Start Up, a new series on KET, offers an intimate, up-close look at American entrepreneurs who have taken the plunge to become independent business owners.

With a hip, modern style and a unique approach to traditional interview-based television, the Start Up crew – led by host Gary Bredow – aims to inspire, entertain and educate viewers about the ups and downs involved in starting an independent business.

Start Up season two airs Fridays at 7:30/6:30 pm on KET2, beginning Sept. 12. Two Louisville-based businesses are showcased in the show’s second season.

On the series’ second season premiere, Louisville’s Custom Wig Company – which makes custom, handmade wigs for clients throughout the world – is profiled. Heather Fleming, owner/designer of Custom Wig Company, shares what inspired her to open her own company in 2007 after a successful career as a wig designer at Actors Theater of Louisville. Fleming has found a niche catering to historic re-enactors, actors and impersonators off all kinds, creating an array of lifelike wigs – in styles suitable for everyone from Santa Claus, Civil War soldiers and Ben Franklin to Marilyn Monroe.

In episode 204, airing Friday, Oct. 3 at 7:30/6:3 pm on KET2, Louisville’s Graceship – a company that produces high-quality laptop bags for women – is spotlighted. Founder Emily Gimmel started the company after a successful career as a TV journalist. Years of air travel, and bustling from one airport to the next, alerted Gimmel to the need for fashionable, high-quality laptop bags that could work as both laptop carrier and purse for working women. Today, Graceship prides itself on marketing an array of high-end, multi-use bags for fashion-savvy professionals.

Other business entrepreneurs featured on season two of Start Up include Atlanta’s Sack Daddy’s seafood restaurant; an Iowa company that creates organic lip balm; a Minnesota shop that repairs and resells old bicycles; and Asheville, N.C.’s Appalatch, which produces custom, all-natural wool-based clothing.

Show host/creator Gary Bredow hopes the show will connect with viewers who have dreamt of one day being their own boss. “Maybe hearing the stories directly from the people who have actually done this will create a spark of inspiration that will help people find the courage to chase their dreams as well,” Bredow said. “I believe this is the age of the entrepreneur, and as job security has increasingly become a thing of the past, we have no choice but to become self-reliant. Small business is the foundation of growth in America, and it starts with one person, with one vision.”

More information about Start Up is available at http://startup-usa.com/.

KET is Kentucky’s largest classroom, serving more than one million people each week via television, online and mobile. Learn more about Kentucky’s preeminent public media organization on Twitter @KET and facebook.com/KET and at KET.org.

Contact:

Todd Piccirilli
Senior Director, Marketing and Communications
859-258-7242
tpiccirilli@ket.org