A New Beginning - A Return to My Roots

In 2012 I stepped onto a scary and unknown path that led me to my career in entrepreneurship. I didn’t have a background or a degree in business or marketing, but something inside me needed to become a business owner.

I started with humble beginnings, selling baked goods at a farmers market. When I met people in that little food stall, I learned that people from around the country liked and wanted my unique products. Shipping cupcakes proved to be a disaster, so I “pivoted” and started selling shippable baking mixes.

Building My First E-Commerce Business

Learning Shopify, Online Marketing, and Operations the Hard Way

Thus began my career in e-commerce. I researched website platforms to build my online business. Shopify was highly recommended, so I started there. I learned how to list products in my store, write blog posts to connect with my audience, develop social media marketing strategies, shipping, regulation, taxes, and so much more.

At the time I was working a full-time job as a nonprofit director, fundraising by day and making baking mixes by night. I rented a restaurant commercial kitchen and hauled my Kitchenaid mixer in from midnight to 4am. I mixed dry ingredients until I was sneezing cinnamon. I still sold baked goods in farmers markets and local stores, and I learned how to wholesale my products.

Shopify - my first and favorite e-commerce platform

Starting Over in Southern Minnesota

Learning to Be a Better Business Owner

I moved to Southern Minnesota in 2013 and started over in a new state and a new community. I became a client of the Small Business Development Center and learned more about the responsibilities of being a business owner. I worked with experienced business consultants who shared their wisdom with me. I will forever be grateful for that service that helped shape my knowledge and expertise.

Paleo Baking Company on the shelves at Hilltop Hy-Vee in Mankato, Minnesota

When Life Changed

Letting Go of a Business I Built

Eventually, living a double life caught up with me. I had a baby, and suddenly my priorities shifted. I could no longer stay up all night to make my products while taking care of a baby and working full time. With great sadness I let my small business go and sold it to a couple in Seattle, Washington.

The new owners were kind enough to keep me on as a marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and research and development consultant. I got to continue nurturing the small business I had founded and grown.

From Business Owner to Business Advisor

When a mentor at the Small Business Development Center approached me to begin consulting with SBDC clients, I was hesitant. What did I have to offer other small business owners when I myself felt like I didn’t know what I was doing? But my mentor trusted me enough to serve the center’s clients.

Why I’m Returning to E-Commerce

Going Back to Where it All Began

Now, ten years later and over five hundred SBDC clients served, I have found the career and lifestyle I didn’t know I wanted. There are still days when I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, but that feeling keeps me humble and always wanting to learn. I can honestly say that working with hundreds of small business owners and entrepreneurs has given me more than I could ever give to them.

For a while now, I have been feeling that it is time to start a new chapter and return to my roots. As funny as it sounds, e-commerce is calling my name, just as it did 13 years ago. I believe I have a role to play in supporting online businesses and helping them through the biggest challenges they face.

With Megan Bull Bear of Lakota Made at the 2024 YWCA Women of Distinction Event

Reintroducing Raiven Marketing

E-Commerce Strategy and Website Design

So, here I go. I am shifting away from serving Small Business Development Center clients and focusing on my private clients. I recently rebranded my company – HB Digital Marketing has become Raiven Marketing. With a new website and great excitement, I will devote my time to offering e-commerce strategy and website design services. I am excited to provide both strategic consulting and now hands-on execution of those strategies. I’ll be “getting my hands dirty” and go beyond offering guidance to be a part of moving online businesses forward.

Trusting Community, Relationships, and the Work That Brought Me Here

I will be honest. I am a little terrified. The SBDC has supported me both professionally and financially for over a decade. To go out totally on my own is a scary thing. But I trust the people in this small business community to help me connect to the right people and grow my humble marketing business.

Here's my not-so-subtle pitch:

If you or someone you know needs a new website and/or SEO to help position their business and connect with their audiences, please send them my way.

If you or someone you know has an online business and are looking for help from someone who’s been in the e-commerce trenches, please reach out to me.

Gratitude for the Small Business Community That Shaped Me

We Don’t Build Businesses Alone—and We’re Not Meant To

I will be forever grateful for everything this small business community has taught me. If I can share any advice about this journey and what I have learned, it is this – stay curious, always strive to learn new things, and never be afraid to ask for help. We are all doing this scary thing called entrepreneurship, and we can lean on each other to grow and find success.

With Gratitude and Thanks

Hannah Bretz

Interested in becoming a private client?

Do you need additional services? Are you a small business owner wanting to take your e-commerce strategy or website design to the next level?

I am a safe person.