Transforming how business gets done

From trucking innovators in Arkansas to natural skincare makers in New Hampshire, small business owners are using Google AI to streamline operations, save dozens of hours each week, and scale their reach across the country. Learn how they’re doing it.

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See how small business owners are putting

Google AI to work

Sodapup

Adam Baker uses Gemini to develop unique content 90 to 95% faster and Nano Banana to quickly design and presell new products.
Whimsical Enrichment for Pets

After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, Adam Baker earned an MBA and spent years as a successful product manager for leading athletic brands. Working with entrepreneurs inspired him “to see if I had the right stuff to create something from nothing,” he recalls. So in 2012 he launched Sodapup, which produces durable, U.S.-made dog enrichment toys, slow feeder bowls, and more. Whimsical chew toys like pink unicorn horns and lick mats with regional designs like lighthouses or mountains help Sodapup stand out. “Our secret sauce is creating an emotional connection, delighting customers in ways they didn’t expect,” Adam says. Sodapup now sells nationally and in 47 other countries through retailers and their own website. As they grow, they give back: Sodapup donates toys to military and police dogs, as well as animal shelters.

Adam applies a fashion-like cadence at Sodapup, with themed collections and frequent new designs; currently about 185 SKUs. With so many press releases and product descriptions to write, he turns to Gemini to save time and keep ideas fresh. “I use it to develop unique and differentiated content for each product,” he says. “And I can do it 90 to 95% faster.” Adam shares that he recently used Nano Banana to design a patriotic-themed collection for a short-notice pitch: “Google AI enabled me to quickly conceptualize and presell products before actually making them.” Google Vids helps him easily create clips for social media, like a popular unicorn-themed series. “They look big-budget when in fact they’re produced at very low cost,” he notes. Adam hosts these clips on YouTube, along with product videos and episodes of Sodapup’s Enrichment Lab podcast. “I can reach a global audience,” he says. “Google tools are so powerful to a small business because they level the playing field. I’m competing against larger businesses with my mind, not my purse.”

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The Boardwalk Cleaning Co

Jessica Duarte and Paula Jones use Gemini and Gemini Notebook to work smarter, saving hours of training and boosting revenue by 20 percent.
Tech-Enabled Home Services

Sharing a background in tech sales and a desire to build their own business together, Jessica Duarte and Paula Jones founded The Boardwalk Cleaning Co. in 2003. “It was the infancy of the internet, and everyone was crazy about buying stuff online,” Jessica says. It made her realize they could also offer cleaning services online, with easy 24/7 booking. They knew tech-savvy professionals in Austin, like themselves, were busy and didn’t want to spend their free time cleaning their homes. Now Jessica and Paula have been married for over 20 years, and The Boardwalk Cleaning Co. has grown to 42 employees who clean 13,000 homes annually.

Jessica uses Gemini in Google Sheets to analyze large amounts of data and build pivot tables, all of which she used to do manually. “Gemini summarizes everything and creates charts on the fly. It helps us work smarter,” she says. She also uses Gemini to estimate how many houses they could secure by expanding into new areas. Gemini Notebook acts as an internal knowledge base: Cleaners can instantly query 50 pages of standard operating procedures (like how to safely clean a marble surface), saving hours of training, and the sales team can access playbooks while trying to convert a lead. Around 70 percent of new customers come from Boardwalk’s Google Business Profile and Google Ads. Ads Advisor, a Gemini-powered conversation partner in Google Ads, has been so helpful that the company moved marketing in-house, resulting in better control of their brand. Their new ad strategy gives them highly predictable results, with a 55-percent conversion rate and, in one recent month, a 20-percent revenue jump. That reliability allows the company to hire new staff and better provide for current employees. “It’s a big responsibility to have 42 families dependent on Boardwalk,” Jessica says, “but it’s also my biggest motivator. Knowing that our growth brings them job security is awesome.”

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Gemini helps us think through unfamiliar situations, pressure-test ideas, and move from question to solution much faster than we could on our own.

Mike Forina,
Managing Director, Forina Design & Co.
Hernshaw Farms

In West Virginia, George Patterson uses a Gemini-powered app platform to predict harvests, helping him save tens of thousands of dollars.
Reclaiming Appalachian Soil

Doing his part for the “great Appalachian revival,” George Patterson founded Hernshaw Farms in 2018 at a former strip mine. George lived onsite in a trailer, learning about mushroom growing on YouTube and soon selling wholesale to restaurants. During the COVID-19 pandemic, George built a website to sell directly to consumers. That e-commerce business, well, mushroomed more than he could have imagined. In 2022, he moved growing operations to the historic Memorial Tunnel (once part of the West Virginia turnpike). Beyond mushroom sales, his nutrient-rich mushroom compost, “the Cadillac of soil building,” is now used to transform old coal mining sites into farmland.

Google Ads help George reach B2B and B2C customers searching for gourmet mushrooms and growing kits, with business increasing tenfold since inception. “Google Ads helped turn us from a farm serving the local community to a farm serving the nation,” he says, noting Performance Max campaigns “take the stress and complexity out of ad management.” An estimated 70 percent of customers find Hernshaw Farms via Google Ads. “We’ve also integrated AI into our daily production,” notes George, who uses a Gemini-powered app platform to design his own tools to categorize and predict harvests. “I’m just a mushroom farmer out there in the woods making harvest prediction software with AI, and saving tens of thousands of dollars. The masterful increase of efficiency is crazy.” The farm operates at maximum capacity, producing 3,000 pounds of mushrooms weekly. George streamlines operations with Google Workspace, using Forms and Sheets to track production, and a shared Drive where employees can quickly access and print product labels. George also shares what he’s learned about using technology to promote eco-conscious farming and rural renewal with others. “I think we're really on the right track now. West Virginia is happening.”

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Gemini and Nano Banana have decreased our content creation time by 50 percent, allowing us to meet rapid demands of new campaigns each month.

Isabella White,
Marketing Coordinator, Aroma Retail
Jamie’s Farm

Reclaiming 20 hours a week, Jamie Kim uses Gemini in Google Sheets to customize an inventory management system.
Granola Made with Ghee

Jamie Kim always loved cooking, and interned at a 3-Michelin star restaurant at age 16. But of all the things she made for her friends, her granola was the most popular. So when she got to college, she kept making it in her dorm kitchen, and by her senior year in 2017 was selling to her local branch of a national grocery store. Today, Jamie's Farm Granola is sold in over 300 retail locations across the country and serves over 10,000 customers online. Her granola stands out because it’s slow-baked with ghee, a nutritious lactose-free butter, sourced from local farms. “It almost tastes like a shortbread cookie, but it's just a lot better for you,” Jamie says. Her Vanilla Bean Granola with Sour Cherries is a fan favorite.

Jamie recently collaborated with Gemini to customize an inventory management system in Google Sheets. “I had the base knowledge, but Gemini introduced me to so many new formulas I never learned in school,” she explains. That helped her reclaim 20 hours a week in admin tasks. Jamie uses Nano Banana to create professional website backgrounds and to mock up seasonal packaging before it's printed, so it’s easier to share with retailers or take pre-orders. With Gemini Notebook, she's built a searchable database by uploading operating procedures and retailer compliance manuals. It instantly surfaces delivery and labeling requirements, preventing chargebacks. In one case, she then used Gemini to generate files to create very specific labels, turning a full-day task into an hour. The company is growing 40 percent year-over-year. “I love that a recipe I spent years perfecting brings genuine joy to people all over the country,” she says. “Hearing from customers who recognize that level of care and craft makes all the long hours worth it.”

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Collaborating with Gemini to build a custom inventory system helped Jamie reclaim 20 hours a week.

Jamie Kim,
Founder, Jamie’s Farm
FR8relay

Aayush Thakur and Deme Yuan use Gemini to summarize 3,000 daily emails, and Vertex AI agents to analyze logistics data.
Optimizing the Future of Trucking

As a graduate student, Aayush Thakur was analyzing billions of trucking industry data points when he noticed puzzling clusters of trucks idling for up to 24 hours. He learned that truckers often get stuck due to driving time regulations, or they have to wait for a load to avoid returning with an empty trailer. This not only delays essential cargo and wastes fuel, it keeps drivers on the road longer. “Everything we use touches trucks, and the people doing all this hard work are spending time away from their loved ones,” Aayush notes. Determined to fix this, he patented his algorithms and with his wife and COO, Deme Yuan, founded FR8relay. The company’s software facilitates a relay model for brokers, so they can divide long routes into shorter segments, allowing drivers to swap trailers and return home daily. This reduces downtime by 20–30 percent. Today, the AI-powered platform optimizes nearly 20,000 loads annually through a partnership with a logistics broker.

FR8relay hosts their entire system on Google Cloud, turning raw data like shipping bids and locations into actionable logistics. Their proprietary Vertex AI agents analyze the data; instead of manual entry or running reports, users can simply ask a chat interface, “What was the rate on this route three months ago?” to get instant context and compare options in a single dashboard. And truckers can upload photos and documents directly to Cloud storage to speed up invoicing. Gemini parses brokers’ 3,000 daily emails, instantly summarizing complex rate quotes into clear bullet points and drafting replies that help keep deals moving. The company is testing a machine-learning tool that predicts delays by analyzing traffic and weather patterns. “Our goal is to make driving a day job,” Aayush says, “getting cargo where it needs to go faster and giving American truckers more time with their families.”

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Anderson Foundries

Kory and Ali Anderson use Gemini to draft strategic communications 95 percent faster and Performance Max to drive 30 percent of customers.
Revitalizing American Manufacturing

Kory Anderson loves metal. He grew up with a childhood dream to build the world's largest steam tractor and a passion for American industry. As an adult, he was doing welding and machine work when the Dakota Foundry, the business making some of his dream tractor’s parts, came up for sale in 2014. So he bought it. Today, Kory and his wife Ali, chief branding and PR officer, operate a family of 100% American-made metal casting and patterning companies with 50 full-time employees. “Our mission is to preserve and strengthen American manufacturing, and keep these businesses that were destined to close operating in America," says Kory. Anderson Foundries now competes in a global market while employing skilled trade workers at home. And that steam tractor? Kory and his team finished it in 2018, setting a Guinness World Record.

Google Ads Performance Max serves as Anderson’s marketing expert, generating leads and optimizing campaigns that account for 30 percent of their customers. The team uses Gemini to draft strategic communications 95 percent faster, and Ali uses Gemini Notebook to check the handbook against updates to state regulations, or for ideas to improve the employee experience. For the floor, uploaded HR manuals and technical handbooks trim information searches from 20 or 30 minutes to one, so production doesn’t stop while workers wait for answers. “The speed of AI makes our work so efficient,” Kory says. That’s helped Anderson grow their customer base over sixfold while maintaining a 98-percent on-time delivery rate. Kory and Ali’s mission to bolster U.S. industry includes their Iron Warriors Academy, with a goal to train and place 100,000 skilled people into the trades by 2030. “American manufacturing has to be more productive to be competitive,” Kory adds. “And a lot of that is using these tools.”

