By Greg Hoard, Photos by Ventre Photo Illustration

She was the queen of Rock N’ Roll in Cincinnati, the woman behind the misty, whispery voice that awakened the city each day and helped catapult WEBN to the zenith of FM radio.

Today, Robin Wood reigns over an entirely different realm, one filled with beauty, color, creativity and flowers – every where there are flowers, and the music in the background, well, it’s not Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers or AC/DC, it’s Chopin and Mozart. In her second career, Robin Wood is a picture of peace and contentment, trimming flowers, talking with clients and her designers, all the while offering a smile that comes from some deep store of satisfaction.

After 25 years in radio and television, she began Robin Wood Flowers at the kitchen table of her home in Mt. Lookout. That was in the fall of 2001. Last December, the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber of Commerce named Robin Wood Flowers “Woman-Owned Business of the Year.” Read the rest of this entry…

By Elaine Stone, Photo by Joe Simon

Marx Hot Bagels in Blue Ash looks like the typical storefront restaurant nestled among a variety of stores in a strip mall, but the sign posted on the door is the first clue this is far from the typical bagel shop.  It reads, “This is an experience, not a restaurant.  Owner is not politically correct.  Enter at your own risk.”

Upon entering the shop, you are immediately confronted with all the wonderful smells of fresh made bagels: the cinnamon, the honey wheat and the savory smells of onion and garlic.

If you happen to visit the shop when the owner, John Marx, is calling the shots, you might be in for a different kind of confrontation.  On any given day, Marx can be heard barking at his employees to keep up the frenetic pace, Read the rest of this entry…

By Craig J. Heimbuch, Photo By Joe Simon

John Hutton is a hard guy to track down. Like every entrepreneur, he’s got a million to-dos on his list and not enough hours in the day. But Hutton is not only the owner of one of Cincinnati’s most beloved businesses – the Blue Manatee children’s bookstore on Madison in Oakley – he’s also a pediatric resident at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. Yeah, great business and a career in medicine, this guy has a few things on his plate.

Still, Hutton was willing to do an interview the new old-fashioned way, over e-mail, and share his experience as a passionate business owner, a visionary and a dreamer for whom the reason for doing business has more to do with ideal than profit. But, as mentioned, he’s a busy guy and, in case he’s reading, let’s cut to the chase. Read the rest of this entry…