Haven Collective

Stephanie Evans  
Today I'm talking with Melissa Blackburn, co-creator of Haven Collective, a co-working space in Upper Arlington. Welcome, Melissa, and thank you for joining us. 





Melissa Blackburn  
Thank you so much for having me. Very excited. 

Stephanie Evans  
I have to say, it's been so fun for me to follow you and Danielle, as you've built your business. An amazing work environment over there next door, as a matter of fact. But I remember meeting you the first time and walking through your building wearing a hard hat. 

Melissa Blackburn  
And we still have those pictures. We love them.

Stephanie Evans  
Yeah, wearing a hard hat and listening to your vision. And I was just so excited for you. And it's been such a gift to me to be able to kind of watch you guys grow with it. So I appreciate that you reached out to us so early in your business so we could be kind of part of that. I feel like a proud aunt! 

Melissa Blackburn  
Well, you guys have been so supportive. And I just remember being really impressed with how involved the chamber was and how committed you are to our success. So you know, we owe a large Thank you, to you for that support too.

Stephanie Evans  
It's been fun. It's been really fun for us. So I'm thinking though, how long ago was that? 

Melissa Blackburn  
Oh, my goodness. So we came up with the idea in April of 2017, and then started taking on co workers in October of 2017. Just in our upstairs. 

Stephanie Evans  
That happened pretty quickly.

Melissa Blackburn  
Yeah, I don't I don't tend to move slowly. And then we opened our full building and welcomed everyone we could starting in February of 2018. 

Stephanie Evans  
Yeah, it did happen quickly. So it wasn't that long after I started here, right. I met you. 

Melissa Blackburn  
You were pretty new when we started.

Stephanie Evans  
So we'll circle back to some of that. But I want to start our talk today with same question that we ask everyone, which is, what did you want to be when you grew up when you were a kid? And then how does that play into what you're doing today?

Melissa Blackburn  
What a great question. When I grew up, I actually wanted to be an actress. I begged my parents to send me to acting classes and was lucky enough to get a lot of roles and theater through high school. I even went to theater school one day a week for high school. 

Melissa Blackburn  
And come time for college, my parents had very different ideas about what I should do. And we're not really supportive of me going to theater school for college. So I went the more traditional route. So it does play into what I do today. Because though I haven't thought about it till you just ask this question. Having that comfort and being able to talk to people and get on stage and not be afraid to be silly, or make a fool of myself, I think you need that when you're starting your own business, because it can be very nerve wracking to put yourself out there.

Stephanie Evans  
I would think so. And the confidence that you built by being on on stage in front of people.

Melissa Blackburn  
I think I just was from a young age, not afraid to fail. So I think the theater really helped me to build that confidence. 

Stephanie Evans  
Good for you and for your parents. We actually had a conversation in another podcast about failure. And, and that sometimes, you know, as parent we don't want our kids to fail, nobody wants to fail, but how to pick up those bootstraps and keep going when you do and being kind of fearless of failure.

Melissa Blackburn  
Resilience is very important. My husband and I talk about that a lot as we're raising two young children. We have a two year old and a four year old and we try to really focus on allowing them to fail and not fixing everything for them and helping them build that confidence in that resilience.  

Stephanie Evans  
Because, you know, no matter what you do, somewhere along the way, you're going to have a failure might be in varying degrees. It might be that you've earned the birthday cake, but you gotta figure what you're going to do, and be willing to make a birthday cake. Or run down to the store.

Stephanie Evans  
So tell us then about your business, Haven Collective.

Melissa Blackburn  
So Haven Collective is a co-working space at its core, we have everything from general memberships, where people can come in and work in our open spaces, all the way up to dedicated desks and offices. We've designed it so that entrepreneurs can come in at any stage of their journey and really have a plan that fits their budget and fits their needs. 

Melissa Blackburn  
Of course, everyone's there working and trying to get their best work done throughout the day. But we also like to provide other amenities that help them have some balance as well. So we do things like once a week, we have an hour of yoga. We also have a meditation once a week, 10 minutes. I think people think will meditation, but it's just, it's really quick. And it's nice to ground yourself for 10 minutes a week. And then, of course, the fun stuff like wine Wednesdays, you know, three o'clock we put out the wine and invite everyone to come and mingle. 

Melissa Blackburn  
We are also constantly doing events for our members. We're committed to helping them grow personally and professionally and get out of their shell with some networking, but fun networking so that they can learn how to pitch what they do, and meet other entrepreneurs.

Melissa Blackburn  
There's a lot going on at Haven. But really, we try and stress the collaboration in the community aspect and making sure everyone understands they have other entrepreneurs around them that are on the same journey that can help them. Not just because they can understand what they're going through, but could possibly help their business grow through collaboration.