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MoveCars.com

Nick Padgett uses Antigravity to push features 2 to 3 times faster and Gemini to create concise, professional emails.
Streamlining Auto Transport

Nick Padgett had been working in the automotive space for over a decade when he acquired MoveCars.com in 2024. The company was founded in 1997 as a simple digital "yellow pages" for vehicle transporters. Nick, a software engineer, saw an opportunity to improve the car shipping industry, where pricing and policies are often unclear. His mission was bold: transform the site so that people who want to move their cars can find and compare auto transporter options with total pricing transparency and end-to-end simplicity. Move Cars is now a sophisticated, feature-rich marketplace. It has a database of 4.4 million transport providers and attracts 6,000 organic visitors every month.

Nick used Google Antigravity, an agentic development platform, to help him write software. To build Move Cars' real-time pricing feature, he simply dropped in documentation and explained his goal, and Antigravity translated his "business speak” into an enterprise-grade system. “My team can work with it, too, so now they have better quality code,” he says. “We’ve seen a two- to threefold increase in the number of features we’re pushing out to production.” Nick, who says he’s “straight to the point,” also uses Gemini as a communications filter; it helps him create professional, concise emails, eliminating confusion and speeding up the buyer journey. In 2025, Move Cars started using Google Ads, doubling their website traffic by capturing high-intent users. As he scales, he’s teaching recent college graduates to use AI to evolve from coders into true systems architects, helping the next generation reach their destinations, too.

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Gemini can help understand your goals and objectives and shift your strategy to attain them.

Lucas Farrell,
Co-founder & Co-owner, Big Picture Farm
321 Foto

Marilee Kimball uses Gemini and Nano Banana to streamline operations and turn event portraits into imaginative, cinematic outputs.
Creative Moments

Creative technologist Marilee Kimball founded 321 Foto in 2008 to reimagine the old-fashioned photo booth; not just as a camera, but as a space for connection and creativity. Starting with a single rental booth, the company evolved into a boutique agency that today has 50 booths and creates immersive photography for over 500 corporate events, parties, and weddings each year. “The camera is really just the excuse,” Marilee says. “What we actually create are moments where people feel comfortable being themselves.”

Marilee uses Gemini and Gemini’s image model Nano Banana to push the boundaries of live event photography, turning portraits into imaginative, cinematic outputs. At a corporate event for a pest control company, she turned guests into beautiful, scientifically illustrated bugs. At another, attendees became characters in an ’80s video game. She’s now working on trading cards for Seattle’s sports teams. “Nano Banana has been a game changer,” she says. “I can’t believe what I’m able to do. I’m having an explosion of creativity.” Behind the scenes, Gemini streamlines operations so that Marilee and her team can focus on that creativity. “Gemini sends me meeting transcripts with next steps within minutes,” she says. “I can’t even quantify how much time we save now.” She also built a Gem that serves as a company knowledge base and brand voice. Google Workspace helps Marilee organize logistics and track inventory. “It’s the backbone of our business,” she says, adding that she’s excited about the Gemini features in Workspace that help her with emails. 321 Foto recently launched a fleet of AI selfie stations (The Super Social) that can travel globally, using Gemini for logistics “What excites me most is how these tools expand what’s possible,” Marilee says, “They allow us to merge photography, art, and technology in a way that creates a portal to infinite creative output.”

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Henry’s House of Coffee

Hrag Kalebjian uses Gemini Notebook and Gemini to build financial slides in five minutes and write a weekly newsletter.
Modernizing a Family Roastery

Hrag Kalebjian didn’t set out to join the family business. He’d grown up with Henry’s House of Coffee, a roastery and coffee shop named for his father, who was a second-generation roaster himself. Hrag went into corporate finance after college, but when his father considered retiring in 2013, Hrag decided to make a career change. “I saw a big opportunity in the online space, since my Dad didn’t have a website,” he says. “I’ve been here ever since and I love every single day.” He added e-commerce and modernized the shop, balancing efficiency with respect for Henry’s 30 years of experience. They now offer nationwide shipping, and subscriptions account for 25 percent of online sales. Known for high-quality roasts and Armenian coffee, the shop is a fixture in San Francisco’s Sunset District. “My business is all about relationships,” Hrag says. “Coffee is the medium for us to communicate.”

Hrag used Gemini to help him write the code to create a daily sales forecaster. If he ran into issues, he would give Gemini a screenshot and get a suggestion for how to fix them. “It only took about an hour to set up and I get the report every morning,” he says. He also uses Gemini to help synthesize coffee-related news and write the “Sunday Pour,” a weekly newsletter that gets “an amazing response.” To revamp an instruction card for their shop’s Armenian coffee kit, Hrag put the old 15-step PDF into Gemini Notebook. “After maybe 20 minutes of me uploading and talking to it, I had a card that was ready to print,” he says. Gemini Notebook also helps him build slides with fun, coffee-themed visual metaphors to clearly explain the finances at family shareholder meetings, a process that now takes five minutes instead of several hours. Next on the agenda: producing coffee advent calendars that Hrag designed using Nano Banana. And, waiting for one of his kids to become a fourth-generation coffee roaster.

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PlaygroundEquipment.com

Nic Breedlove uses Performance Max to lower acquisition costs and Gemini to repurpose case studies into 80 videos and 160 posts.
Spaces for Community

PlaygroundEquipment.com CEO Nic Breedlove knows playscapes, but landscapes were a different story. “I had just graduated with a horticulture degree, and thought I'd join my family’s nursery business,” Nic says of his career path. “But I just don’t have a green thumb.” Instead, Nic and his father, Victor, launched NVB Playgrounds in 2006. PlaygroundEquipment.com is their commercial branch: They supply schools, parks, and cities across the U.S. with play structures, as well as with design services. “Those are the places where community begins,” Nic notes. Today, they serve around 6,000 customers a year (and hundreds of thousands of happy kids) through an expansive network of distributors. Their revenue grew 18 percent last year alone.

Playground has been using Google Ads since 2018, and Nic estimates that they drive around 40 percent of the company’s revenue. “By integrating Performance Max ads with Google Shopping ads, our cost-per-acquisition has gone down dramatically,” he says. Google Workspace with Gemini helps them manage files, track inventory, and analyze data for financial reporting or from meetings. The team usually produces four case studies a month with Gemini’s assistance; it then helps them repurpose those into around 80 videos and 160 social posts. “It’s deeply satisfying to use a tool that helps you validate your own work as needed and also helps you get it done much more efficiently,” Nic says. The 3D design team uses Gemini to brainstorm materials, spot missing design elements, and build a custom rendering tool. Meanwhile, whether assessing distributor processes or new equipment designs, leadership uses Gemini to uncover blind spots or risks before proceeding. This allows for fail-safe exploration, much like a playground. “Kids gain confidence by taking risks and playing on the equipment,” Nic says. “We give them a space to do that.”

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I’m just a mushroom farmer out there in the woods making harvest prediction software with AI, and saving tens of thousands of dollars. The masterful increase of efficiency is crazy.

George Patterson,
Founder & CEO, Hernshaw Farms
Stack Wellness Cafe

Carson Goodale uses Gemini to increase productivity 10x by creating menu images and querying performance data.
Nutrition for Lasting Change

Stack Wellness Cafe’s mission is simple: to empower customers to stack one healthy choice on top of another to create lasting change. After a health transformation of his own, Josh Polansky founded the fast-casual chain in 2024 to make nutrition more affordable and convenient. Stack offers colorful, tasty smoothies, bowls, wraps, and more, displaying macros (carbs, fat, protein) and calories for easy tracking. There are now five locations in Iowa with a sixth on the way; a Smoothie Van builds brand awareness and the company also offers catering. They’ve set a goal of 20-percent annual growth and served 130,000+ guests in their first full year. “We provide high-quality ingredients and transparency so you can make decisions that are right for you,” Josh says. “I’m very proud of the value we’re bringing to people’s lives.”

CIO Carson Goodale encourages reviews by putting QR codes on each receipt that link to Stack’s Google Business Profile. They have 975 five-star reviews and the profile generated over 31,000 website visits in one quarter. Another 10–20 percent of their web traffic comes via Google Ads, including Performance Max. Gemini helps Carson create images for menus and marketing. “With Gemini, I can take my creative ideas and iterate faster to finish a project,” he says. “It increases my productivity 10x.” Carson combines Gemini and Google Analytics MCP to query data using natural language. “I can ask which ad campaigns are performing best and why,” he explains. “We can spend more time making strategic decisions and less time mining data.” Stack gives back as they grow: Through GiftAMeal, they donate a meal to a food bank for each customer selfie, giving 700 meals in one month alone. Josh wants Stack to be part of “health journeys of any kind,” and he leads by example. “I’ve eaten here every day for 18 months,” he says. “I love it.”

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I can bounce ideas off of Gemini. It’s like a song co-writer. It feels like a collaboration and it’s actually made me more creative.

B.C. Rogers III,
Owner, Wren & Ivy
Big Picture Farm

In Vermont, Lucas and Louisa use Gemini to formalize new HR plans and Performance Max to drive 13 percent of online revenue.
Artistry in Agriculture

There’s something about goats, says Big Picture Farm co-founder Lucas Farrell. “Feeding them, milking them, making cheese, and seeing people enjoy it is a different cycle of living and art making,” he says. A writer and poet, Lucas transitioned to goat farming with his wife, artist Louisa Conrad, in 2010. “I never expected my relationship with the animals to strike such a deep chord,” he says. They’ve since expanded from three goats to a herd of 46, with seven employees, a farm shop, and farmstay getaways; they also sell wholesale to 2,000 stores nationwide and ship directly to customers everywhere. Big Picture’s signature goat milk caramels, along with a commitment to sustainable, humane farming, help them stand out in the field. Since 2020, “Google Ads has helped us reach customers across the country who value artisan, ethical confections,” Lucas says.

Now, Google Ads Performance Max campaigns drive 13 percent of online revenue. Lucas uses Gemini to help understand Ads data as he tracks impressions from various groups, such as those interested in caramels, holiday gifts, or the goats themselves. “We can diagnose customer engagement and see where different opportunities might be popping up, which helps us tweak our campaigns and shift our strategy,” Lucas says. Louisa uses Gemini to run the farm efficiently. “AI can be game changing for small businesses. It’s like having a partner to analyze information,” she says, noting that she used Gemini to help formalize new HR plans for their employees. “I feed it basic information, but it acts as my secretary. It’s just a real time saver.” Google tools help Big Picture Farm thrive while staying firmly rooted in the rural region. "Our impact on the community is growing,” notes Lucas, who sources from local vendors. “That’s extremely rewarding, because behind every dollar we spend is a person, a neighbor, living here in Vermont."

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I can use Gemini to develop unique and differentiated content for each product, and I can do it 90 to 95 percent faster.

Adam Baker,
Founder & CEO, Sodapup
Cloth & Paper

Ashley Reynolds uses Performance Max to attract 20 percent of customers and AI Overviews to increase brand awareness.
Luxury in Simplicity

Ashley Reynolds founded Cloth & Paper in 2015 after searching for a daily planner that reflected her personal style. “I wanted one that was minimal, chic, and something I felt confident bringing to work,” she says. In the end, she designed her own. The brand designs and ships luxury planners, journals, and accessories to about 50,000 customers a year. They also offer subscription boxes with 10 new products each month. “It’s a chance for customers to relax and get creative,” Ashley notes. Cloth & Paper now has 45 employees in product design, marketing, customer service, and operations. “No one knows your customers better than your employees,” she says. “And the collaboration we get from running everything in-house is so valuable.”

