Michigan Tribe

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Michigan Tribe Michigan Tribe is a nonprofit supporting women entrepreneurs through connection and resources. Our podcast highlights Jackson-based women in business.

10/14/2026

Years ago, we started something called "Hot Tubs & Entrepreneurs."

It was basically Alex, Devon and I sitting in a hot tub, talking business. We jokingly called it a podcast, even though we weren't recording anything.

Now, many years later, there are husbands, kids, different businesses, and a whole lot more life happening. But we're still having those conversations.

Devon navigated COVID as a boutique owner, operated brick and mortar businesses, bought and sold downtown real estate, built a PR agency, managed teams and clients, and continued evolving her career and businesses through some incredibly difficult life moments.

She's incredibly professional and makes a lot of what she does look easy.

But don't let that fool you. Girl digs DEEP.

One thing I hope people take away from this episode is that owning a business is just hard. Sometimes the lows are so much lower than you ever imagined they'd be.

And sometimes you're not doing anything wrong. You're just experiencing the reality of owning a business.

Devon has lived through plenty of those moments and kept figuring out how to move forward.

We love her dearly, and we're stoked that our years of hot tub conversations eventually turned into something the rest of you can listen to.

Go back and listen to our episode with Devon Roof wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

THANK YOU for giving us your time. For sharing episodes, telling us what resonated, and making this little experiment wo...
10/09/2026

THANK YOU for giving us your time. For sharing episodes, telling us what resonated, and making this little experiment worth doing.

We started this podcast because we wanted to keep having the conversations we loved at MiTribe events, but reach people beyond Jackson.

The conversations that offered so much business advice without ever feeling like someone was trying to be your mentor. The ones where you show up to talk business but somehow end up talking about menopause, money, grief, and everything else that comes with being a human.

And apparently some of you enjoy listening to those conversations too.

Season 1 is officially complete. We're still figuring out what's next, but we're grateful for what we've made together. 🫶🏽

500 downloads feels small and big, all at the same time. 🏆

Search "Michigan Tribe Podcast" on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. 🎧🍿

10/08/2026

This episode is remembered for Alicia Williams telling one of the most insane stories we've ever heard about discovering she was adopted as an adult.

But there was another part of this conversation that hit pretty damn deep for a lot of people in Jackson.

We talk a lot about community here.
About collaboration. Diversity. Having a seat at the table. Supporting each other. Being "in this together."

And then there are moments when you look around and realize you're still not at the table.
You're working your ars off. You're contributing. You're showing up. You're trying to make this place better.
And somehow, some people seem to get a pass into rooms, opportunities and influence while others have to prove themselves over and over and over again.

And God forbid you make a mistake‼️
It's exhausting.

Alex and I feel it. A lot lately.
There have been plenty of moments when it's made us want to say eff it and stop trying so hard to be part of something that doesn't always seem to value what we bring.

Alicia talked really openly about her own experience trying to find community and belonging in the place she's from.

And based on the messages we received afterward, a lot of people understood exactly what she meant.

This conversation went beyond business 🙏🏽

If you missed our episode with Alicia Williams, go back and listen 🎧🍿

We keep getting asked when we're doing another Michigan Tribe event.And the answer is... we don't know. Life be BUSY.BUT...
10/07/2026

We keep getting asked when we're doing another Michigan Tribe event.

And the answer is... we don't know. Life be BUSY.

BUT.

If you've been missing the Michigan Tribe hangs, we are heading to Chelsea on October 15 for Mavens & Mocktails.

Come hang with us. Talk business. Meet some cool women. Ask us questions. Listen to us inevitably get off topic.

Basically, get a little dose of the old Michigan Tribe event days without us actually having to plan an event ourselves.

A win for everyone.

Thursday, October 15
7:00 to 8:30 PM

📍Zou Zou's Cafe in Chelsea

P.S. We have a 50% off discount code. DM us if you'd like to save some dolla dolla bills, y'all.

How I feel about turning 40.Actually, I didn't really care or notice much until I bent down to pick up a not-that-heavy ...
10/05/2026

How I feel about turning 40.

Actually, I didn't really care or notice much until I bent down to pick up a not-that-heavy box last week and peed a little bit.
I have arrived 🏆

Thanks for embracing all of adult life with me, MiTribers.
The businesses.
The babies or the no babies.
The mental, emotional and financial breakdowns.
The big ideas that go absolutely nowhere.
The small ideas that get bigger than you expected.
The changing bodies, and apparently now the occasional loss of bladder control.

It's a privilege to age in Jackson alongside you.
Cheers🗽

10/03/2026

Elise Houston does not pretend she's never going to burn out.
She plans for it.