Stephanie Evans  
Right. I remember very early on that was one of the things when I still had the hard hat on talked about in terms of the kinds of businesses that you would like to attract would be some that that could potentially help each other. So yeah, we've got this kind of business, but you need a CPA to help you get your taxes Well, that's someone just down the hall or employee who can write up your LLC is just down at the other end of the hall and, and kind of create a team within the walls of your building.

Melissa Blackburn  
Well said, That's exactly right. It's all about relationships. And so I think a lot of entrepreneurs come in having worked from home and being isolated, and just trying to figure it out on their own. And then they quickly learn not, you know, these co workers who they build trust with can actually be people that help them move forward and just give them more confidence in their business. So it's been a really beautiful thing to watch.

Stephanie Evans  
I love the the language that you guys use to describe Haven on your website. One of the things that you have is that your "An ecosystem for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and side hustlers." And hustlers a word that I see a lot in there. And so, so tell me about that sort of the, the brand that you guys are achieving with some of the language that you're using.

Melissa Blackburn  
Ours is interesting, because Danielle and I are so different. And rather than fight that, we decided to use it as part of our brand. You know, we joke that were the yin and the yang, but really where the hustle and the flow. We try and capitalize on our differences. You know, we say, the hustle and the flow, because our approaches are just very different. And we want to make sure that people can walk in and feel supported and have that warm family feel. But we also have a very strong business background, as both of us have MBAs where it's not just warm and fuzzy. 

Melissa Blackburn  
We do want you to understand the nuts and bolts of your marketing, your finances, your accounting, you need to know those things, but you also need to feel comfortable. So using that hustle and flow to kind of show people that yes, you can be comfortable, but you need to take your business seriously. We really just took that and ran with it. Even our conference rooms are named "Hustle" and "Flow." And if you met Danielle and I together, you would very quickly see how different we are.

Stephanie Evans  
It's a little extrovert introvert somewhere on on the scale. That balance.

Melissa Blackburn  
Yeah,

Stephanie Evans  
It serves the needs for lots of people then when they come in and see the different personalities. That you do have and a place for them.

Melissa Blackburn  
Yeah, I think of course, the factor that we have in common is that we're both very supportive. I think we're just supportive in different ways. And so it has worked really well because it takes every kind of person to build a collective and knowing that somebody might like Danielle's approach, or my approach, it really benefits us because we have both to offer.

Stephanie Evans  
So do you guys serve as business consultants, yourselves? Since you both have business backgrounds and MBAs? Do you consult with the members 

Melissa Blackburn  
We do. We hadn't set out to do that when we started.

Stephanie Evans  
 I remember that being part of it necessarily, and it seems like you're qualified to.

Melissa Blackburn  
Well, thank you. We feel we are. We spent so much time working with members on very tactical things like marketing plans, and and helping with things like how do you structure a p&l? You know, we got to the point where we said, well, of course, we want to make this a member benefit. But beyond a few hours, here and there, what can we turn this into? 

Melissa Blackburn  
So we both do take on what we call like coaching clients here and there for people who need more in depth help. So Danielle focuses mainly on marketing and helping people understand who is their customer, what is the brand story that they want to tell. And then what does their content calendar look like with those factors. 

Melissa Blackburn  
Whereas I work more with entrepreneurs on Okay, now you know who your target audience is and who you're trying to go for. Let's talk about your pricing and your sales tactics, your sales funnel and CRM and let's let's really talk about how to get the revenue coming through the door.

Stephanie Evans  
Right. Okay. Yes. You both lend different specialties. 

Melissa Blackburn  
Yes.

Stephanie Evans  
Well, yeah, that's kind of awesome, then that's just sort of stemmed out of the business. Not necessarily part that you planned for it but evolving.

Melissa Blackburn  
Yeah, it was definitely a complete organic thing. And it's a lot of fun.

Stephanie Evans  
Yeah, good. Good. Let's switch gears a little bit and talk about advice. What would you say the best advice that you got from someone when you said, I'm going to start a business,

Melissa Blackburn  
it might be sad to say, I think a lot of people just were pretty cautious. 

Stephanie Evans  
Did they think you were crazy?

Melissa Blackburn  
It was such a change from what I had been doing. I'd worked in corporate America my entire career. Anyone who really knew me at my core, could have told you that I was going to own my own business at some point, I just have a very entrepreneurial spirit. 

Melissa Blackburn  
The best advice I got was, someone told me that I should understand that everyone's going through the same thing as I am. So in the days when I felt really alone, or really anxious, or really nervous about this, to really understand that everyone else feels that too, and I'm human, and to give myself some leeway to sit in that. Take a minute, figure it out. You're not alone. You know, find your people find your people you can talk to and find them fast, because it's a roller coaster. So and I really took that advice to heart.

Stephanie Evans  
And it sounds like with the members that you have at Haven, you've kind of created a space for them to do that, too, when they're struggling, or when they need advice. Or need to know somebody with a different specialty. You've created an environment so that they can find that.

