San Francisco Chronicle: “The Brainwash Cafe is cool,” my friend tells me on the phone after I announce my plans for the evening. “I read my poetry there.” I never knew she wrote poetry, much less went anywhere to read it. “And the washers have names. It’s really cool.” I’d looked up the cafe on the Web: bright pictures of […]

Entrepreneur.com: Parents weary of the bustle of day care, baby-sitters and carpools for their young children need only to look to the TeacherCare child-care and teaching program for some relief. Founded by Terri Brax, this service provides qualified teachers to work in people’s homes and serve as both teachers and caregivers. Brax is familiar with the needs of working parents–she […]

BusinessWeek Online: Kathy Walsh was just 16 years old when her hair began falling out. She’d then fashion her own beehive wigs and decorate them with strings of pearls. In black and white photographs from back then, her hair looks a foot tall. After years of struggling with the problem herself, she finally decided to open up her own wig […]

The New York Times: It sounds like a line from a spam e-mail: Work from home! Low risk! Flexible schedule! Earn hundreds of dollars each gig! But an emerging group of resourceful entrepreneurs says there is no catch. The rising popularity of Apple’s sleek iPod has created a new niche service: the professional iPod loader. There are housekeepers to tend […]

NYTimes.com: Dressed in a sober business suit, Jorge Lima, 30, a salesman for a pharmaceuticals company, looked out of place among the gyrating house music mavens at Cielo, a lounge with a futuristic theme in the meatpacking district known for a rotating cast of celebrity D.J.’s. But Mr. Lima didn’t mind. On a recent Saturday night, sitting at a private […]

Entrepreneur.com: Spending an uncomfortable afternoon in an airport inspired Mark Eberhardt, 51, to come up with a relaxing way to wait for a flight—he imagined how nice it would be to sit in one of those fancy massage chairs he’d seen before in high-end stores. With a background as a stockbroker, however, it was a challenge for him to modify […]

Iconoculture: With a wing woman, aspiring players get by with some help from their lady friends – even if they don’t have any. Wing women put a fresh spin on escort services by giving guys nights out with foxy fairy godmothers. The catch? WW don’t date clients – they help them find dates. A feminine take on the “Wing Man,” […]

StartupJournal: When life feels overwhelming, many women grab their purse and head for the mall. But while Maggie McQuown also views shopping as entertainment, she gets paid for it. “It’s just something I’ve always been good at — color, shopping, putting things together and knowing what someone else will like, what they can wear and what will make them look […]

Deposit, withdraw, sip, relax, lounge, learn, shop … wait, is this a bank? Patrons at Umpqua’s Oregon flagship “bank store,” savor Umpqua’s own coffee blend, lounge in leather chairs, buy financial self-help books, and, yeah, open a savings account or two. Umpqua even throws in free Friday night movies, yoga classes, and home-improvement workshops! And don’t forget the customer service. […]