ScaleUp WNC is Mountain BizWorks’ flagship growth program for established Western North Carolina businesses. Since 2015, more than 200 companies have gone through it. Each cohort gets eight core sessions and 10 hours of one-on-one coaching and mentoring, all alongside a room of peers facing the same pressures.
Applications are open for the next ScaleUp WNC cohort, so we caught up with three graduates from our 14th cohort.
Spice Witch: Chili Crisp, Hot Honey, and Smarter Money
The daughter of a magician and a home chef, Sabrina spent 15 years as a commercial food photographer for brands like Nike, Ford, and Oatly. “I used to create and capture joy with my camera,” she says. “Now I do it in the kitchen.”
Spice Witch makes small-batch chili crisp, chili oil, and hot honey for people who “have the good olive oil” and want a Tuesday dinner that tastes like they tried. You’ll find it online, at specialty shops and grocers, and at markets across WNC.
She moved to Asheville from LA, where she was “one of a million food brands and nobody was returning my emails.” Here, other makers hand over co-packer contacts and honest advice at the market booth.
ScaleUp changed how she thinks about growth and outside money. “Growth is selling more. Scaling is building a business that can handle selling more without me sitting in the middle of every piece of it.”
On the money side: “Money at the right moment, on terms you actually understand, is a tool,” she says. “But it only works if you do it right. Which means knowing your numbers well enough to know exactly what the money is for before you take it. That part I learned at Mountain BizWorks.”
Since then, Spice Witch landed a spot in Venture Asheville’s Optimist Ventures Cohort 2, with $50,000 attached. It also won Verizon’s Small Business Digital Ready “Amplify Your Brand” program and was featured on WLOS. After growing on zero paid advertising, she’s now working with a Mountain BizWorks coach on her first Meta and Google ads.
Sabrina’s advice to fellow business owners: “Fail fast, learn to love to pivot, and lean into your community.”
Find Spice Witch: shopspicewitch.com · @shopspicewitch
Sarah Hearts: From Sketchbook to 900 Stores
Sarah Khandjian grew up in Miami, spent childhood summers in Black Mountain, and did a college internship with an artist in Asheville’s River Arts District. Today she’s back in Black Mountain, building her business. “It feels full circle,” she says.
Sarah Hearts started in 2006 with handmade bags and screen-printed apparel. In 2020, she released her first woven sewing labels and fabric collection. The labels took off. A line sheet sent to her favorite online fabric shops in 2021 turned into a wholesale business now in nearly 900 stores worldwide. She’s selling cheerful supplies and gifts for sewists, quilters, knitters, and makers, and every product still starts as one of Sarah’s sketches.
She started one-on-one coaching to dig into financials and projections. ScaleUp took that further. “Many of the classes confirmed my decisions with the business and helped inform where I want to go next,” she says. The guest speakers were a highlight of the cohort for her, too. One of those experts became the company’s new CPA, which Sarah says was “definitely the piece of the puzzle that was missing.”
Meanwhile, her team is growing. Three part-time employees moved to full time this year, and Sarah is hiring a Fulfillment and Packaging Manager, her fifth full-time employee. “I love that my art creates jobs in my community,” she says.
Sarah’s advice to fellow business owners: “Just start! It won’t be perfect, and it won’t be what you have in mind, and that’s ok.”
Find Sarah Hearts: sarahhearts.com · @sarahhearts on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest
Habibi Village: Lebanese Saj, Served Like Family
Habibi means “sweet friend,” and for Maan Khzam, who was born and raised in Lebanon, it’s the word that turns strangers into friends. “It showcases the true values of the Levantine region and the culture of warmth that exists in all relationships,” he says.
Habibi Village serves fresh saj at farmers markets, festivals, and weddings across WNC. Families, working professionals, and kids as young as one or two are regulars. The go-to order is the delicious Habibi Special: local goat cheese, za’atar, and house-made muhammara.
Maan’s guiding rule is simple: “If I don’t eat it, how can I serve it to others?” That’s why Habibi Village sources organic and local ingredients, believing that “at the heart of food service is responsibility.”
He credits ScaleUp for offering space for reflection and answers. “ScaleUp can tell you really quickly whether your business is set up to scale or not,” Maan says. Being in the room with other owners mattered just as much. “Listening to their struggles and being a part of that makes your journey feel like you’re not alone in this.”
Since graduating, Maan has found an ongoing network of coaches, mentors, lending options, and fellow entrepreneurs who’ve become friends. That support counts when rising food and transport costs keep the pressure on.
Maan’s advice to fellow business owners: “Have mentors that are friends that are willing to guide you and help you throughout your growing pains.”
Find Habibi Village: habibivillage.com · @habibivillage on Instagram for the weekly market and festival schedule
Your Turn to Scale
These three very different businesses have a lot in common: owners who explored challenges and opportunities, leaned on the right people, and started building for what’s next. ScaleUp is an entrepreneurial tool built for owners like them who are ready to grow. As Maan put it, “It’s not easy, but anything hard is actually worth it because you are writing your own story.”
Applications for ScaleUp’s 15th cohort are open through Thursday, January 14, 2027, and the program kicks off March 12. If you’ve been in business at least two years, have at least one full-time employee, and see real room to grow, learn more about ScaleUp and apply here.