Cloth & Paper uses Google Ads Performance Max campaigns. They’re “more intuitive, and have efficiencies built in,” says COO Ryan Reynolds, Ashley’s husband. The ads are optimized automatically, attracting 20 percent of their customers. They’re currently exploring AI tools like Gemini for building forecasting and inventory management models. “Seeing business owners build custom solutions using AI is really exciting right now,” Ryan says. AI Overviews help them increase brand awareness: “They ensure that our products and category show up. Being visible at the point of discovery drives new customers into our ecosystem,” he says. YouTube is where they foster community with their fans, sharing tips in weekly live “happy hours” that offer high-quality video and real-time chat. “The YouTube livestreams have been instrumental for our growth,” says Ashley. They have nearly 27,000 subscribers and their 1000+ videos have over 5.3 million views. But Ashley’s most proud of creating dozens of jobs in the Richmond area. “The livelihood of 45 people is in our hands,” she says. “That makes us want to show up every single day.”

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Bluegrass Roofing & Consulting

Reclaiming two hours a week, Taber and Duncan use Gemini to polish communications and research industry trends.
Trusted Local Service

As a fire captain in his native Georgetown, U.S. Navy veteran John Lewis worked to protect his neighbors’ homes. He found another way to do that after he retired by launching Bluegrass Roofing & Consulting, teaming up with daughter Taber (CEO) and son Duncan (COO). All three wanted to build a business based on local trust, where customers came to them. “You’re a person to us, not a dollar amount,” Taber says. “We didn’t want to be a door-knocking type of company, but we needed leads.” They boosted their Google Ads spend by 360 percent in 2025, achieving a 412-percent increase in paid search conversions at a lower cost per lead. Their Local Service Ads proved effective, driving a 21x return on ad spend. And being able to tailor their ad reach, such as just the east side of Louisville, saves them drive time and money. This strategy has helped them expand, add services, and grow from four to 12 employees while offering their staff generous benefits.

Taber takes a proactive approach to Google Ads. If hail or high winds are predicted in an area, she’ll increase ad spend there to reach people searching for roofers after the storm. When it’s too cold to lay shingles, she shifts money into ads for gutters, which can be installed all year. Taber uses Gemini to summarize meeting notes and polish communications. “It helps me restructure sentences and find better ways to say things,” she explains, adding that Gemini helps her reclaim two hours a week. Meanwhile, Duncan uses Gemini to research roofing industry trends and pricing. “If you can get into a conversation with it that does more of the legwork for you, it really helps,” Taber says. Honoring John’s background, Bluegrass proudly offers an appreciation discount to active military, veterans, and first responders. Says Taber, “The better we do, the more we can do for the people around us.”

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Crossrope

Dave Hunt uses Gemini to do 3 to 4 times more outreach and Gemini Notebook to find answers 10x faster.
Fitness, Engineered

Crossrope began in 2012 with a Navy officer’s simple need for better fitness equipment. Founder Dave Hunt, a former P-3 Orion pilot, jumped rope to stay fit while deployed, but found the available ropes weren’t up to his standards. So he engineered a high-quality, interchangeable weighted jump rope system, crafting the first prototypes from deconstructed nunchucks and hardware store cables. Crossrope has grown from a garage startup into a global fitness success, added a new ropeless line, and served over one million customers across 180 countries. Google Ads Performance Max campaigns help Dave reach these fitness enthusiasts while staying within his budget. “Performance Max is a big proportion of our overall campaign allocation because we're better able to optimize and allocate our spend," he says.

Gemini helps the Crossrope team draft contracts and streamline communications, so they can do three to four times more outreach to potential business partners than before. With Nano Banana, they can try out fun marketing angles which often spark further ideas; they recently used it to brainstorm for a video of someone throwing a treadmill in the trash to position Crossrope as an alternative way to exercise. They also use Gemini Notebook to create searchable libraries of business know-how that help team members find answers 10x faster than before. “Gemini Notebook is a way to synthesize knowledge, resources, assets, and experience across the team,” Dave says. On YouTube, over 800 brand videos use digital storytelling to showcase Crossrope in action and create profitable monetization opportunities for partners. These successes also fuel their Crossrope Cares program, which provides Crossropes and funds to underserved communities and worthy organizations like the USO. Says Dave, “Without Google tools, it would be difficult to be as effective and productive as we are.”

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Pollyanna Richter Weddings

Pollyanna Richter uses Gemini and Nano Banana to reduce event planning time by about 50 percent and create visual proposals.
Creating Joyful Moments

Pollyanna Richter was enjoying her career as an accountant but missing an outlet for her creative side. “I was looking for more happy moments,” she says. Her wedding turned out to be an inspiration: She founded Pollyanna Richter Weddings in 2016, a luxury wedding planning and floral design boutique. Now she helps couples find their own happy moments with start-to-finish services, showstopping floral arrangements, and unique ceremonies in Atlanta’s most sought-after venues. She sources 80 percent of her flowers from Georgia farms, creating sustainable, eco-friendly designs. Pollyanna makes sure each couple she works with receives her full attention and each celebration is highly personalized and meticulously detailed. “I’m the yes person,” she says. “I say ‘We can do it,’ and then I make it happen.”

To attract highly qualified leads, Pollyanna uses Google Ads, which drives 70 percent of website traffic. Insights from Google Analytics led her to shorten her contact form, increasing its use, and helped her find the ideal size for a pop-up window on her website. Pollyanna uses Gemini and Nano Banana when brainstorming floral arrangements and venue floor plans. They help her create exciting visual content to show clients so they can reach a faster decision and eliminate the need for expensive physical samples. She notes that the tools reduce planning time by about 50 percent per event. Gemini also helps her create proposals with an inviting tone, avoiding a “hard sell” approach. And since estimating costs for an event that’s 12–18 months in the future is challenging, Pollyanna inputs expenses like stem counts and labor into Gemini, which then generates reliable pricing margins. “Using Gemini for a small business basically means you can do more,” says Pollyanna. “You’re more profitable because you’re doing business smarter.”

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Gemini is like a business partner that can give me advice. It might tell me, ‘You could get this product for half the price.’ It’s really helpful for that.

Shannen Knight,
CEO & President, A Sight for Sport Eyes
Lucerne Farms

In Maine, Rich James uses Gemini to map efficient sales routes across 400 stores, planning whole days for his team.
High-Quality Forage Solutions

Founded in 1989, Lucerne Farms produces high-quality horse forage feed, chicken coop bedding, and garden mulch in far northern Maine. “We’re slugging out a living here in the middle of nowhere,” says Rich James, who took the reins of his family’s industrial farm when his father passed away in 2005. “Every summer, we harvest between 6,500 and 7,500 acres of hay and straw,” says Rich, who employs 15 workers year-round and 27 during summer harvest. He manages the entire production cycle, from seeding to packaging to selling his products. He says digital tools have helped expand their reach into 2,000+ garden centers and retail stores nationwide. “We take a lot of pride in knowing how to use those tools, which help us stay relevant in these ever-changing marketplaces.”

Rich uses Google Ads to market to both B2B and B2C audiences, engaging business owners, equestrians, and “lifestyle farmers” who grow vegetables, raise chickens, and till gardens as a hobby. Google Ads helps him reach his niche audiences by geographic location, which has driven 25-to 30-percent year-over-year growth in customer conversions. Now, Google AI tools are helping Rich run operations even more productively. “We plugged all our New England stores into Gemini and asked it to develop the most efficient sales routes from store to store,” he recounts. Gemini mapped out three weeks of travel to around 400 stores, seven to eight a day, which they then transferred to Google Maps. “So our sales reps’ whole days are planned out by AI,” he adds. “That’s a great way to maximize our time.” Gemini even had suggestions for the best time of day to visit each store. Rich’s advice for other businesses? “You're never too small or geographically challenged to use any and all technology that's available to you.”

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Using Gemini for a small business basically means you can do more. You’re more profitable because you’re doing business smarter.

Pollyanna Richter,
Pollyanna Richter Weddings
Rattlesnake Cable Company

Hank Donovan uses Gemini to crank out code in two minutes instead of two hours and Performance Max to drive holiday sales.
Premium Audio Gear

Hank Donovan didn't set out to start a business; he just wanted a better connection to his passion. Frustrated by flimsy cables that muddled his electric guitar’s sound, the Missoula-based web developer began building cables of his own. “I was really craving a craft of some sort, building something people can use to make their art,” Hank says. So when other musicians took notice and started asking Hank for their own custom builds, he and his wife, Amy, founded Rattlesnake Cable Company. They offer a full line of durable, ultra-premium cables, splitters, and gear for musicians, all milled in the U.S. and backed by a lifetime warranty. Today, around 14,000 customers rock with Rattlesnake cables.

To amplify their message in a crowded market, Rattlesnake uses Google Ads Performance Max campaigns. They help drive sales automatically during critical holiday windows and save Hank hours of manually fine-tuning creative assets for different audiences. On YouTube, Rattlesnake shares informative content with their nearly 8,000 subscribers, like a viral how-to guide on cable wrapping, that builds a global sense of community around the brand. “I constantly see the benefit of YouTube,” Hank says. When it comes to operations, even a programming whiz like Hank trusts Gemini to manage complex technical tasks, like writing server firewall rules to thwart attacks. “Gemini is great at cranking out code. If I’ve got a problem, it walks me through it,” he says. “Before, it would have taken me two hours. With Gemini, it takes two minutes.” This efficiency frees Hank and Amy up to focus on higher-level strategy, helping Rattlesnake increase revenue 33 percent year-over-year. And winning the “Coolest Thing Made in Montana” award validates Hank’s initial goal: “I wanted to make something cool,” he says, “a product we could send out to the world from this little town.”

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With Gemini’s Nano Banana, we’re no longer just capturing photos, we’re creating entirely new visual experiences in real time.

Marilee Kimball,
CEO, 321 Foto
CitySwing

Tari Cash uses Gemini to research best practices and craft emails in brand tone, getting 80% of the way there in a single hour.
Elevating Golf for Everyone

CitySwing founder Tari Cash worked in the corporate world long enough to see how relationships formed on the golf course affect business decisions. Her parents had introduced her to the sport, giving her a competitive edge as she advanced in her career. “It’s a networking tool,” Tari says. “Golf brings together people from different backgrounds and beliefs into one environment to truly form relationships.” She founded CitySwing in 2018, and they’ve grown into three divisions in the D.C. metro area: two indoor golf studios with lounges, a truck with simulators and mini golf, and a nonprofit focused on introducing the sport to kids from low-income or underrepresented families. “Our goal is to change the way people practice, how they’re invited into the game, and how they advance to play better on the course,” says Tari.

CitySwing uses Google Ads to help customers find their business, and the glowing reviews on their Google Business Profiles bring them through the door. Tari knew using AI could help her compete, and CitySwing’s expansion gave her the nudge to explore. She used Gemini to create staff vacation guidelines and a cancellation policy for their membership program, asking Gemini to research best practices and integrate them with their current process. “Gemini helped us develop a customer survey and email, all crafted in our brand tone,” she recalls. “Instead of taking weeks, we got 80% of the way there in a single hour.” Tari values Gemini’s seamless integration with Google Workspace, providing her team access to various tools in one unified environment. Tari’s newfound efficiency also has a personal impact: “Using Google AI helps me be a better mother while I achieve my dreams of growing this business. We often say at CitySwing that we are ‘building the plane and flying it at the same time.’ Our 2025 goal was to build the plane first with help from Google AI.”

