Rooted Stories:
We Want to Hear Yours
ROOTED STORIES
Rooted Editorial · October 28 2026
Every small business starts with a story. A kitchen-table idea. A skill passed down through family. A side project that quietly became a livelihood. Those stories rarely make the headlines, and that is exactly why we want to tell them.
Today we are launching Rooted Stories, an interview series featuring the founders behind independent brands: makers, artists, service providers and first-time entrepreneurs. And we are opening applications to be featured.
Why We’re Doing This
Most platforms reward the biggest ad budgets. The sellers who show up first are usually the ones who paid the most to be there, not the ones with the most interesting work or the most meaningful reason for doing it.
Rooted was built for founders who don’t always get the spotlight. We would rather reward the best stories than the biggest budgets. Rooted Stories is our way of putting real people, and the work behind their businesses, front and center.
What we keep hearing from founders
The product is the easy part to talk about. The harder, more honest story is everything around it: the job you kept while you got started, the family recipe you were nervous to put a price on, the first stranger who bought something you made. That is the part people remember, and the part we want to share.
Who We Want to Hear From
| If you are… | We’d love to hear about |
|---|---|
| A maker or artisan | Candles, jewelry, ceramics, clothing, home goods: how you learned the craft and why you kept going. |
| A service provider | Henna and makeup artists, photographers, coaches, stylists: how you built a client base from scratch. |
| A culture-rooted founder | A business shaped by your heritage, community or family, and what it means to share that with new people. |
| A first-time founder | Started small, still figuring it out? That is exactly the story we want. |
You don’t need to sell on Rooted to apply, and there is no cost to be featured. If you run a small, independent business, we want to hear from you.
What Being Featured Looks Like
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 01 · Apply | A short form, about five minutes: who you are, what you make or offer, and a little about your story. |
| 02 · Talk with us | If your story is a fit, we set up a conversation about how you started, what you have built and what is next. |
| 03 · Get featured | A feature on the Rooted Journal, written with care and shared with your approval before it goes live. |
| 04 · Get found | A spot in the Rooted newsletter and on our Instagram and TikTok, with links to your shop, website and socials. |
How to Apply
Head to the Rooted Stories application. We read every application and will reach out to the founders we would love to interview. If you are not selected for this round, your story stays on file for future features.
Know a founder whose story deserves to be told? Send them our way, or share the idea with us. Some of the best stories come from the people who love these businesses most.
A Note from Rooted
We started Rooted because too many great small businesses are invisible online, not because their work isn’t good enough, but because the systems that decide who gets seen were never built for them. Telling their stories is one small way to change who gets seen.
Your story deserves to be told. We cannot wait to hear it.
Run a small business with a story to tell? Apply to be featured in Rooted Stories, or open your shop on Rooted.