She looks at the year, knows there will be seasons when the business takes everything she's got, and puts time off on the calendar before she gets there.

Alex is better at this than I am.
She's the reason we're on vacation right now🗽She puts it on the calendar, protects the time, and makes me/people go.

I am much more of an "I absolutely cannot take time off right now" person... perhaps I should listen to this episode of the podcast.

Elise's point isn't that you can avoid burnout altogether. She anticipates it. She knows there will be seasons that take a lot out of her, and she builds in time to recover from them.

Alex and Elise are probably right.
But don't tell them I said that.

Go listen to our full conversation with Elise Houston wherever you get your podcasts 🎧✈️

A little appreciation post for our ride or die, Tina.Tina does not love us for our clout. Mostly because there is no clo...
10/02/2026

A little appreciation post for our ride or die, Tina.

Tina does not love us for our clout. Mostly because there is no clout.
She just... loves us.

She buys the merch. She listens to the podcast. She shows up to baby business showers. She's been a Michigan Tribe super fan since long before there was anything particularly impressive to be a fan of.

And she's the ONLY person we voluntarily commit to traveling with every single year.
Which is really the highest honor we can bestow upon another human.

Thanks for loving us, Tina.

Now let's go face Alex's vacation demands together.
Girls trip. Here we come.

09/29/2026

Dear Shawn,

Thank you for your many, many years of service to Jackson County businesses and beyond.

We miss you.

There's just no one quite like you.

You have this incredible ability to help people understand the practical realities of owning a business. Know your numbers. Understand your customer. Stop avoiding the parts you're uncomfortable with. Get your hands into the actual work and understand what's happening inside your own business.

But you never stopped at the surface level.

You sat with people. You dug into their numbers with them. You helped them understand their customers. You found the gaps they couldn't see and helped them actually do something about them.

There are a whole lot of businesses around here that are better because they had access to you.

We hope you're thoroughly enjoying retirement.

We also patiently await your return.

No pressure.

But also... please come back.

Love,
Michigan Tribe

P.S. If you never had the chance to learn from Shawn Preissle, our Season 1 episode with her is a pretty great place to start. Listen wherever you get your podcasts 🍿🎧

09/29/2026

Kelsey Guernsey doesn't own a business. She holds an elected position.

She's our age, she's the first woman elected Prosecuting Attorney in Jackson County, and she stepped into a position carrying an enormous amount of responsibility relatively early in her career.

And we really wanted to know what that was like.

We talked about running for office, being a young woman in a position people hadn't historically seen a woman hold here, leadership, motherhood, pressure, and the reality that some of the most important work happening inside the Prosecutor's Office involves people experiencing some of the worst moments of their lives.

We also talked about the parts of the job most of us will thankfully never see up close, including working with children and other vulnerable victims.

One thing that really stuck with us was Kelsey's perspective on doing that work without needing attention for it. Sometimes protecting the people involved means the best outcome isn't the one that gets the most publicity.

If you missed our conversation with Kelsey Guernsey, go back and give Episode 3 a listen 🍿🎧

One of the comments we've gotten over and over again about the podcast is how obvious it is that Alex and I genuinely lo...
09/27/2026

One of the comments we've gotten over and over again about the podcast is how obvious it is that Alex and I genuinely love each other and want the other person to succeed.

And we love that people can see that.
Because it's very, very real.

We are each other's biggest advocates. We both believe the other person is working harder than anyone realizes, probably deserves to be paid more, deserves more recognition, and if everyone could just see what WE see, they'd obviously agree.

We are also each other's sounding boards for almost every major decision. The person you call when you're struggling. The person who will tell you when you're right, when you're wrong, when you need to push harder, and when you need to give yourself a freakin' break.

We do argue. It's pretty rare, but it happens. Usually because one of us overstepped, misspoke, or hurt the other without meaning to.

But jealousy has just never really been a thing between us.
We genuinely want the absolute best for each other.

In a lot of ways, we've always felt like together we make one pretty solid person.

Alex keeps the train moving. She's disciplined, responsible, and exhaustingly great at pretty much everything she decides to do.

Amanda brings the humor, vulnerability and a healthy reminder that most things just aren't that serious. She's a little more chaotic, a little more willing to say the thing you're not supposed to say, and usually brings a bit of a tornado with her.

Sometimes you need someone to keep the train moving.

And sometimes you need someone willing to stop the train and ask if we're even still going in the right direction.

We balance each other.

And for most of our lives, we've known that when we get to do something together, we usually do some of our best work.

So getting to make an entire season of something together was pretty special 🤎

And one of the best compliments we've gotten about Season 1 is that apparently, you could see how much we love doing it together.

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133 W. Michigan Avenue
Jackson, MI
49201

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