Kimberly Adams

We make our own syrups.

We don't have that extra cost because of the pre-made products since we do everything in-house.

Right now it's Arleo and myself who are working.

And it's worked so far, but since we're getting busier, we are starting to hire more people.

About three people is what we're hiring right now.

We posted the job posting on our Instagram because we really want people.

We don't want just random people.

We want people who know what we're about, who believe in what we're about, and also embody that themselves.

We're excited to bring in people we trust.

Amber Susan Pennington, owner of Free Spirited with her husband, Arleo de Guzman, in Alhambra, California.

We can't do this series without you.

Write to us about what's happening in your economy at marketplace.org slash my economy.

This final note on the way out today.

With so much other economic news on this Friday, we didn't get to an important data release from this morning.

The producer price index, a measure of how much businesses are paying for goods and services, was up half a percent in December, more than analysts were anticipating.

And yes, these are December numbers, not January.

We're still dealing with shutdown-delayed data.

Anyway, it was the biggest increase in five months and caused mostly by an increase in the cost of services, especially trade-related services.

See footnote tariffs.

Economists like to keep an eye on PPI because inflation tends to show up in the prices companies pay before they eventually pass it on to consumers.