Melissa Blackburn  
Absolutely, Danielle, and I have our own team that we look to that we consider our go to. But then we of course, try to be that for the members in our organization, and then encourage them to be that for each other. 

Stephanie Evans  
So what do you feel like has been your biggest challenge 

Melissa Blackburn  
The change from corporate has been interesting because going from a structure and a routine where I was accountable to a CEO to now being a co CEO. I am a very self-directed and driven person. But it's a whole other level of accountability when I mean, who's paying attention if you don't do it?  Nobody. 

Melissa Blackburn  
I always led a large team and I always felt like I was somewhat running my own like company in my own mind. But having a board that I reported. And a CEO that I reported to put a different level of pressure. And I don't say that word in a negative sense. Like, it just challenged me to get better all the time. Because I literally had a board I had to get in front of and impress every month, and now it's like, how do I continue to drive myself to do better and to grow professionally without someone else laying those challenges out for me. 

Stephanie Evans  
So it has to come from within a little bit. 

Melissa Blackburn  
Exactly. And just, you know, stepping back from the day to day and really seeing my weaknesses or blind spots on little areas where I'd want to just grow and get better.

Stephanie Evans  
How do you do with time management?

Melissa Blackburn  
Oh, time management. Yes, I'm big believer in time blocking. You know, Danielle and I work very closely on our calendars, making sure that we each have time for what we need to accomplish personally and professionally. So I'm lucky that my partner is understanding of my responsibilities as a mother as a wife, my own personal goals.

Stephanie Evans  
 You've got a lot going on.

Melissa Blackburn  
Yeah, so time blocking is crucial. I know, my best hours are 8am to 1pm, that's when my brain works the best. So I really put blocks in place in those hours to do the harder tasks in my day, you know, making sure that I'm doing my marketing and sales follow ups and all my financial work in those hours, and blocking that off and giving myself permission to step away from running the space during those times to doing the deeper work. Working on the business instead of in it. 

Stephanie Evans  
Right, so not at the front desk.

Melissa Blackburn  
Right, right. We both love being there. We love seeing when people walk in and greeting them and understanding how their days going. But sometimes you have to tuck yourself away and get some other stuff done.

Stephanie Evans  
I find that to you. Like, sometimes I have to close out my email so that I'm not seeing a new email pop up every time I'm trying to get something else done. You can we really have to kind of compartmentalize and be able to focus.

Melissa Blackburn  
And I find that the time blocking helps too, because all those little tasks add up. And if you give yourself permission to say, well, that's a financial matter. And I deal with those Mondays from you know, 11am to 1pm, you just put it for that time.

Stephanie Evans  
You're structuring it that way. So you have your, your time blocks are specific topics. Finances on this day, at this time, and, you know, marketing at this day on this time.

Melissa Blackburn  
Yeah, I just find that like, if you're tackling them all at once, it helps you to see like, bigger picture. What our processes and procedures that you can be putting in place to be more efficient. And that just goes back to my operations background, I think I'm always trying to look for efficiencies in process. So that's just worked well for me. 

Stephanie Evans  
That's great advice. I have to try that.

Stephanie Evans  
So when you do have a challenge come up. What helps you persevere? What keeps you going? 

Melissa Blackburn  
So I'm a person of extreme faith. I pray lot. I am usually quick to make a decision. And if I can't be decisive in the moment, I give myself the space to sit back and think and pray on it and figure it out. And so far, so good. That that works for me. 

Melissa Blackburn  
You know, I think that most of my decisions or challenges can be solved like very quickly. But I find that if I don't really know what to do in the moment, giving myself just a little bit of space to say, you know what, I'm not going to decide on this until tomorrow, even so far as like, tomorrow night, not even to like, worry about it. 

Melissa Blackburn  
And oftentimes, subconsciously, the answer will come to me. I'll be driving or at the gym or something. And it's like, oh, there's the answer right in front of me. But rather, you know, I think my younger self would have tried to like out think it and just solve it right away, and it would eat at me. Whereas now it's like, well, if the answer isn't clear up front, I probably just need to like, step back for a minute. And typically, it just clears itself up.

Stephanie Evans  
Yeah, I think my nature is that I'm a deliberater or so I naturally take that time to think about things. But then once I've reached that point, where it's like, okay, I thought about this, and then, and then it comes to me, it's like, Okay, and then I make my decision really quickly. Because I feel like I've taken so much time to process. 

Melissa Blackburn  
I used to do like, the whole pro and con list thing. And, like, be so practical about it. But I just find like, if I can just breathe and just ask for clarity, just tends to work for me.

Stephanie Evans  
So if you had to do things over again, is there anything you do differently?

Melissa Blackburn  
I would have bought a bigger space.

Melissa Blackburn  
I knew it was going to be awesome. But it is just so far exceeded where we ever thought it could be. And I just wish I could take in more people. I wish I could serve a larger audience. And I just am so grateful that we're at a point where we're talking about how we make an even bigger impact. Because now this little thing that we thought would be cool has taken off, and we know we can do more. 

