S2: Amy Kaherl of Detroit Soup #59

 Amy Kaherl of Detroit Soup! Romy interviews Amy Kaherl of the now famous Detroit Soup! Amy shares about how she started Detroit Soup, some of the barriers to success and grand plans for the people of Detroit. Amy is a visionary catalyst and passionate about people. Great song at the end by Tim Schumack of Assemble Sound.     Full Transcript Romy: Welcome to the Bonfires of Social Enterprise, This is Romy and I am your host for this episode on Detroit Soup!  You will meet Amy Kaherl, Executive Director of Detroit Soup. Amy shares her very intimate thoughts and strong opinions about the kind of help Detroit entrepreneurs need.  At the end, of course, you will hear a full song by an artist curated by Detroit’s Assemble Sound. Romy: Okay, before you meet Amy,  I want to welcome Jentzen back. He has been away for about 3 months and I have certainly missed his fun facts.  I think he has a little something about Soup… Jentzen: Hey Guys, here with this episode’s fun fuel! 1) In 2014, Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup celebrated its 80th anniversary. 2) It is believed that the first-ever soup was created around 6,000 B.C. and was made of hippopotamus. 3) Soup isn’t always hot! For those who live in warmer climates like Spain, cold soup alternatives, like tomato-based gazpacho, are popular. 4) Many soups that seem suitable for vegetarians actually aren’t. French onion soup, for example, is commonly made with a beef-broth base. 5) Though it has been linked to several origin stories, there are suggestions that the word “soup” can be traced back to the sixth-century Latin word “suppa,” meaning a piece of bread eaten in broth.   Romy: Thanks Jentzen!  So good to have you back on the podcast. I love fun facts. Now let me set up the conversation I had with Amy. First of all, you will hear a bit of an echo as we were sitting sort of an industrial maker space called Pony Ride. Pony Ride is a maker space with, I think, about 50 manufacturing entrepreneurs. Many of our social enterprise clients have spaces in Pony Ride. That was just a little plug for Pony Ride. I was drawn to Amy as a guest for the show because she is a social entrepreneur. Her organization has been the catalyst for many  of the businesses that exist today in Detroit. As you will hear, she is very brave about expressing herself and is passionate about helping others grow and succeed. Let’s drop in on my conversation with Amy…   Romy: Welcome Amy! I’ve been excited to interview you. You’re all over the news, a lot of people know about you at Detroit SOUP, but I want to give our listeners a chance to hear about it. Let’s talk about what Detroit SOUP is. Amy: Sure. The simplest way to describe it is Detroit SOUP is a micro-granting dinner that is funding projects that are looking to make the city better. The ideas can come from any sector at any place of ideation. You don’t have to have a business; you don’t have to have a nonprofit around it. It can just be in the idea phase. You submit your idea through our website, DetroitSOUP.com and then all past winners and any volunteer then have the opportunity to vote on what project gets pitched at the dinner. Four ideas...