coverage about who has possession of Alex Pretti’s phone. Anyone?

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 24/01/2026

I’ve received at least two of these since we purchased our commercial buildings in Centralia, Washington. My partner bothered to follow up just out of curiosity and this company represents Dollar General.

Printed letter from retail developer about selling commercial property in Centralia, Washington

000

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 19/01/2026

I still don’t see the right questions asked: *WHY* are BIPOC small business owners “often considered high risk” for lending? Underwriting defines risk, then you create programs to work around it. Look under the hood at the underwriting guidelines—ask better questions.

nextcity.org

A Commercial Down Payment Program Is Saving Miami’s Small Businesses From Displacement

The Miami Foundation’s Collective Real Estate Ownership program has helped 30 small businesses owners go from renting their storefront properties to owning their own buildings.

110

Katherine Raz @therealkatraz.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

I started a podcast—or really just an audio version of my Substack so I don't have to spend so much time writing. This first episode is pretty straightforward while I learn the tech. Future episodes I will yell more about how broken everything is.

storefrontrevolt.substack.com

Introducing Storefront Revolt: The Podcast

Practical conversations about storefront ownership and survival on Main Street

010

Reposted by Katherine Raz

Nick Benson @ottergoose.net · 06/01/2026

ICE observers in the Twin Cities are in need of dash cams to prevent further intimidation and frivolous claims. Cams are $110, memory cards $35, and ship to us directly via this wish list: www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/... If you've been looking for a way to help, we'd sure appreciate it!

11215541142

Reposted by Katherine Raz

404 Media @404media.co · 14/01/2026

On Jan. 7, two days after Nick Benson (@ottergoose.net) put out his call for dashcam donations, ICE agent Jonathan Ross shot legal observer Renee Good in the face. Now, he’s received over 500 dashcams. @evystadium.bsky.social has more. Story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/how-one-guy-...

020263