Stephanie Evans  
So I was just there last week. And hopped in, and it was it was hustling. there were a lot of people around. I didn't go over to the library, the quiet side. But upstairs are all your offices, are they all leased up?

Melissa Blackburn  
Yep, every office is full. We have one dedicated desk coming up, that'll be available. We're still of course accepting members. So we have room I don't want people to be turned away. Like we definitely have room in the shared space and and room in our community to welcome different thought leaders and, you know, different people from different backgrounds. So we're just excited to see how we can diversify our community. 

Stephanie Evans  
So when you like you just said, a desk is going to be opening up or let's say an office opens up. I know that your business is still young, but when those desks or those spaces open up, what's that person's next move? Are they going to a storefront? Are they going to a bigger office? I mean, are you sort of an incubator in a way? 

Melissa Blackburn  
I think kind of similar to our story. A lot of people come to us when they're just getting started. And thinking, like, I have a really cool idea. And then things go way better than they thought. And typically, they're moving into an office, which is why our offices like filled up so fast, or just just stories are totally different. 

Melissa Blackburn  
We had one woman who was working from home, feeling very isolated, decided to get a desk so that she could have a community around her. And I think when she had more structure in her day, was able to think like, what's going to make me happy in life and decided she wanted to be in Colorado, she wanted to be around the mountains. And so she was able to take her job and moved Colorado. And we still keep in touch with her, and she's still part of our community via our private Facebook. But, you know, that's just one story. 

Melissa Blackburn  
I think being part of the community, people are so encouraged, whether that means Yeah, I'm going to take a trip across the country, or I'm going to move up to an office or, you know, I'm ready to take this gig even bigger and get a storefront.

Stephanie Evans  
So it's a confidence builder, for whatever that next step is. Ok. So my last question is about success. And how would you define success? And, and how do you know when you're there?

Melissa Blackburn  
Hmm. I've been thinking about that one a lot lately. Because I think you really do have to decide what success looks like to you. You know, if you'd asked me this question 10 years ago, I probably would have associated it with having a big paycheck, that sort of thing. 

Melissa Blackburn  
But it just looks so different now.

Melissa Blackburn  
To me, being able to call the shots in my own life is success in a nutshell. Not being beholden to anyone else, being able to take time off and be present with my children, take time and be with my husband, live life, basically, on my terms.

Melissa Blackburn  
It's just so freeing. It just feels really good. And I don't think that I would trade that for the big fat paycheck. 

Melissa Blackburn  
As life is a little easier in some levels and that way, but there's a lot more pressure that comes with that too. And I think so many people that I talked to, who make the leap from corporate have that "aha moment" as well. Like, wait a minute, I was so scared about losing the money, you know, so scared. Well, what would life would look like, and losing that financial freedom. 

Melissa Blackburn  
But you find you need a lot less, you spend a lot less and different things become important to you. And I just sleep a lot better at night now. And so I think just continuing to remind myself on the hard days that like, I just don't answer to any anyone. And if I needed to leave right now and go pick up my kids from school, I can do that. And it's just to me, that's huge. 

Stephanie Evans  
Good for you. Congratulations. Great way to wrap up.  How do we find you on your social media or website?

Melissa Blackburn  
You can find us on our website at www.HavenColumbus. com. We do communicate with our audience very frequently through Facebook @havencollective, and through Instagram,@havencollective as well. So always excited to see a new follower and get you engaged in the conversation. So we'd love to see more people from the TriVillage Chamber, people from Upper Arlington, following along and getting to the conversation with us.

Stephanie Evans  
Great. Thank you so much. 

Melissa Blackburn  
Thank you.

Versa Coworking

Business Inspires welcomes Versa Coworking to this episode.  Brought to you by The Village Of Marble Cliff

Business Inspires Podcast welcomes Versa Coworking

: Hi this is Michelle Wilson I'm the executive director of the TriVillage Chamber Partnership. And this morning we are speaking with April Zimmerman Katz who is the president of Zimmerman Companies and the founder of Versa. And we're actually sitting in Versa at 1201 Dublin Road. So thank you for joining me today.

: Thank you for having me.

: This is exciting. We've done a few podcasts here and the space works really beautifully so glad to finally have you and find out what you what your inspirations were to have this space and start this space. But we always try to start this podcast off with. What did you want to be when you were young what did you want to grow up to?

: Oh wow OK I wasn't expecting that question!

: You are from Columbus right?

: I am from Columbus, right. I come from a long line of entrepreneurs and we've been in Columbus as far back as my great great grandparents. As far as I'm aware of. So we've been in business in the city for a long time. I think at one point I thought I wanted to be a marine biologist. But then it occurred to me that I really did not like to be in the ocean. So I like to look at it. But I like to be in it so that wasn't going to work out for me.

