Virginia

Wander Worthy founder Alexandrea Sumuel Groves launched her blog in 2021 to help business travelers explore beyond their airport hotels. At first it was a hobby–Alex was working full-time at a law firm–but when the pandemic led her to cut back on work and ramp up her blog posts, Wander Worthy took flight. “My background is in marketing and IT,” she says. “I knew I wanted to travel more, and I had more time on my hands. How could I use my skills to help me see the world?” Alex monetized her blog with Google-supported ad revenue, hoping to earn enough to cover her website expenses. “I wanted to use the skills I already had to generate passive income,” Alex recalls. “When those first few pennies came in I thought, ‘This could actually go somewhere!’” In just a few months, Alex had built a loyal following and was earning enough to fund her travels.

Now, Alex is a nationally syndicated travel journalist who collaborates with hospitality industry partners and other travel bloggers. She uses Google products to help run the business: “From booking travel and content planning to analyzing and execution, no other platforms offer such powerful, user-friendly tools all in one place,” she says. Alex checks Google Analytics for insights on audience interaction with her website; she’s learned, for example, that articles about island getaways and tips for budget traveling are popular. Google Search Console helps her plan her search engine optimization and keyword ad strategy while keeping tabs on the website’s performance. “And all my writing starts and lives on Google Docs,” says Alex, who also uses Gemini for proofreading, analyzing data, and hashtag ideas. Travelers love her content: In 2024, her publishing platforms had 1.9 million visitors and over 5 million pageviews (up 30 and 89 percent respectively from 2023). “I love inspiring people to get out and see the world,” Alex says.

“The storage tank pros you can trust”–that’s the slogan of Hill Top Contractors, specializing in storage tank removal, installation, and environmental remediation. It was founded in 2007 by John Stump and his brother Matthew, who saw firsthand how complicated tank removal could be when their parents had to replace the underground tanks at their general store. Virginia’s dedicated Petroleum Storage Tank Fund covered the remediation costs, and now Hill Top helps customers apply for those same funds as they work to keep their businesses and land clean and safe. “I look at us as micro water protectors. Nobody wants to go fishing in a stream with petroleum in it or drink it from their wells,” John says. “We wanted to look out for our people. Roanoke has a lot of natural beauty that everyone has a deep love and respect for, and we're helping protect it.”

Hill Top’s Google Business Profile shares pictures of what they do. “It shows folks that we’re in the community, and we can help with exactly the problem they have,” John says, which is one reason revenue is up 53 percent in two years. On the backend, they use Search Generative Experience, an AI experiment in Google Search, to gather critical info. “We constantly use Google to help us learn about maintenance and repairs to our equipment, and to assist us with reviewing rules and regulations–which are almost impossible to stay current on in our line of work. The information we get via Google is invaluable,” John explains. Google Workspace tools like Docs, Sheets, and Drive make the necessary documentation for each project available from the office to the job site, and Google Analytics shows John historical web traffic reports so he can plan budgets and hiring. “Analytics gives us the confidence to continue investing in and growing our business intelligently,” he says. “It’s our privilege to help folks fix their problems.”

Nothing says “home” like a great cup of coffee. For Haden Polseno-Hensley and his wife, Rose McCutchan, founding Red Rooster Coffee was their way to share a taste of their hometown of Floyd, Virginia with the world. “We love this town, and we want to do our part to ensure it remains vital,” Haden says. So in 2010 they took the leap, bought a commercial coffee roaster, and Red Rooster was born. The business quickly grew into a national success story, featured in industry magazines and news outlets for their outstanding beans and brew. Google Ads helps them compete against their larger competitors by putting the Red Rooster brand in front of the most shoppers possible, with the strongest return on their investment. Today, more than a decade later, 37 percent of their sales come from their website, and they trust Google tools to help them keep growing their business.

Haden and the Red Rooster team use Google Workspace tools like Sheets to manage their retail inventory, shipments from growers, and wholesale orders all in one place. “We’ve been able to take Google Sheets and create our own database and in-house enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution,” says Haden, saving Red Rooster tens of thousands of dollars a year in licensing fees. They use their Google Business Profile to share their hours, directions, and photos of their storefront so visitors to Floyd can easily find them and make Red Rooster a part of their visit. And the customer reviews give Haden and his team instant feedback that they use to improve their service and customer experience. As Haden, Rose, and the team look to the future, they plan to expand into more catering and commercial opportunities throughout the mid-Atlantic. “We want everyone to feel welcomed by our coffee, welcomed by our store, and welcome in Floyd,” Haden says.

Childhood friends Kristen Gardner Beal and Lance Lemon grew up near Richmond, attending the University of Virginia together. They reconnected in New York City, where Lance was an actor, bartender, and wine store manager and Kristen worked in global investment banking. They found they shared a love of wine, and in 2019, the friends became business partners as they returned home to open a boutique wine shop in Richmond. They were scoping out retail space in March 2020, when overnight, their plans changed. “The pandemic hit, but we still wanted to get wine to people within our region,” Kristen says. “So we built a website within a week and started an online wine delivery business.” RichWine was born–specializing in natural, organic, low-intervention wines from Virginia and around the world. Google tools helped them spread the word.

Their Google Business Profile displays curbside pickup and delivery options, photos, reviews, and links back to their website–where customers can order from a curated selection of wines. “Google reviews have been a catalyst for our business,” Lance says, noting the 73 five-star customer reviews touting their products and services. “For us to be five-starred out is a blessing.” Their Google Business Profile also displays the Black-owned and women-owned badges. “People want to know where they can put their dollars back into certain communities,” Kristen notes. With business pouring in, RichWine moved into a larger space at food and beverage incubator Hatch Kitchen RVA in August 2020. Google Workspace tools help them manage productivity, while Google Analytics helps them understand their customers and plan for expansion. They now ship to all of Virginia and Washington, D.C. and are reviving plans for a brick-and-mortar store. “We’re promoting more of our offerings on our Business Profile,” Kristen says, “and that’s going to help us go a long way.”