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Aroma Retail

Mike Hewitt uses Nano Banana to reduce promo video production time by 50 percent and Performance Max to save two hours a day.
Scenting the Las Vegas Experience

In 2017, Cristina Reding, a former ballet dancer and banking VP, and her husband, Jim, who’d already been working in scent marketing, started making candles in their kitchen that evoked the signature fragrances of famous Las Vegas resorts. The concept evolved into Aroma Retail, a direct-to-consumer business selling aroma diffusers and pure-grade, allergen-free fragrance oils. They now operate out of a 13,000-square-foot warehouse and interactive “Smelly Bar” right off the Las Vegas Strip. From the start, the marketing team reached customers with Google Ads, which now drives 33 percent of sales. Performance Max campaigns, a key part of that strategy, have lifted their Return on Ad Spend from 3x to 5x. “I save at least two hours a day versus doing everything manually,” notes Marketing Coordinator Isabella White. “We can upload assets in bulk and run ads across YouTube, Search, and Display, and our team doesn't have to make daily tweaks.”

Isabella and Director of Marketing Mike Hewitt use Google Analytics to quickly surface insights about performance, which they can do by simply asking the dashboard questions. Knowing a certain landing page converts well might then lead them to adjust the layout of a different page. Gemini and Nano Banana help them develop graphics and promotional videos, including a recent clip featuring their scent machine in comical settings. “We feature a different scent every month, and do a full promo video for it,” Mike says. “Our graphic designer uses Nano Banana for that, and it’s reduced his production time by 50 percent. So it’s more than doubled our productivity, and we can create original content every day.” This approach gives them more time to partner with the Vegas Veterans Hockey Foundation, in honor of Jim’s military service, and to prioritize the eco-friendly practices that earned them the first green business certification in Southern Nevada.

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SwitchedOn

Brett Johnson uses Gemini to break down complex concepts for developers, summarize research, and brainstorm drills.
Cognitive and Motor Agility Training

As a professional soccer player, Brett Johnson was always trying to boost his reaction time. But training equipment was expensive, so he cobbled together a video that flashed colored lights on his phone to prompt various drills. When people began asking to buy his “app,” he knew he was on to something. Backed by his neuroscience degree and extensive research, Brett and CTO Madhur Srivastava co-founded SwitchedOn in 2019. Their app blends cognitive and motor training for healthier bodies and brains, as users react to visual and audio cues to improve agility and decision-making. With over 750,000 users globally, SwitchedOn helps athletes at all levels train, including pro sports teams; it’s also used for injury rehab and by older adults to enhance balance and memory.

SwitchedOn is powered by Google Cloud, which helps provide easy phone access, the ability to sync multiple devices or create group workouts, and a new “vision feature” that uses Google’s AI pose detection technology to record performance data. “Google Cloud provides the reliable infrastructure we need to support our growing user base while maintaining performance and security,” Brett notes. The app has a 4.9 rating from over 2,000 reviews. On Google Play, it reaches Android users around the world, which is 60 percent of their base. “Reviews are huge in giving users the confidence to download the app,” he says. As a nontechnical founder, Brett uses Gemini to break down complex concepts so he can clearly communicate with his developers. He also uses it to summarize current research and user feedback, and to brainstorm training content: He enters descriptions and methodology and gets suggestions for new drills. Streamlining these workflows allows Brett to focus on SwitchedOn’s mission: “Knowing that our work is creating real, measurable impact for people around the world is what motivates me every day,” he says.

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BeeMachine

Brian Spiesman uses TensorFlow and Gemini in Google Colab to quickly troubleshoot code and identify insects with 94-percent accuracy.
AI-Powered Pollinator Conservation

Brian Spiesman knows bees. An entomologist at Kansas State University, he leads the Pollinator Ecology Lab, which studies many of the 20,000+ species responsible for pollinating 90 percent of the world’s flowering plants and a third of food crops. While most people know bumblebees and honeybees, Brian says that “thousands of bee species remain overlooked, largely because they’re tricky to identify.” To help, Brian developed the BeeMachine. It’s a bee-tracking and identification platform, with a website launched in 2020 and an app in 2023. The app engages citizen scientists with an easy way to record sightings: You simply upload photos and AI identifies the insect. Users can track their entry on a map and interact with other bee enthusiasts, while contributing to wild bee conservation.

The BeeMachine was conceived when Brian’s lab had a months-long backlog of specimens to analyze. He used Google’s TensorFlow to speed up the process, adapting models to recognize lesser-known bees. “It just grew from there,” Brian recalls. The BeeMachine can now recognize 350+ kinds of flower-visiting insects with close to 94-percent accuracy. The team uses Google Colab for model training, so they can write and execute Python code in a browser. “It’s super convenient because there’s a Gemini coding assistant that helps us quickly troubleshoot any time we have a bug in the code,” Brian says. “We’re also exploring adding an AI assistant for the app, powered by Gemini and BERT, a natural language machine learning platform, for users’ bee-related queries.” More than 8,900 users have logged over 32,000 sightings of 295 species, and the app has 1,000+ downloads on the Google Play Store. “Ultimately, it’s about getting people excited about bees, and collecting data that scientists can use for monitoring,” Brian says. “With help from AI, we can reimagine what conservation looks like.”

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Building a custom booking app with Gemini's help also saved the shop $500 a month.

Brian Newham,
President, Atlas Automotive Repair
Sun Valley Lanes & Games

Brian Kleinknecht uses Gemini to build custom apps that help turn a 15–20 minute task into three minutes.
A Destination for Fun

John Losito first joined Sun Valley Lanes & Games as a pinspotter mechanic in 1988 while bowling for the University of Nebraska. After college, he began a pro bowling career that took him on tour and then to the Philippines as national coach, but he returned to Nebraska in the ’90s and became sole owner of Sun Valley in 2011. John has since transformed the alley, encouraging more open play in addition to league bowling, and adding laser tag, mini golf, and outdoor games like sand volleyball and cornhole. “We’re in the business of fun, and we try to make memorable experiences for all of our guests,” John says. After an expansion in 2022, Google Search helped Sun Valley fill the space. “Google is important for finding new customers. Probably 80–90% search ‘fun things to do in Lincoln’ and we come up,” John says. Revenue increased by around 130 percent, and John estimates that he now serves 40,000 unique customers per year.

Sun Valley used Google Analytics to help them redesign their online reservation system. “Around 70 or 80 percent of people would drop off because our system was clunky,” John explains. “Analytics was very important in determining how to revamp it, and now it’s more like a 70-to 80-percent closure rate.” They use Gemini to generate marketing ideas, edit photos, draft emails, and craft responses to reviews. Sun Valley’s general manager, Brian Kleinknecht, even uses Gemini to generate code to quickly build apps. One such app calculates how to split staff tips, turning a 15–20 minute daily task into a three minute task. Another, which Brian got up and running in 20 minutes, manages laser tag reservations. “I don’t think everybody understands the depth of the potential of Gemini,” John says. “When you look at Brian, with no knowledge of coding at all and then creating this app in less than half an hour to make our lives easier, it’s absolutely amazing that this exists.”

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Using Gemini helps me refine my writing and expand on my ideas. This has allowed me to shave two to three hours off my work.

Toyin Omisore,
Founder & Wanderer-in-Chief, Roam Loud
Thrivable

David Edelman uses Gemini Deep Research to level up his thinking and Gemini Notebook to create engaging podcasts for his team.
Connecting Patients and Insights

“I’m a connector at heart,” says David Edelman, the founder of Thrivable, a startup that gathers patient insights for healthcare organizations. His ability to bring people together became clear in the early 2000s, when he was helping a friend navigate a recent diabetes diagnosis. “We quickly found there wasn’t a great place for tapping into communal wisdom,” David recalls. “So we built an online community, Diabetes Daily.” That forum eventually grew to reach two million people each month, and taught David about the gap between healthcare organizations and the people they serve. He launched Thrivable in 2019 to close that gap; they now have over 100,000 engaged patients on their platform who choose to share their feedback with companies addressing everything from diabetes to sleep apnea, leading to solutions patients need.

As CEO, David points out, “The less time I spend doing research or creating a spreadsheet, the more time I have for crucial conversations with customers, patients, and my team.” After a brainstorming session, he uses Gemini to convert the discussions into a one-pager to share with the team. Gemini also helps him refine communications and simplify complex concepts into language that’s easy for people to follow. David uses Gemini Deep Research to identify areas to explore and for market sizing and contracting. “I’m getting more information in a more structured way, along with layers of problem-solving that really level up my thinking,” he says. When the material gets dry, like a recent training on contracting processes, he drops it into Gemini Notebook, which creates an engaging podcast for the team to listen to. To prepare for board meetings, he uploads notes and decks into the tool to synthesize and plan his communication. “I’ll take every improvement in workflow that helps us improve the patient experience,” David says. “Google AI is a foundational part of that.”

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Gemini has helped me clearly identify and communicate what my company’s value is, who my customers are, and to think about problems in unique ways.

Nick Padgett,
CEO, MoveCars.com
Little Seed Farm

James and Eileen Ray use Gemini and AI Overviews to troubleshoot equipment and Performance Max to average a 5x return on ad spend.
Regenerative Skincare

James and Eileen Ray wanted to be part of the sustainable small-farming movement. They left their corporate jobs in New York City in 2012, moving to an old dairy farm outside Nashville to found Little Seed Farm. “Regenerative farming was something we were both super passionate about,” says James. “We wanted to make a difference in the world.” After trying their hands at raising cows, pigs, and ducks, the couple found their calling: creating clean beauty products, including their signature natural deodorant cream and handcrafted goat’s milk soaps, rooted in the same values that brought them to the farm in the first place. Today, with a staff of 18 and a herd of 50 goats, they manage their brand by intentionally selling only in mom-and-pop shops (over 1,000 nationwide) and directly to over 500,000 online customers. “We’ve grown every year since we started,” says James, noting that annual growth generally exceeds 20 percent.

“Google Ads is really effective for reaching people at their point of decision-making,” says James, who averages a 5x return on ad spend. “We’ve always used Google Ads to drive awareness and convert at the end of the funnel. It puts us on a level playing field with bigger companies.” Performance Max campaigns manage ads across all their ad channels; James notes they perform especially well for new and seasonal products. They’ve also discovered Gemini as a tool for troubleshooting IT or equipment issues. “Gemini and AI Overviews are a nice way to quickly answer questions or research problems,” James says. “Instead of making a phone call, I can upload a picture, describe what’s happening, and it can help me fix it.” And they use Gemini to help research product safety or substitutes for ingredients they want to avoid. “Our approach has been to grow slowly and sustainably, so we can maintain our brand ethics,” James says. “Google's been a part of that.”