: And then I went towards art. So I've always had an artistic streak. I was an art major in college. Studio art major in college. And these days my artistic tendencies are manifesting themselves in space.

: Yes this place is beautiful and Oliver tells us that you did everything here. Every bit of decorating and interior design was all inspired you.

: Well I won't take credit for all of it. I have a great team. But I do have a specific aesthetic that I like and I like found objects. I like to blend different kinds of things so well our architectural team brought in great architectural elements so the spokes that hang from the ceiling and those kinds of details that are really unique in the space. And then we had some people who helped with color schemes. But yes I was part of all of that have very strong opinions about what I want to see and how I want to see it.

: And I go as far as I can with the design professionals and then I like to fill in the rest so I like to shop at flea markets. I like found objects and I spend a lot of time filling in all of the gaps with that. And I think it gives the space personality.

: Oh it does and I love how well this is a very large space but there's so many nooks and crannies that have their own personality. But it all flows so beautifully together. And I love that I cannot do that to save my life. I wish I could my house as well, I will talk about my house, but it's really beautiful here. And I think everybody can find a space that's very comfortable for them.

: Thank you. That's not our goal.

: Well you did a great job. And. So having the artistic background and major certainly plays into what you're doing today. So even at a young age you kind of knew what you liked and wanted to do and you turned that into a career.

: Yes. I needed to be creating something. And I love color and texture and design. And I think that's it adds richness to the fabric of our lives.

: Absolutely. Good for you. Before Versa you kind of worked hand in hand with your husband Kyle. Is that true?

: Well yes and no. We worked together on a project before we started Versa. So I have been running a family business the third generation apart in multifamily.

: And that Zimmerman Companies?

: Yes. So we have had properties throughout Columbus for four decades. More than that now I actually think the's 1970's. So we're getting closer to five decades. And I came to work inside the apartment business in 1999. I was newly single and had three kids and I needed a job. And so I went to work renting apartments and I loved every minute of it.

: What did you love about that?

: What I loved was getting to meet new people all the time. I really enjoy that. I get a lot of energy from other people. These were people who were making big decisions about how they were going to spend their money on the most expensive part of their budget. It doesn't matter what level of apartment that is that holds true whether it's a 500 dollar apartment or fifteen hundred dollar apartment. There's that expectation that people have of being treated well and having a friendly face. And I loved it. So I worked my way up through the ranks of the apartment business. And now I am in part I'm a partnership with my father and he also owns Olympic Indoor Tennis. So that falls now under that umbrella of the companies that we own and manage.

: That's part of Columbus fiber right?

: Yes. So originally my great grandfather had a Olympic swim the Olympic Swim Club. And my family owned that through various generations until 2014 as a pool. And then I purchased the property in 2014 and built The Deco which is a mixed use project. Kyle helped me build that. He is a developer. He's particularly good at that. And so he helped my father and I build The Deco over on the pool property. The tennis property is still there, next door and getting ready to open for forty-third season in September 2018. So yes that was a very exciting opportunity for Kyle and I to work together.

: So I did a lot of the design work. Once again I think at times the architects were probably tired of seeing me because I had a lot of opinions about how I wanted it to look. And we had a great time working on that project together. And so we sort of rolled into this project from that one.

: There was an article earlier this year that says that Kyle was quoted saying "I find and build it, she fills it and runs it." That kind of simplifies a lot of work I'm sure.

: It does.

: It's a pretty neat way to sum up what you both do and how you compliment each other.

: Yeah we figured out that we have different superpowers and yeah it's better to not step on one another's toes in those situations. We've found it to work so far. We're having a lot of fun.

: And clearly having fun is key when you're talking working with your spouse. We interviewed Steve Weaver a few months back who owns The Candle Labs, and he and his wife started The Candle Labs and they've really grown the business and he says if it were up to him he'd have a thousand stores all over the place and if it were up to her she'd have one that's run just perfectly. And I love that and I love that they figured it out and they have a handful of stores and they're very deliberate about what they do and what they each bring to the table. So I think it has to be finding a balance of what your superpowers are and and having fun because that could be disastrous otherwise.

: When you're in business together your day never ends. So you are at work all day long. And then you're home. And he and I do not see each other over the course of the day. He has Katz Development and he's over at The Buggy Works and I am here in this building. And so we don't really lay eyes on each other until the end of the day. Like most couples. And then we have lots of things to talk about.

: So, I did have someone ask us at one point "How do your children feel? What is the talk around the dinner table sound like at your house?".

: Right. That is interesting.

: We're always talking about business or new opportunities or whatever. Sometimes the girls put a stop to that. "No business tonight!".

: But I think it can be cool that when there's exciting things happening or successes you really deeply understand what those successes mean and what was behind them so you can share that experience each other.

: So let's talk about Versa. So this is a very large space. I think it's larger than what's around.

Yes.

: Is that true?

: Yes.

: OK.

