UWM alumni-owned businesses are a big part of what makes the Milwaukee area such an amazing place to live. And in honor of October being National Women’s Small Business Month, we’re putting the spotlight on women-owned businesses that are beloved parts of our community.
Enjoy learning more about the businesses below. To find more Panther-owned businesses, and especially alumnae-owned endeavors, check out our Alumni Business Directory. And if you want your business to be listed, or know someone who should be, please let us know. It’s one of the many ways that Panthers can support Panthers through Panthers Connect, our exclusive networking platform.
Angelica Sanchez ’14
Cultural Cloth
After graduating from UWM with a bachelor’s degree in conservation and environmental science, Sanchez embarked on a successful career in the nonprofit sector. Back then, becoming a business owner wasn’t top of mind. But with motherhood on the horizon in 2024, Sanchez wanted to transition into something with more flexibility. She found the perfect answer when an opportunity arose to purchase Cultural Cloth, which is now celebrating its 15th year in business.
The home goods and décor store offers handcrafted creations from more than 40 countries, with a particular focus on women artisans. Sanchez works directly with the artisans to provide a U.S. market for their wares, with the goal of delivering a year-round sustainable income for them. Patrons can shop online or at Cultural Cloth’s two locations in the Milwaukee suburb of Whitefish Bay and Maiden Rock in far western Wisconsin. And for Sanchez, it blends her roots in conservation and social justice with an entrepreneurial motivation to keep making a difference.
“UWM allowed me to explore my different interests and see what I liked and what I didn’t like,” Sanchez says. “It allowed me to take the classes I was interested in and create a career path I felt passionate about. The classes, like business classes, are paying off, and it made for a very wholesome education.”
Gwenn Barker ’98
Sprocket Café
While earning her biochemistry degree at UWM, Gwenn Barker would find motivation through the years by rewarding herself for academic successes with small, relatively inexpensive rewards. Among her favorites: treating herself to a latte at the old 8th Note coffee house in the Student Union. But beyond great cups of coffee, she also found great friends and community there, and the experience stuck with her.
So when friend Juliet Popovic approached Barker with the idea to open Sprocket Café in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood nine years ago, Barker jumped at it. The global lab manager at Clarios, Barker saw Sprocket Café as an ideal side project, and perhaps something to carry her through retirement. Together, they’ve created a cozy, welcoming café that serves up delicious drinks, sandwiches and baked goods while re-creating the sense of community she discovered at UWM.
“UWM delivered the whole, big experience of being around other people, and teaching that you’ve got to show up every day and put in the work. All of that builds a strong person and gives you the tools you need,” Barker says. “UWM gave me not just the ability to succeed, but the mindset that I’ve got it in me to do so.”