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The Prime Cleaner

Jayger McGough Tomasino uses Gemini to manage complex logistics and analyze call transcripts, saving thousands of hours.
Scaling Home Services with Tech

It was Jayger McGough Tomasino’s background in tech that inspired him to launch The Prime Cleaner in 2021. “There’s a lot of recurring revenue in the home services space, but it traditionally relies on word-of-mouth. Coming from the tech industry, I saw a huge opportunity to do more,” Jayger says. His mother, Ana Tomasino McGough, who’d led several businesses of her own, joined him in 2023 as COO. Together, they’ve brought modern, scalable practices to the home cleaning industry, expanding beyond standard home cleanings to customized services like post-construction, upholstery, and window cleaning. Their team of around 30 service providers has completed over 9,000 cleanings to date, and revenue continues to grow at a rate of 130 to 150 percent year-over-year.

The Prime Cleaner has used Google Local Services Ads from the start. “They’re extremely valuable because these are high-intent leads,” Jayger says. He attributes 90 percent of their customer acquisition to the mix of Google Ads, organic Google Search, and their Google Business Profile. Gemini helps The Prime Cleaner manage complex logistics by drafting service quotes and detailed pre-cleaning summaries to match cleaners to clients, based on the cleaner’s specialty, requested services, add-ons like laundry, and time estimates. They also use Gemini to generate post-cleaning reports, draft emails, summarize meetings, and strategically write personalized responses to customer reviews. “We’ve probably saved thousands of hours,” Jayger says. Now Gemini is helping them analyze call transcripts to create profiles that keep track of customer preferences and details, like parking space numbers or dog names. “We have many clients that have grown with us, from a studio to a one-bedroom, to a home. And the cleaners have grown with us too, financially and professionally,” Ana says. “We’ve grown together, and it’s beautiful.”

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Skimble

Maria Ly Vanrenen uses Gemini to analyze workout videos and score form, driving three times the engagement from members.
Global Fitness Training

A lifelong athlete, Maria Ly Vanrenen began developing Skimble’s Workout Trainer app to support her own fitness journey. “I was just getting into rock climbing, while working as a computer engineer and product manager,” she recalls. “So I built a prototype to train for the sports I loved.” It didn’t take long to realize the idea could help others. “Most people would love to work with a personal trainer, but real-life constraints often get in the way,” she says. Maria launched the first version of the app during the early days of smartphones, creating workouts for both at-home exercisers and outdoor enthusiasts. Today, the app partners with certified personal trainers to deliver follow-along multimedia workouts for goals like cardio, strength, and mobility. Users can track progress and stay motivated through virtual communities. Built as a bootstrapped business with an organically grown user base, Skimble has surpassed 30 million tracked workouts.

Google AI products help Maria scale across 80 countries and support content in 12 languages. The app runs on Google Cloud and uses TensorFlow for machine learning modeling; it’s trained on more than 8 million workouts to deliver highly customized fitness plans. “Google AI helps us deliver personalized training plans and video-based form analysis,” Maria explains. Using Gemini, the app analyzes user-submitted videos to generate individualized form scores, actionable feedback, and training tips. “We’ve seen three times the engagement from members who use our AI features,” she adds. “These tools are meaningfully enhancing the online fitness journey for our members.” With nearly 100,000 4+ star reviews on Google Play alone, Skimble’s reach continues to grow. “It’s incredible to think we’ve built something that resonates with people all over the world,” says Maria.

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janegee

Sophie Gee uses Performance Max to achieve conversion rates over 28 percent and drive a 60-percent increase in online revenue.
Natural Skincare Wellness

When Jane Gee launched her skincare company, janegee, in 2007, she was focused on what she loved: all-natural skincare. She began offering treatments to clients from her home while creating new products in her kitchen. “My mom saw there was a gap in the market for 100-percent natural skincare,” says Jane’s daughter Sophie Gee, now co-owner and COO. “She couldn’t find products that met her standards for purity and effectiveness, so she created them herself.” As word spread and demand grew, janegee expanded beyond a local storefront into e-commerce and wholesale distribution. Today janegee is a women-owned clean beauty company that sells skincare products, free of synthetic chemicals or fillers, through nearly 100 retailers nationwide.

In 2021, janegee began running Google Ads Performance Max campaigns to reach customers searching for natural skincare solutions. “With Performance Max, we consistently see incredible conversion rates of over 28 percent,” Sophie says. The campaigns have led to a 60-percent increase in online revenue over the past five years. In 2025 alone, janegee saw a 2,200-percent return on their Google Ads investment. Behind the scenes, Google Workspace products like Docs and Sheets help the team stay connected across stores, home offices, and a busy warehouse. “Having everything in one place for sharing files and tracking projects keeps everyone aligned as we grow,” Sophie says. Now she’s looking at Gemini Notebook as a way to gather her mother’s information and writings. “She has a very unique philosophy when it comes to skincare, so we can use it as a tool for answering customer questions or putting content together,” she explains. To give back, they co-founded 'Local Love,' helping hometown shops stay open late for the after-work community. Sophie says, “Making a positive impact in people’s lives and supporting our incredible community is at the heart of everything we do.”

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Gemini is a huge game changer in terms of time. These tools are making processing of information that much faster.

Aayush Thakur,
Co-founder, FR8relay
Soilutions

In New Mexico, Dawn Dewey uses Gemini to inform strategy and Performance Max to drive traffic that converts to sales.
Leading the Circular Economy

“Nature invented composting,” says Dawn Dewey, president of Soilutions. “We’re just stewards of her process.” Dawn and her husband, Justin, bought the composting company in 2021 and have since quadrupled revenue. That surge is a result of adding e-commerce and advertising, and a faster windrow composting method, which allowed the Deweys to increase production fivefold to meet the growing demand for their quality soil, compost, and mulch. Soilutions now processes over 250 tons of organic waste from grocery stores, restaurants, and schools weekly on their 14-acre grounds. In 2025 alone, they diverted 60 million pounds of waste from New Mexico’s landfills, a 600-percent increase over previous years. “I love that our business is a leader in our local circular economy,” Dawn says. “Instead of make, use, waste, it goes back into the cycle.”

Dawn recalls quickly learning that running a small business means “doing everything.” She uses Gemini to inform strategy, conducting market research on potential new divisions and gauging customer sentiment, as well as to spark article ideas and outlines and polish text. “Gemini can really help support some of those hats in a small business space,” Dawn says. Soilutions has an active Google Business Profile, generating thousands of website visits in a busy month. “It’s an opportunity for us to drive reviews and it gives us a legitimacy factor with customers,” Dawn explains. Their Google Ads Performance Max campaigns “take the guesswork out of keyword selection and are really effective in making sure we show up first in searches,” she adds. “They drive significant traffic to our site that converts to sales.” With steady 30-percent year-over-year growth, Dawn’s goals include an initiative to educate and feed kids, and expanding their donations to community farms and schools. “The more we grow our business, the more we help our community,” she says.

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Sipping Streams Tea Company

Saving two hours a day, Jenny Tse uses Gemini in Gmail to polish emails and Performance Max to fuel a 50-percent revenue surge.
A Global Tea Brand

Jenny Tse started sipping tea in college because it was cheaper than coffee, but the habit also proved a conversation starter. “People’d say, ‘You’re a tea drinker? Let me tell you about my grandma,’” she recalls. “I realized there was something profound about tea culture.” While teaching high school, Jenny created a tea-based curriculum that inspired her to launch Sipping Streams in 2007. Now a “tea version of a brewery” combining a factory, restaurant, and store under one roof in Fairbanks, the business sells eight metric tons of tea annually. It thrives on relationships with small tea farms around the world and custom blends that have earned 12 international awards.

Recently, the rise of AI-driven search has amplified Sipping Streams’ reach, surfacing the brand more frequently thanks to the deep library of expert content that Jenny, a certified tea specialist, has spent 19 years building. At the same time, the company’s Google Ads Performance Max campaigns are driving record online purchases, fueling a 50-percent revenue surge in 2025. To manage this explosive growth, plus 50+ nationwide pop-ups annually, Jenny’s small team stays productive from anywhere with Google Workspace, using its built-in Gemini AI capabilities to accelerate daily work. For example, instead of typing out long emails to vendors, Jenny speaks rough bullet points into her phone, and Gemini in Gmail instantly transforms them into polished responses. “Gemini looks at these convoluted email threads, figures out what I was already talking about, and refers to it,” she explains. “I save about two hours a day.” That efficiency is helpful as Sipping Streams expands their wholesale division, opens a second Fairbanks storefront, and plans to venture beyond Alaska. “My life was designed to be in this industry,” Jenny says. “Even though I went through two other careers, it naturally led me to this path.”

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IMPACT Roofing

London Posey uses Gemini in Google Sheets to automate sales tracking and Nano Banana to edit photos and graphics.
Roofing with Integrity

As a roofing sales manager, Jordan Lovell attended an industry retreat that emphasized values and culture, inspiring him to build a business where ethics came first. He founded IMPACT Roofing in 2021, with the core values of “integrity, knowledge, and service” guiding all business decisions and interactions, both with customers and among staff. The team builds trust through total transparency about estimates, repairs, and even what kind of noise and mess to expect. “Our goal is to be a reliable partner for people facing stressful repairs,” says Jordan. In 2025, IMPACT completed almost 600 jobs and expanded to a second office.

Systems Director London Posey uses Gemini to troubleshoot issues, instead of spending hours researching solutions. When their phone system’s admin portal recently changed, he simply uploaded a screenshot and asked Gemini where certain settings went and how to do what he needed. “The time savings is immeasurable,” he says. He also uses Gemini in Google Sheets, where it recently built complex formulas to help him automate a sales bonus tracker. Nano Banana helps edit photos, turning brown grass green or removing background clutter. He also used the tool to turn a common industry diagram, which existed only as a grainy image, into a high-resolution graphic for their presentation book. London notes that Google Local Services Ads are IMPACT’s number one lead source for customers. Meanwhile, their Google Business Profile has 700+ five-star reviews, and drives 20 percent of all booked inspections. The team incorporates these reviews into homeowner presentations, letting satisfied customers speak for them. IMPACT lives up to their name by donating to local sports, band, and STEM programs, and sponsoring the Athens Home Show. “We’re passionate about the impact we have in our community, and roofing is the vehicle we use to achieve that impact,” says Jordan.

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A Sight for Sport Eyes

Shannen Knight uses Gemini and Deep Research to merge spreadsheets, draft emails, and summarize clinical data.
Protecting Athletes

When her brother suffered permanent eye damage from a baseball injury, Shannen Knight recognized a critical gap in athletic safety. “Everybody wears helmets and knee pads, but very few sports require protective eyewear,” she says. She channeled her experience into a college entrepreneurship project focused on prescription sports eyewear, and then launched A Sight for Sport Eyes in 1996. Rooted in West Linn, the business now operates largely online, bringing specialized glasses to customers worldwide. “Hearing from customers that they could finally see the fish on vacation with their new dive mask … that’s what keeps us going,” Shannen says.

Shannen runs Google Ads Shopping campaigns to capture niche keywords and deliver a 15x return on her ad spend. She leans on AI to make sure those clicks convert. When a recent platform migration caused a drop in sales, she tracked cart abandonment in Google Analytics, then fed that data into an AI assistant. She learned customers were confused by variable shipping costs; switching to a flat rate boosted conversions by an impressive 55 percent. Shannen uses Gemini to merge spreadsheets, write FAQs, and draft personable customer emails. She even taps Gemini’s Deep Research to summarize clinical data for her blog posts, in one case using it to evaluate trendy lensless pickleball goggles to benchmark their safety against traditional standards. “Gemini is like a business partner that can give me advice,” Shannen says. “If a company tries to sell me a product, I ask Gemini about it. It’s good at telling me, ‘You could get this for half the price’ or ‘You could do this yourself.’ It’s really helpful for that.” Using Gemini, Shannen reclaims hours per week and can spend more time on her passions: educating athletes, volunteering, and community involvement. Next up, with help from Gemini: planning her store’s 30-year anniversary.