: At the moment.

: At the moment right. Because this as I as I was saying this industry has just really taken off in the past five years in its projections on growth are just crazy. But this is a very large space. And what attracted you to the larger space and was it a concern? Was it just the challenge of it or all of the above?

: So I had this wild idea. I'd heard a little bit about coworking. I was interested in what it was because I was already in the business of essentially renting space. And I was just hearing just the beginnings of this. I convinced my husband to go to a conference with me and it was very interesting. It was the spaces that people were talking about at that conference were anywhere from three to maybe eight thousand square feet. Some people were just on the verge of the ten to fifteen thousand square feet when we were there. Moving very very quickly. So Kyle is well versed in figuring out economies of scale. And when you put all of that infrastructure into space, 5000 square feet, it's really hard to make that work. So pretty quickly we abandoned the idea of five thousand square feet. We were looking at 15000 square feet. And then we stumbled upon this building.

: We didn't stumble. We were brought to this building, very intentionally, by our wonderful brokers and we just thought that it was just an amazing building.

: I mean it has water views. There was so much natural light in the building. And so we thought well we were just going to make the ground floor and the first floor coworking to begin with. And that would have been about 18000 square feet on the first floor and another 12 down here on the ground level. But as we were moving ahead over the course of building it out, spaces were going from 15000 to 20000. It was a process of many many many months to lay all of this out and get the business up and running. And also a new user was coming in to the arena and that was an enterprise user. So whole companies of size that wanted to be able to come in and get right to work and not have to worry about working with a broker, working with a contractor, working with an architect building out their space.

: Entrepreneurs, companies who are in existence with multiple employees.

: And so at that point I decided to build out the second floor and make it part of the space. And I know that Kyle thought I was losing my mind because it brought us to 37000 square feet in the building for Versa. And it was far exceeded any of the competition. With that it's definitely slower to get members. When you're talking about that many square feet. We did manage to get in a whole company on the second floor. Singularity University is here. They moved in August 2018 and we're super excited to have them..

: They have all of the second floor?

: Yes.

: Because when we toured it a few months ago it wasn't quite completed. It was almost there and it was really just waiting for that enterprise.

: So they came in and made the decision relatively quickly which is really the essence of what coworking allows companies to do. It allows them to move fast and to get down to business quickly.

: So how do you think that's affected real estate and people signing five, 10 year leases? And I don't mean that just here, I mean the flex space, coworking space availability?

: Well you know it's scary when you're a growing company to sign a long term lease. When you've been in business for a long time and you've got lots of credit and financials to back up those positions and your growth is steady and you know where you're headed, then that makes sense. And we do see a lot of people who come in. Not as many now. But when we first opened, people really curious about what we were doing here, but just didn't understand what we were doing here. the sort of "Why would I do this when I can do that?".

: So there's been a huge learning curve in Columbus when we started. There was a learning curve for the brokers. There was a learning curve for landlords. There is a learning curve for architects in designing the spaces. And then of course the learning curve for the end user. So we had a lot to battle.

: One of the things though is that there have been some accounting changes where long term leases now have to be accounted for on the balance sheet. That can really be devastating for a small company. So if a small enterprise were to sign a five year lease, they have to put the entire five year lease on their balance sheet as a liability like a mortgage would be.

: And if they have a five year option on it they have to put that on it as well. So all of a sudden you have a tremendous liability against potentially a growing company. Where you may or may not know how fast you're going to grow, or if you're going to grow. And this can make a big difference in your ability to raise money. There are lots of different things. I'm not an accountant but I have researched this a lot because it makes a difference and we found that it makes a difference to the people who are here.

: We have a little bit more of a mature membership here. So people who have been in business for a little while. Not long, but long enough to know the direction that they really want to head and maybe have had some kind of space before. And are really ready to hit the ground but also to have a professional face on what they're trying to accomplish.

: People can walk in this building and have conference space and have had the things that they would have in their own long term lease space. So is this month to month?

: It can be. We have different membership levels and some of them can be month to month. So coworking can be month to month. We have what we call community membership which allows an individual or a company who has their own space, but at times needs to access spaces like this or conference room space. Somebody who really likes to perhaps work from home, but they have to meet clients and they can't do it at the dining room table, Panera or Starbucks. It's not appropriate for what they're doing. And so we have a community membership that allows those users to come in and have member pricing on all of our open spaces. And then also join us for all the fun stuff we do.

: So let's talk about some of the fun stuff. I mean I think that's that's a lot of the appeal. Besides not having a long term lease, but having a lot of great amenities at somebody's disposal for a great price every month that somebody can afford.

: So what are some of those amenities that people can look forward to a Versa?

: Well I like to start off with really what we talked about before which was design which makes a difference. Everybody who is starting a business is good at exactly what they're doing great. That doesn't mean that they're good at all of the other things that need to be done. You may be great at tech but terrible at H.R. Every entrepreneur in the world, every growing business, understands this point.

