ABOUT US

Small Shops Big Hearts was created by Sarah Shaoul to provide visibility and a lifeline to small, brick and mortar businesses struggling to stay afloat in the early days of the pandemic.

It began as PDXSOS, a call to action, encouraging people to support Portland’s amazing small businesses by purchasing gift certificates. PDXSOS quickly grew to a directory of over 800 small businesses.

We’ve maintained this directory, free of charge, to help raise the visibility of Portland’s brick and mortar small businesses.

In 2021 we changed the name from PDXSOS to Small Shops Big Hearts, to capture the essence of Portland’s small businesses. We’ve identified the following pillars that exemplify the small business experience.

ABOUT THE FOUNDER

Sarah owned and operated several retail stores in and around Portland for close to 30 years, before selling her last store to help other small businesses as a small business consultant, coach and advocate.

Sarah served on Portland’s small business advisory council, engaging with policy makers to provide understanding of the needs of small businesses and to advocate for an environment where small businesses can thrive.

Small Shops Big Hearts is currently a small, but mighty team that maintains this directory, operates the Small Shops Big Hearts social media and Win Big holiday event.

Small Shops Big Hearts is a function of Bricks Need Mortar, partnering with small businesses to access resources, gain skills and facilitate collaboration so small businesses can thrive into the future.

Mission and Values:

  • Our mission is to provide support with advocacy, connection, community, guidance and resources, so as an independent business you don’t have to feel as though you are going alone.

  • Our goal is to lead small businesses to access resources, gain skills and facilitate collaboration so small businesses can thrive into the future.

  • We believe in community over competition and believe we can efficiently and effectively deliver value, results, and solutions to this community as a whole.

  • The culture of our organization is centered in helping all businesses through these challenging times, particularly those businesses who are disenfranchised and marginalized.