MARTINSVILLE, Va. – A local YouTube series is looking to highlight the everyday lives of entrepreneurs and their businesses – “Hometown Hustle” has started filming for its second season.
The show is hosted by Natalie Hodge, a Martinsville-born woman who owns Rudy’s Girl Media.
“I really enjoy kind of getting behind the scenes and showing who the business owners are, what their businesses are about. And getting into the highs and lows of what it means to be an entrepreneur,” Hodge said.
Hodge and her team met at The Ground Floor coffee shop in Martinsville on Friday morning.
Being from the city herself, Hodge enjoys getting to explore the businesses that are in her community.
“I’m just happy to showcase some home-towners. So it really is hometown hustle for my hometown for this episode,” Hodge said.
The Ground Floor’s founder and owner, Josh Blancas, watched the first season of “Hometown Hustle” and wished his business could be a part of it.
“I always thought, man, how cool would it be to be a part of that. Like if I’m ever a part of that something like that one day then I’ll kind of know that I’ve done something right,” Blancas said.
And that day eventually came – The coffee shop will be one of the first businesses featured in the series in October.
“We’re not a big chain. We truly are a mom-and-pop shop that had to start everything pun intended from the ground floor … from the ground up,” Blancas said. “We can make the best coffee in the world but if we’re not creating a space for people to come and be and have relationships with each other, then we’re not doing our job.”
Wayne Draper, founder and owner of Tad Space, was featured in season one of the series. Tad Space gives other businesses in the area a space for conferences and events.
Draper remembers the impact “Hometown Hustle” made on the business.
“Since that aired, we were completely booked out specifically for special events for every Saturday,” Draper said.
Season two is expected to be released this October. Each week will feature two businesses from a particular area in Southwest Virginia. Locations include Martinsville, Danville, Henry County, and Patrick County.
You can see more about the series and other work done by Rudy’s Girl Media on their website.