: A lot of people want a great space and great design. They can't afford it or they don't know how to do it. And so we get a lot of feedback just as people walk right through the doors and say "Wow the space is really beautiful and I really love the way it feels." We have heard that it feels much different from any of the other competitors. That has a lot more eclectic feel to it. So there's that that they got which already has a sort of a feel to it that is more professional and more beautiful than they may be able to afford or achieve on their own. We have a cafe of course which is right in the front and that includes drinks and snacks and lots and lots of coffee. We get all of our coffee from Crimson Cup. And it's a great hub for people to sort of come and go throughout their day. and great place to meet, say hello in the morning to each other, other entrepreneurs that are here.

: Because this does give these enterprise companies an opportunity to interact with other businesses and other minds. And connect on different levels.

: We do have happy hour on Thursday nights because why not?

: Because why not!

: Often we have it out on the balcony in the back where we can look over the water. It's also one of the amenities that we have. We have outdoor space here with great views and people really take advantage of it. We've really seen that of course over the summer months where people take their laptop and go sit under an umbrella on a beautiful day and get to spend their day working in that kind of an atmosphere. The other amenities that we have here includes lots of different conference spaces. So we have everything from four person spaces to 12 to 16 to a conversation room which can hold 50 comfortably. And then we have the studios. We have two studios on the lower level that are classroom style, and can hold up to 70 people in those spaces. So we have lots of different spaces available for people for whatever they might need.

: And is that available to nonmembers to rent that space out?

: Yes we have member and non-member availability for all of our spaces. So it's been a great opportunity for people to come in and see this space. And we've had lots of different organizations in here. And it's great to have everyone come and be a part of what we're doing. I think it would be very short sighted to not include the community at large in what we're trying to do here. And having this be an asset for Columbus. Being a member has its privileges. So we do have Member Pricing on things but yes we're very excited to welcome lots of different organizations to the space.

: I ask that because you sit on the edge of Grandview Heights and there's not a lot of meeting space that would hold 50 to 70 people. That space is really very limited and at a premium in the immediate community. But then you're also right on the edge of downtown and so I'm sure that you could really market that beautifully to some overflow meeting space for downtown meeting, convention attendees.

: We like to think that downtown is an amenity. And Grandview would be as well. This lovely community, lots of places where you can go and have a wonderful meal and all that is so close.

: Yes we have lots of people here that loved the idea of being downtown but don't want to be downtown.

: Parking

: Yes we do have free parking here, which is different from our competitor. Most of our competitors of size. We're getting ready to open our second location in the Arena District here in just the next couple of weeks.

: That was my next question, let's transition right into that. Let's talk about that. You're going to be right on Nationwide Boulevard?

: Nationwide and Neil.

: So you're right in the middle in the heart of the Nationwide Arena and the Clippers stadium, you are going to be right there. What a great space! So what will that be? How will that be different than this space, or will it mirror it?

: It will be a more intimate space. It's only 12000 square feet, so it's smaller. The building is just fantastic and the location is great. And there is parking on the site. So that is available to members. And that makes it a different kind of a space for the Arena District.

: Free parking?

: It's not free parking. But I do have that available right there for our members. We have about 46 spots there. Well I think be very very helpful.

: One of the things that we find in coworking rate is that not everybody is here every day. They come and go. Some people are here every day. But a lot of people aren't. People don't necessarily need a parking spot. All of the time. So we are we are really pushing the boundaries of flexibility inside of this business.

: And we're trying to pare all of that with great hospitality. So one of the other amenities I would say is that we have a hospitality director here who is really very dedicated to making sure that everyone's experience in the space is great. Everyone who has a board meeting or a vistage meeting or conference or whatever. All of their needs are taken care of.

: It's a very nice amenity to have somebody on staff.

: It really is. Because it allows you to come in and do what you need to do and not have to worry about it. So again it's one of those opportunities that we provide to business owners and entrepreneurs where it lets them do what they need to do and not worry about the other things. We'll take care of the other things. You get down to business. That's why you're here.

: I love that. I had no idea. I did read that you had hired people from the hospitality industry but I didn't realize that they were very focused on doing those types of things for your members. That is really special. I love that. So with the new Versa location, who will you be attracting to that space versus the space. Or will it just be the same marketing plan?

: We already have pre licensed several of those spaces. We have found that a lot are people who are living right there in the neighborhood. So they're coming out of the condominiums there or close by. They want to be able to walk to work. Maybe right now they're working from home. And very excited about not working from home anymore and having something that's just really right there.

: That location also has several offices that are larger sized. So we have a lot more 4, 5, 6, 8 person offices than we do here. We hear we have a lot of 1, 3, or larger size spaces sold out right away here in Grandview Heights. And so we built out some larger spaces there. And and we're getting a lot of traction on that. So people with four or five employees who once again if you want to be in the Arena District, and you have a small firm of four or five people, really where are you going to go?