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Barrels on Bridge

Brendan Ryan uses Gemini to create detailed cards in a quarter of the time and a Gemini-powered butler for customized recommendations.
Education Through Tasting

After decades of successful corporate careers, attorney Brendan Ryan and his wife, Tierra returned to his native Cedarburg to save a Civil War-era property from demolition. They turned it into a unique historic hub, creating spaces rooted in retail, hospitality, and art to bring people together. Its anchor is Barrels on Bridge, a craft distillery boutique that combines curated spirits with an immersive tasting and educational experience, helping customers discover and connect with exceptional distilleries, and the people behind them. “We created a space where everyone can learn and sample freely,” he says. Brendan spent hours each day researching, writing, and editing photos for educational tasting cards; soon after opening in 2024, he wanted a more sustainable approach so he could focus on his customers.

He found a solution in Gemini, which helps him create detailed cards in a quarter of the time. For customized recommendations, shoppers can consult BoB, a Gemini-powered “bourbon butler,” that answers questions and cross-references flavor profiles with real-time inventory. “A recent customer was interested in something I don’t have on sample, so we went to BoB and compared it to their favorite bottle,” Brendan recalls. “It helped them make an informed decision.” He also uses Gemini to aggregate data on trends or customer searches, and to support his marketing efforts, like designing a Prohibition-style poster for an event. Along with their Google Business Profile and Google Ads Performance Max campaigns, which drive 22 percent of foot traffic, this new efficiency helped Barrels on Bridge double their year-over-year revenue in 2025. “Nothing has been more impactful by an exponential amount than Google,” Brendan says. “It helps me maximize myself, my business, and my ability to grow and stay on the cusp of what customers want.”

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Pyramid Transport & Cold Storage

Steve Swain uses Gemini in Google Meet to send notes in seconds and Gemini Notebook as a knowledge base for instant answers.
Secure Logistics for Seafood

Founded by Jimmy Hitchens, a former truck driver in 1993, Pyramid Transport & Cold Storage is named for the unfinished symbol on the back of the dollar bill. “It’s the idea of laying a strong and durable foundation and knowing that it’s just like America: always working, building, and growing,” explains Chief Technology Officer Steve Swain. The company specializes in shipping delicate frozen seafood to hundreds of customers across the country and expanded to open a cold storage facility in 2020. “That lets us treat our customers' product with more care instead of outsourcing it,” Steve says. That care starts with top security for truckloads of lobster and snow crab worth upwards of $800,000, which can often be targets for fraud and theft.

“Security is a big part of why I chose to go with Google,” Steve says. Pyramid has used Google Workspace since around 2014, and Google Admin proves especially useful. “Whether it's Google Authenticator or Titan Security Keys, we use all of it to help protect our company,” he adds. They used Gemini to build a Gem to adapt security protocols instantly. After meetings, Gemini in Google Meet sends out notes and standard operating procedures in seconds. “Before, we’d leave a meeting confused about who’s responsible for what,” he says. “Gemini helps us increase the level of accountability.” It also adds to the fun: Steve built a wheel spin application with Gemini that awards employees prizes or time off. Gemini Notebook is the knowledge base where leaders store business continuity plans and other resources that staff can query for instant answers. Using Google AI products, Steve has seen silos break down across Pyramid as employees share information and ideas. “I see the confidence building in employees to explore technology, and to explore their jobs more deeply,” he says. "We're seeing real collaboration, with people connected more than ever before.”

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Vetr Health

Rachel Berkal and Sadoc Paredes use Vertex AI and Gemini Notebook to automate admin tasks and grow revenue by 158 percent.
Reimagining Veterinary Care

When Rachel Berkal and Sadoc Paredes got a puppy, they were used to grocery delivery and telehealth services, so they were frustrated that most veterinary care was still in-clinic. The couple, along with Sadoc’s sister, Ruby Paredes, and Brad Boike, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, founded Vetr Health in 2022 to bring in-person, convenient care to pets in their own homes. They weren’t surprised by the demand from clients, recalls Rachel, Vetr’s COO, but the flood of vets wanting to join the startup was an “aha moment.” “Vets are struggling with overwork and burnout,” she explains. “By going mobile, they can set their own schedules and have a better work-life balance.” Expanding from lab service and an office for their own mobile vets, Vetr is now productizing their practice management software, Vetr AI, which handles scheduling, transcription, record summaries, diagnostics, and more.

Vetr AI is hosted on Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform. “It provides secure, scalable infrastructure and gives us the computing power we need,” says Sadoc, Vetr’s CEO. “And the accuracy and speed of Cloud’s Speech-to-Text for transcription is second to none.” Gemini Notebook helps the team analyze dense scientific text and market shifts, drawing only from the industry studies they choose. Vetr was part of Google for Startups AI Academy in 2025, and benefits from a vast network of mentors and AI training. “We learn how to best apply the tools as founders, like using Gemini to prep for an investor call. I never would have thought to use it that way,” Rachel notes. Vetr saw 158-percent revenue growth in 2025 and has plans to expand beyond Michigan; their goal is to halve admin time for mobile vets. “We want to empower more mobile vets by helping them operate efficiently,” says Sadoc. Adds Rachel, “Vetr’s mission is to let vets be vets, not data entry clerks, and Google AI helps make that possible.”

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Omnia Fishing

Dan Wick uses Gemini to query complex datasets with natural language, helping make smarter purchasing and marketing decisions.
Data-Driven Angling

For most anglers, the biggest challenge isn't just catching a fish; it’s knowing which gear to pair with specific conditions and waterbodies. That’s where Omnia Fishing comes in. Founded in 2018 in Golden Valley by Dan Wick, Matt Johnson, and Chris Morgal, Omnia blends local tackle shop know-how with modern data. Omnia’s "shop-by-lake" interface helps you find just the right trout jig or casting rod to match real-time water conditions and local recommendations. With expertise in fishing, data-driven e-commerce, and entrepreneurship, the three have grown Omnia into a 12-person company serving over 300,000 customers.

Omnia uses Google Cloud and BigQuery to quickly process massive amounts of satellite data, turning it into high-resolution map layers that give their PRO app subscribers information about water temperature and clarity. After joining the Google for Startups AI Academy, Omnia was inspired to use Gemini to help the team’s non-engineers use natural language to query complex datasets. That helps them spot user patterns, such as anglers switching from ice fishing to open water tackle, so Omnia can make smarter purchasing and marketing decisions. “The tools and programs that Google lays out are so cost-efficient, there’s no excuse not to experiment,” says Dan, the CTO. Google Ads and YouTube Shorts support their regional marketing, which now accounts for 35 percent of their traffic. Omnia can advertise suitable products for specific lakes and create videos that pair app screenshots with footage of the fish they helped catch. As the team looks toward a future of real-time modeling, they remain committed to their Minnesota roots. “Google helps us stay on the cutting edge and also keep our talent local,” Dan says. With plans to scale fishing knowledge to every lake, Omnia isn't just selling tackle; they’re giving every angler the best day possible on the water.

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Pavewise

Brittany Wuori uses Gemini to summarize client demos so developers get feedback without listening to long meetings.
AI-Powered Road Building

Bryce Wuori is the CEO of Pavewise, an asphalt paving project management company launched in 2023. He’s well-known in the industry, with two decades of experience in consulting and paving (over 2,900 miles of roads across 43 states and 27 airports) and is his family’s third generation to work in construction. Pavewise’s AI-powered app helps contractors improve efficiency, compliance, and quality as it eliminates manual entry and transfers data directly from worksite photos. The app can also synthesize weather, state regulations, and other variables, giving users a centralized platform for real-time, accurate analysis that cuts admin and decision-making time from days to minutes. Co-founder, chief of staff, and Bryce’s wife, Brittany, is a former nurse whose skills are crucial to the company. “Working at a startup is constant triage,” she notes. “I have to say what we can do right now and what needs to come later.”

As interest from other paving companies grew, one decision was easy: scaling their app with Google. “We use Google Cloud for the entire process,” Bryce says. “It’s the powerful infrastructure we need to ensure every photo, data point, and report is securely stored, analyzed, and available on demand.” He adds that security reviews with clients “are a lot simpler when you tell them their data is stored in Cloud.” The team uses Gemini to transcribe and summarize client demos, so developers can get feedback and training without listening to long meetings. “Gemini gives us a condensed overview since we can’t all rewatch the whole thing,” Brittany says. This efficiency is helping Pavewise bring data-driven innovation to road infrastructure across the U.S. And, says Brittany, “I’ve seen how hard construction work is. If we can automate some of the busy work and help someone save an hour a day, that’s the impact we want to have on this industry.”

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Nā Pali Riders

In Hawaii, Croix Parrott uses Google AI Overviews to get step-by-step repair instructions in 10 seconds instead of two minutes.
Adventurous Coastal Tours

U.S. Coast Guard member Dakota Elsasser and her husband, Brandon, were working grueling schedules in Alaska when she was transferred to Kauai, Hawaii. The successful ocean tour company Nā Pali Riders came up for sale in 2023, and the couple, together with Dakota’s brother Croix Parrott, saw an opportunity. “It’s always been our dream to own a maritime business,” says Brandon, who, along with Croix, is a Coast Guard veteran. They offer unique tours by using military-grade Zodiac boats that can maneuver into all six sea caves along the stunning Nā Pali Coast, and their combined decades of military and marine sector experience mean a high standard of safety and training for their crew. Dakota notes that being a small, family-owned business also helps them stand out: “People talk directly to us and get that personal connection. Our kids are usually here, so they meet the entire family when they come in.”

Nā Pali Riders serves thousands of adventurous boat riders a year. To stay competitive, they run Google Ads , which account for a substantial number of their bookings. They use Google Analytics to “help us see what’s working with our marketing tools and where we should invest our money,” says Croix. Their Google Business Profile helps customers find them and has led to an increase in website clicks. “People say, ‘We chose you because of your reviews. And all your good reviews stand true.’ It's wonderful feedback to receive,” he adds. To speed up boat maintenance workflows, Google AI Overviews aggregates technical info, allowing the team to identify specific parts and repair protocols without manual searching. “Instead of spending two minutes trying to find answers, we get step-by-step instructions in the first 10 seconds,” says Croix. And that means more time for their customers. “It’s great to provide folks with what they tell us is the best day of their lives,” says Dakota.

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Malachite Media

Robert Medina uses Gemini to cut four hours of research to 20 minutes and Google Flow to find missing video shots.
Building Full-Funnel Marketing

After 12 years in direct sales, Robert Medina wanted more family time. Drawing on his experience in graphic and web design, he created Malachite Media in 2017 with the encouragement of his wife and Partner & CFO, Liz. Named after the green mineral associated with clarity, the agency builds full-funnel marketing systems for small and mid-sized businesses. “I enjoy helping clients understand what we’re doing and why. That level of transparency builds trust,” Robert explains. “It’s incredibly rewarding to watch the strategies we develop turn into tangible results for our clients that help them grow their businesses.” Driven by long-term partnerships, revenue grew almost 300 percent in 2024 and 44 percent in 2025; with 2026 performance already exceeding expectations, the company is on track to double its revenue once again.

