All About the Girl host Jenny Craig-Brown sits down with Kat Lutze, founder and owner of Alley Kat's Curiosity Shoppe, a community-driven retail space that features local artists, curators, and small business owners! A Valparaiso native, Kat started her entrepreneurial journey in 2014 after purchasing the remaining inventory of a lampshade factory. What began as online and local resale quickly evolved into something much bigger. Jenny and Kat explore all this and so much more in this month's episode of AATG, along with a special announcement from Jenny!

Biography:

Kat Lutze is the owner and creative force behind Alley Kat’s Curiosity Shoppe, a community-driven retail space in Valparaiso, Indiana that features local artists, curators, and small business owners.

A Valparaiso native, Kat started her entrepreneurial journey in 2014 after purchasing the remaining inventory of a lampshade factory. What began as online and local resale quickly evolved into something much bigger. By reinvesting her profits through auctions and outlets, she built a thriving resale business rooted in accessibility and quality secondhand goods for her community.

In 2016, Kat launched a membership program designed not just to rent space to vendors — but to mentor, support, and grow small businesses from the inside out. Today, Alley Kat’s has grown from just 10 members to nearly 50, operating out of a building she purchased in 2018. Unlike traditional vendor malls, Kat’s model centers on the people behind the products, offering mentorship, marketing support, and a true small business community.

With a background in theater and film and a degree in Arts Administration from Augsburg College, Kat blends artistic vision with business strategy — helping creatives turn passion into sustainable success.

Deeply committed to Valparaiso, she also hosts free community events including Kids Day Scavenger Hunts, reading programs, and interactive activities designed to bring people together.

When she’s not working at the Shoppe, you can find Kat reading a good book, playing board games with friends, hiking at the dunes, or developing her newest venture, “Unplugged Events,” a startup encouraging people to disconnect from their phones and reconnect in real life.

Kat believes that small businesses thrive when people feel seen, supported, and connected — and she’s building spaces where exactly that can happen.

GreatNews.Life & Podcast Host Jenny Craig-Brown have transformed the All About the Girls annual event into a podcast! These monthly episodes feature incredible women giving the audience all the insight about what makes them happy, successful, and motivational. New episodes launch on Sundays to make sure to start your week on a positive note!

The All About the Girls Podcast is brought to you by GreatNews.Life

GreatNewsLife looks to form positive, online communities centered around the idea that, given the option, viewers prefer to see all the good things going on in their community, as opposed to negative news. Here you’ll find exclusively positive, hyper-local stories, features, and news touting everything exceptional about the communities that make up Northwest Indiana. We invite you to partake in the Region’s only source for all-positive news, all the time. Watch it. Love it. Share it.

All About the Girls host Jenny Craig-Brown sits down with Sherina Gonzalez! Sherina is a passionate leader, problem solver, and big-picture thinker who believes in the power of purpose, connection, and courageous growth. She currently serves as the Director of Development for A Rosie Place for Children in South Bend. A Rosie Place is Indiana’s only specialty children's hospital that offers respite to families of medically fragile children by hosting magical sleepovers for them at no cost.
Known for her authenticity and heart for people, Sherina brings a unique blend of faith, resilience, and strategic vision to everything she does. Her personal journey fuels her mission to help others grow in business, relationships, and life. Above all, Sherina believes we are never too broken, too late, or too far gone to become who we were created to be.
When she’s not working or dreaming up what’s next, you’ll find Sherina traveling, taking spontaneous road trips, tackling fitness challenges, getting lost in a good book, or spoiling her 10-year-old black lab, Asia.

GreatNews.Life & Podcast Host Jenny Craig-Brown have transformed the All About the Girls annual event into a podcast! These monthly episodes feature incredible women giving the audience all the insight about what makes them happy, successful, and motivational. New episodes launch on Sundays to make sure to start your week on a positive note!

The All About the Girls Podcast is brought to you by GreatNews.Life

GreatNewsLife looks to form positive, online communities centered around the idea that, given the option, viewers prefer to see all the good things going on in their community, as opposed to negative news. Here you’ll find exclusively positive, hyper-local stories, features, and news touting everything exceptional about the communities that make up Northwest Indiana. We invite you to partake in the Region’s only source for all-positive news, all the time. Watch it. Love it. Share it.

Welcome to another year of All About the Girls! Kicking it all off, Jenny sits down with Tevlyn Schwerd, founder of Coash Clothing Co.! From her journey through the worlds of ballet and fashion to family and the foundation of her business, Jenny and Tevyln leave no stone unturned in this season premiere of AATG.

All About the Guest:
Tevlyn Schwerd, Creative Director of Coash Clothing Co. and a Valparaiso native, discovered her passion for fashion at a young age. After graduating from Valparaiso High School, she studied Apparel Merchandising at Indiana University, with a focus on Fashion Design and Costume Construction Technology. She then built her career in New York City, gaining experience with designers including James Coviello, Anna Sui, and 3.1 Phillip Lim, working in knitwear design, production, and sourcing, and participating in New York Fashion Week while traveling internationally to explore fabric markets.

After returning home following a kidney donation to her brother, Tevlyn brought her creative expertise back to Northwest Indiana, helping develop the clothing department at the Bargain Barn before co-founding Coash Clothing Co. Today, her women’s apparel brand, rooted in creativity, resilience, and community, is available locally at Little Bear Traders and Woolens in St. John, Indiana, and online at coash-clothing-co-8235.myshopify.com/cart.

GreatNews.Life & Podcast Host Jenny Craig-Brown have transformed the All About the Girls annual event into a podcast! These monthly episodes feature incredible women giving the audience all the insight about what makes them happy, successful, and motivational. New episodes launch on Sundays to make sure to start your week on a positive note!

The All About the Girls Podcast is brought to you by GreatNews.Life

GreatNewsLife looks to form positive, online communities centered around the idea that, given the option, viewers prefer to see all the good things going on in their community, as opposed to negative news. Here you’ll find exclusively positive, hyper-local stories, features, and news touting everything exceptional about the communities that make up Northwest Indiana. We invite you to partake in the Region’s only source for all-positive news, all the time. Watch it. Love it. Share it.