Robert attributes much of this growth to Gemini: “We use tools like Gemini to accelerate research, streamline workflows, and deliver faster insights to our clients.” Internally, they use Gemini to research a client’s brand voice, turn bullet points into video scripts, or translate marketing jargon so clients can understand what they’re paying for. Research that used to take three or four hours now takes just 20 minutes. As Gemini helps Malachite grow, Google Ads does the same for their clients. “Performance Max allows clients to maximize results and be where their customers are,” Robert notes. They use Google Analytics to track performance, measure user behavior, and optimize campaigns. They also turn to Google Flow, an AI-powered filmmaking platform in Google Labs, if specific shots are missing from a client video and they can’t find the right B-roll footage. The agency is committed to pairing technology with human judgment and creativity. “Our goal is to combine strategy, data, and creative execution to help businesses grow, using AI as a tool, not a replacement for human insight,” says Robert.

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Spedale’s Florist

Thomas Spedale uses Gemini and Performance Max to reach high-intent buyers and eliminate at least an hour a day of busywork.
Celebrating Life's Milestones

“In the flower business, every purchase is tied to an emotion,” says Thomas Spedale, owner of Spedale’s Florist. For 41 years, his family’s shop has provided “good old-fashioned customer service” in South Louisiana during life’s most meaningful milestones. But operations have changed dramatically since Thomas stepped in to help his parents in the late 1980s, taking over an analog business without a single computer. Drawing on his corporate background, Thomas transformed the shop for the new millennium by launching a website and becoming an early adopter of Google Ads, which still drives 20 percent of website traffic and over 25 percent of total revenue. “By embracing technology, we’ve been able to go toe to toe with national companies,” he says.

Thomas uses Gemini to help expand on what his local, family-run shop can do. In 2025, he used it to analyze sales data and found that customers were spending less. Acting on those insights, he launched AI-powered Google Ads Performance Max campaigns that are fine-tuned to reach high-intent buyers. “The count may be down, but the quality of those clicks improves,” he explains. “And I don’t need to go in every day and make tweaks, which is a huge time savings.” Thomas also uses Gemini to study trends, brainstorm marketing concepts, and craft website content, eliminating at least an hour a day of busywork. “I'll come up with the idea, but Gemini will help me pull it off,” he says. The technology also helps out the design floor. “If a customer calls about a cultural event we aren’t familiar with, our florists use Gemini to quickly educate themselves,” Thomas explains. “It gives us immediate access to ideas and information that used to take much longer to track down. Now, the whole world’s in front of us.”

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Michele’s Granola

In Maryland, Lauren Shafer uses Performance Max to reach the right people and drive 30 percent of attributed online sales.
Crafting Small-Batch Joy

As she arrives each day at the Michele’s Granola kitchen and warehouse, Director of Marketing Lauren Shafer breathes in the scent of crispy clusters with unique mix-ins like tahini and salted maple, all baked by hand from scratch. “Not everyone’s job smells this good,” she laughs. Twenty years after founder Michele Tsucalas sold her first homemade batches at a Maryland farmers market, her granola now graces the shelves of 10,000 stores, including national supermarkets. “We make better-for-you products with traditional techniques, bringing quality food to homes nationwide,” Lauren says.

To shift from local favorite to a brand that sells 2.5 million pounds of cereal a year, Michele’s Granola has pivoted from grassroots tactics to strategic digital marketing. They use Google Ads, including AI-powered Performance Max campaigns, as a virtual “booth” to tell their story, drive sales, and direct shoppers to retailers. “There’s no better way than Google Ads to talk to the right people at the right time,” Lauren says. “We’re a lean team, so it’s important to reach folks with an affinity for our brand in the regions where we’re sold.” Google Ads drives 30 percent of attributed online sales. Meanwhile, Google Analytics helps the team spot and act on trends, like renewed interest in an older blog post about muesli. “When we saw muesli having a moment, we hit the gas on related ads, content, and social media,” Lauren says. “Analytics gives us a powerful picture of what’s happening.” As the business grows, so does their Give One for Good Food program, a one-percent donation of sales that’s grown 12-fold since 2012. Next, the team plans to use AI products like Gemini to help refine their outreach to audiences, while learning how Michele’s Granola can best show up for customers and potential customers in AI-driven search results. “We’re excited about the opportunities,” says Lauren.

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Wren & Ivy

B.C. Rogers III uses Gemini to write product descriptions in about 20 minutes, down from two hours before.
Heirloom-Quality Gear

Wren & Ivy, purveyor of premium travel and outdoor gear, offers more than just products, says owner B.C. Rogers III. Founded in 2015 with a respect for sporting traditions, their products recall a bygone era. “Like your grandfather’s jacket, they’re totems,” B.C. explains. “They represent memories of time you spent with someone and what they taught you.” From their popular Wellington Lodge Duffle and Distiller’s Travel Case to wallets and grooming kits, Wren & Ivy sells a range of goods that blend classic style with modern functionality. They’re crafted from durable leather and canvas, rugged enough to leave their own legacy. The e-commerce company has shipped to all 50 states and about 10 countries, and has seen steady 20-percent annual growth since their founding.

Wren & Ivy uses Gemini to assist with strategy and operations. Gemini helps the team determine optimal customer email cadences, and B.C. can write product descriptions in about 20 minutes with Gemini’s help, down from two hours before. “I can bounce ideas off of Gemini. It’s like a song co-writer,” B.C. says. “It feels like a collaboration and it’s actually made me more creative.” He also uses Gemini for research, asking “How many people carry both a laptop and iPad?” or “What size water bottle do most people use?” to inform product design. 70 percent of buyers find them via online ads, with Google Ads delivering a 5x return. Their lifestyle videos on YouTube drive traffic, and viewers get to know B.C. as he shares stories about the gear. “It’s our one-on-one with people,” he says. “They need to know that you know what you’re talking about. YouTube helps us do that.” Reflecting on Wren & Ivy’s success, B.C. remarks, “When you start out, you don’t realize what you’re chasing. The American Dream happens slowly. Then you look up one day and go, ‘This is it.’”

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Turnpike Car Wash

Jeff Katseff uses Gemini to troubleshoot equipment and Gemini Notebook to analyze chemical usage and pinpoint savings.
A Landmark Service

Bob Katseff was on the crew that built Turnpike Car Wash in 1979 on Route 1, the busy highway connecting Boston to the North Shore. In 1982, he bought the business, which has been a beloved family-run operation ever since. Bob’s wife, Debbie, keeps the books and his son, Jeff, is now the operations manager. “This car wash has been in my family longer than I’ve been alive,” Jeff says. “Customers say it’s the best car wash they’ve ever had. It’s an honor to continue the tradition of cleaning cars and serving the community.” The Katseffs “upped their technology game” when they revamped their website in 2021 to start selling memberships online, with convenient unlimited wash passes; website traffic has since quadrupled. Today, Turnpike employs six people and features an automated soft-cloth tunnel, five self-service bays, 20 vacuums, and a propane filling station.

Turnpike’s Google Business Profile features a graph of popular times and nearly 600 customer reviews. It’s “extremely helpful,” says Jeff. “We’re very proud of our 4.6-star rating,” which they even put on an LED sign out front. “When people search for a car wash, consistent reviews, clear directions, and updated photos directly impact whether they choose us.” Jeff uses Gemini to edit sign copy, read through vendor contracts, and troubleshoot issues with pumps and equipment. He even had Gemini help him clean up the back room: He uploaded a photo and got suggestions for how to best organize the shelves. Gemini Notebook helps him analyze annual chemical usage (such as solvents, waxes, and drying agents) and pinpoint areas for savings. Jeff notes that it’s been rewarding and fun learning new technology alongside the employees who’ve worked at the car wash for 10 or 20 years. “It’s exciting to grow and keep serving the community together,” Jeff says. “We’re a landmark, and I’m excited to keep my family’s business going.”

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Michelle Marie Boutique

Michelle VanBibber uses Gemini Live to brainstorm collections and Nano Banana to create backgrounds in minutes.
Handcrafted Joy

When Michelle VanBibber’s kids were young, she’d buy them vacation souvenirs but they never lasted long. “I thought, ‘There's got to be something else out there,’” she recalls. Already the designer and owner of jewelry manufacturer and wholesaler Ciao Bella, she launched her online retail store, Michelle Marie Boutique, in 2017 with one goal: making meaningful, lasting gifts. The shop offers items for every occasion, including custom holiday ornaments and gemstone necklaces. They manufacture and carry licensed military jewelry and gifts, and there’s also a charitable collection that raises money for brain tumor support in honor of her late husband. The boutique has over 2,000 active SKUs and serves 2,000 to 3,000 customers annually; they’re also now in national retailers. “My favorite part of the business is knowing something I handcrafted will play a small role in someone’s most cherished moments,” says Michelle.

Michelle uses Google Analytics to track web traffic and conversion rates, and to adjust inventory based on customer views. Gemini Live acts as a conversation partner to brainstorm collection names and discuss market trends for new designs, and Michelle saves time by using Gemini to generate photos and videos, creating backgrounds in minutes using Nano Banana. For one trade show, she was given a narrower booth space than she was used to working in, so she needed ideas for the layout. “I told Gemini which products I was bringing and it came up with a garden path design,” she says. “It saved me hours and we had so many compliments!” She’s since used Gemini to reconfigure her studio into a more efficient space. Michelle attributes 80 percent of her retail growth directly to using Google products. “When you have an online business, you have to be able to evolve,” she says. “Gemini has helped us a lot with new plans.”

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Atlas Automotive Repair

Brian Newham uses Gemini to turn technical notes into summaries in 15 minutes, saving hours and helping build a custom booking app.
Honesty in Every Repair

As a teenager, Brian Newham took his broken-down ’93 Oldsmobile to mechanic Dave Smith, who charged him just $200 instead of the thousands he expected. That refreshing interaction sparked a mentorship. Realizing that customers routinely pay for repairs they don’t understand, Brian resolved to do things differently, and in 2017 he and Dave opened Atlas Automotive Repair on Tulsa’s historic Route 66. “We educate every customer. Not to upsell, but because people deserve to understand what went wrong with their vehicle, what we’re fixing, and why,” Brian says. They’ve built a loyal following this way, booking appointments weeks in advance through word of mouth and their 4.9-star Google Business Profile.

To build trust, Atlas treats every diagnosis as a story, providing plain-language reports that empower customers to make informed decisions. Before, it would take Brian an hour to prepare each report; now, he uses Gemini to translate technical notes into jargon-free summaries in 15 minutes. The tool also helps him edit background clutter, or a technician covered in grease, out of inspection photos to eliminate distractions. Mechanics use Gemini to sift through dense original equipment manufacturer documents and to research solutions. For example, it helped them find a simple fix for an F-150’s AC that saved his customer thousands of dollars. Most recently, Brian used Firebase to build a custom booking app in two weekends, with Gemini helping him through the process, saving the shop $500 a month. “I'm a mechanic in Oklahoma, not a coder, but I made an impressive-looking tool that’s specifically designed for our shop,” he says. Gemini in Gmail supports the team in summarizing years of messages and context on a vehicle’s repair history. For Brian, this means more time on the shop floor. “I want to be working on cars, not stuck at a desk,” he says. “That’s what I’m really passionate about.”

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Forina Design & Co.

Nicole and Mike Forina use Gemini to create lifelike design concepts and brainstorm ideas, saving dozens of hours of time.
Soulful, Layered Interiors

Mike and Nicole Forina of Forina Design & Co. bring out the heart of their clients’ living spaces. They founded the company in 2018 to “design soulful, story‒rich homes layered with color, texture, and personality.” Mike is a mechanical engineer who manages the business, while his wife, Nicole, is an interior designer who brings customers’ visions to life. She’s designed in styles ranging from vintage revival to farmhouse rustic for suburban homes, country retreats, and even a penthouse in Manhattan. In 2025, they relaunched their website, to showcase their full range of projects and services, including virtual design. Mike estimates that up to 50 percent of their customers find the Forina Design website through Google Search and Google Ads.

Mike used to have a manual cataloging system to keep track of measurements like average vanity height or shower wand placement. These days, he just asks Gemini. “It’s my own catalog system now,” he says. “It cuts down not just on time, but on the mental load associated with those processes.” Mike also uses Gemini to refine and clarify email communications and to work through business decisions. “It’s incredibly useful as a collaborator, a great tool for quick research and brainstorming,” he explains. “It helps us think through unfamiliar situations, pressure-test ideas, and move from question to solution much faster than we could on our own.” Nicole uses Gemini to create and share images and design concepts, saving dozens of hours of time. “I can take fabric and tell Gemini, ‘Transpose this onto a chair.’ And it looks so good and lifelike,” she says. “It’s been really great for presenting to clients.” The Forinas plan to keep using Google Ads to expand their reach, and Gemini to create more “wow moments.” Says Mike, “We want customers to say, ‘Wow, we're happy that Nicole and Mike came into our lives.’"

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Roam Loud

Toyin Omisore uses Gemini Notebook and Gemini to refine her brand and shave off hours per day of work.
Activewear for Connection

Toyin Omisore’s maternal grandmother inspired her to forge her own path, so when she founded an activewear company in 2020, she named it Roam Loud. “Her personality and legacy embodied the essence of roaming loud in the world,” she explains. The brand was sparked by Toyin’s own fitness journey and the boost she got from wearing fashionable activewear; she designs premium leggings and other apparel that help women feel confident. “I didn’t just want to sell bras and leggings,” she says. “I wanted it to mean something, and I wanted women who look like me to see themselves in the fitness space.” Roam Loud launched at East Coast pop-up shops; today, they’re sold in national retailers and select yoga studios. Toyin ships to Canada and the UK via her e-commerce site, and recently, Australia. “That was remarkable,” she says. “We’re definitely expanding globally.”

As “Wanderer in Chief” and a solopreneur, Toyin uses Google Workspace as a central hub to collaborate with consultants, photographers, and creators. She shares folders in Google Drive, like the one with an audio clip library that helps everyone in the Roam Loud ecosystem correctly pronounce apparel names like “Bai” or “Sele.” To help refine how she refers to her brand, Toyin puts details into Gemini Notebook, then has it generate a podcast. “It’s been so helpful to hear the brand being spoken about from a different angle,” she says. Gemini helps her fine-tune product descriptions so they accurately reflect the fabric or feel of an item, and clarify step-by-step instructions for processing orders or returns. “Gemini can help me shave off hours per day,” she says. Gemini also helps her map out onboarding procedures for leaders in Roam Loud Outdoors, a community initiative that organizes in-person activities like runs or hikes. “My grandmother was limited by her times,” Toyin says. “This is my way of doing so much more through her.”

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Hotel Trundle

Raven Yonemura uses Performance Max to drive 54 percent of site visits and Gemini to analyze marketing strategy.
Preservation and Community

For Rita Patel and Marcus Munse, both architectural designers with degrees in architecture, the 2008 housing crisis brought an unexpected opportunity. With construction down, the couple joined Rita’s family in the hotel business she’d grown up in before designing a hotel of their own. “Being lovers of preservation and historic architecture, Marcus and I looked into the benefits of restoring historical properties in Columbia,” Rita says. The couple merged three historic buildings to open Hotel Trundle in 2018 with 46 guest rooms, making it the only independent boutique hotel in the city. Since then they’ve expanded the space to include two additional guest houses, with three more on the way; in 2025, over 10,000 room nights were booked.

Hotel Trundle has been using Google Ads from the start, and now they run a successful mix of brand awareness and Performance Max campaigns which account for nearly 54 percent of site visits. Gemini helps Hotel Trundle compete, providing analysis of ad campaigns and their overall marketing strategy. “We don’t have the big budget of a franchise hotel, which can be challenging,” says PR & Marketing Director Raven Yonemura. “But Google products help us be a player." Google Workspace keeps the team connected; with Google Meet, managers can still participate in critical meetings even if they’re offsite. Website performance is tracked with Google Analytics, which has helped the team spot and take steps to remedy a bot attack. As Hotel Trundle continues to make their mark on Columbia, they’re also lifting up other area businesses, with local art on the walls, locally made mattresses on the beds, and a local payroll company. “It’s not just the beautiful things you see and taste; it’s who’s behind the scenes,” Rita says. “We try to invest in the community and bring those artisans and makers out so that our guests can see what we have to offer.”

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Alexis Drake

Lexie Garrett uses Gemini to prep marketing emails and outline content, cutting time spent from a half day to 90 minutes.
Elevating the Everyday

Lexie Garrett couldn't find a high-quality, functional handbag with a style she loved, so she ended up making one herself. When a woman saw it and insisted on buying it on the spot, Lexie realized, “People are wanting what I’m wanting.” Applying her background as a jewelry designer and entrepreneur, she founded Alexis Drake in 2015 to help women feel more put together and give them “that one little ounce of confidence that a handbag can give you.” What began with a sewing machine in her garage is now a premium brand, with a retail store and production facility in a renovated historic Cheyenne hotel. A close-knit team of eight makes all items in-house, including an everyday collection and limited-edition items. Lexie stays true to her mission: making durable, hand-crafted, customizable bags that last and help women feel more like themselves.

“With our bags, everything has a purpose. Nothing is wasted,” Lexie notes. She applies that same principle to business operations, using color-coded Google Sheets updated in real time to keep the team on track. “Because our work is so custom, Google Workspace helps us be super efficient,” she says. Gemini helps Lexie structure and outline her social media content, as well as prep marketing emails and create subject lines, cutting time spent from a half day to 90 minutes. She also uses it to come up with unique color names like “rosewater” or “fog.” And when she’s designing products, she can tell Gemini which leathers are in stock. “I’ll say, ‘Help me choose colors for a beach-themed collection’ and it’ll pump out ideas,” Lexie says. Google Analytics helps Lexie track demographics as they expand into younger markets, like college partnerships for their new Game Day collection. Lexie offers facility tours so visitors can see the work firsthand. "The best part is the making,” she says. “I love sharing that with our customers."

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RDH Software

Mike Falk uses Gemini as a coding assistant to write functions and debug complex errors, delivering a big time savings.
Mapping Elevation Globally

As a road cyclist, Mike Falk launched RDH Software and his flagship app, My Elevation, in 2014. “I realized my phone's ability to give good elevation data was pretty poor, so I wrote a little program to correct that … It was just a side interest, but it inspired me to quickly go on and create My Elevation,” he says. Now, with more than 3.2 million downloads from 100-plus countries, My Elevation lets cyclists, hikers, and tourists explore elevation conditions around the globe. It also offers users a list of nearby areas and attractions to explore. Mike relishes the opportunity RDH Software gives him to create. “I’m still fundamentally a maker, so this lets me satisfy my desire to get my hands in things,” he says.

Mike distributes My Elevation through the Google Play Store, where the app has earned an average of 4.7 stars from more than 25,000 user ratings. “I know how to build a good app, but the distribution part would’ve been really hard,” Mike explains. “The Play Store is what it comes back to. It’s a trusted platform for people.” Inside the app, Mike uses Google Cloud functions to serve critical elevation data to the app. “They’re extremely affordable, easy to maintain, and pretty lightweight,” he says of the functions. “They’ve really become core infrastructure for me.” And Gemini is Mike's coding assistant, helping him write specific functions, debug complex error reports, and critique code. “There are lots of little uses where it’s a big time savings,“ he notes. Mike advises other small business owners “to lean into AI and learn it, because it’s a ‘force multiplier.’ Someone with base knowledge can really excel with it.” Even with that force multiplier, Mike is still in awe of what he’s been able to accomplish. He says, “The idea that I could be upstairs in my house, write an application, and then distribute it to the world… it’s life changing.”

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ChiChi Foods

Chiara Munzi and Izzy Gorton use Gemini and Performance Max to develop recipes, pitch local press, and drive online sales.
Nutrient-Dense Breakfasts

Some college kids don’t even bother to eat breakfast. Chiara Munzi and Izzy Gorton, on the other hand, co-founded an entire breakfast food company while still students. ChiChi Foods launched in 2022 after Chiara got tired of high-sugar, low-protein morning meals. When she met Izzy, the two teamed up to perfect a tasty chickpea “oatmeal” that was nutrient-dense and easy to prepare. They sold their microwaveable cereal on campus and at farmers markets, then added online sales, all within a few months. ChiChi is made from natural, minimal ingredients; they’re now in select grocery stores and have started selling wholesale. “So many people struggle to find a breakfast that keeps them full, supports their health goals, and actually tastes good,” notes Chiara. “Knowing we’re helping people feel better and enjoy their meals is so rewarding.”

With ChiChi’s small team, Chiara says, “We needed a way to be faster, do more things at once, and brainstorm new ideas, so we started using Gemini early on.” Gemini helps them write ad scripts, create emails for grocery store outreach, and devise marketing concepts. They use Gemini in Google Docs to develop recipes for their social media and blog, while Gemini in Google Sheets supports their PR outreach. “Our virtual assistant researches local contacts in key regions and inputs them into Sheets, and Gemini helps craft customized emails to pitch them. We’ve generated a ton of local press this way,” Chiara explains. They use Google Ads Performance Max campaigns for direct conversion through their website, which accounts for a substantial amount of online sales. “They’re super impactful and I love how you don’t have to do much manual toggling around,” she says. ChiChi has set a goal of ultimately being in every grocery store. “There’s a lot of opportunity to optimize our operation with AI,” Chiara says. “That’s how we’re going to grow.”

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Empower your team with the Google AI Professional Certificate at no cost. Build practical skills to streamline daily operations, sharpen strategy, and get more done. Eligible U.S. small businesses also get three months of access to Google AI Pro and Google Workspace Business Standard on us, bringing enterprise-grade security and Gemini built into Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. Terms apply*

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* Terms apply for Google Workspace Business Standard & Google AI Pro offer. Enroll by December 15, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT and redeem this limited offer from Google by December 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM PT. Valid for verified small-medium businesses (SMB) admins as defined by Google scholarship program on Coursera only, limited to one per admin. Google and Coursera reserve the right to modify or cancel the promotion at any time. Link to receive access to Google Workspace Business Standard for 3 months will be sent after successful enrollment as a verified SMB participating in Google’s scholarship program on Coursera.

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