: Right. And like you said and have the amenities of just beautiful office space that's very impressive to clients when you walk in and it may be something that they couldn't have if they were furnishing and decorating on their own. And it really is very impressive and atmospheric. So that's great. I love it here.

: And I can't wait to show our new space.

: I know I can't wait to see it.

: I'm really excited about it.

: I was asking on the way in about the big scroll on the top of the what's going to happen with that.

: We're working on that. We're working on that. So we keep scraping it down and with every layer it still says Business First, which is fine. We love Business First and we're excited. They've been very curious about what we have done inside the space, and we look forward to having them come and see what we've done. They're going to get the first peek at it. It's all in process, let's put it that way. We did get our name on the building last week. But we still have the Business First scroll on the top.

: But it's so noticeable that you know keeping doing something differently with it's going to be just great, because it's really noticeable. And eye catching.

: So how can people find out more about Versa?

: You can find us online. We're at Versa dot works. And we have lots of information there. You can stop in so we take walk ins and we have our staff who is here Monday through Friday from 8a to 6p, they're here. Give us a call. So we have you Amy Minahan who is our Director of the space here, and Oliver Coffey who you have met. Trey who is doing our business development and we're all having a lot of fun. So we would welcome anyone who wants to check out what this is all about to come and see.

: And you know not every space is right for every person.

: But that's the beauty of this.

: That's the beauty of this. There's lots to learn about this trend that's happening and we're late to the trend as far as in the United States. So as always, the coast go first. But we're picking up steam quickly. You know people are really figuring this out.

: And it's really going to be a nice way for people to connect with one another and to work either independently or in small groups or like I said in enterprises. But allows them to get done what they need to do, and not worry about the stuff, the distractions.

: The distractions, right, because you're taking care of that for them.

: Right.

: And so Versa dot works. I would really encourage everybody listening to stop in and meet the staff and see this space and take a look around because it really is beautiful and unique and I think there's something for just about everybody. So I would encourage everybody to come in. But thank you for joining us and giving us a little more insight and diversity and we look forward to the next one opening soon.

: Yes, thank you.

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Business Inspires Episode 3 - Vital Companies

Jason Clayton, CMO / Partner of Vital Companies is Michelle's guest.

Vital Companies is an award winning video production company based in Columbus, Ohio. Their services include video & audio production, concept development, digital marketing strategy, and more. They specialize in creating dynamic content for their clients through an efficient, creative, and collaborative process.

There's a story in everyone and every business that can be told across many different mediums. That's the reason the company was started started - tell those stories in an engaging and entertaining way.

The work closely with their clients in order to accurately identify their needs and their vision. They then use their skills in video production, music production, animation, photography, and digital marketing to create engaging content for their clients to use meet their goals.

Vital Companies believes strongly in giving back to our community. They partner with like minded non profit organizations in Central Ohio to provide the needed support to help our community: Columbus Metropolitan Library, Dress for Success, Komen Columbus, The United Way, The Columbus Foundation and many others in Central Ohio.

They have marketed and raised funds for non profits, created film schools for teenagers and founded The Film Festival of Columbus, a film festival to support the visual arts in Columbus, to name a few.

Jason's inspiration - a passion for creativity.  The ability to take music and video and make a living.

Jason's advice for adversity - have confidence in your vision, and understand you will have failures. Your vision will help you through the tough times, and create ways to overcome adversity.

"Living out of fear rather than living out of opportunity can get really stressful."

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With more than 60 years as an integral part of the Grandview, Upper Arlington and Marble Cliff communities, the TriVillage Chamber Partnership is dedicated to a singular purpose - the success of the business community.

To schedule a guest appearance, or find out more about sponsoring Business Inspires, send an email to michelle@chamberpartnership.org

Please take a moment to rate and review our podcast in iTunes.  That helps us spread the word about Business Inspires!

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http://chamberpartnership.org/
http://www.destinationgrandview.org
http://www.vitalcompanies.com

Podcast affiliate of Circle270Media Network - http://www.circle270media.com

Business Inspires Episode 2 - Wright Patt Credit Union

This Business Inspires podcast features a conversation with Scott Everett, General Counsel, and VP of Business Services at Wright Patt Credit Union (WPCU).

Wright Patt Credit Union (WPCU) is back in Columbus, with 5 branches in the Columbus metro market. TriVillage Chamber Partnership’s Executive Director Michele Wilson’s guest is Scott Everett, General Counsel, and VP of Business Services.

The move back into Columbus was decided upon by the WPCU members living in the Columbus market.  From a poll of WPCU members, it was overwhelmingly agreed upon that WPCU should open branches in the Columbus area.

To enter back into the Columbus more effectively, a market leader was hired.  Tammy Jones is a Columbus native, and provides WPCU that local presence and insight to stay connected in the community.

To address the fast-paced growth of Columbus, WPCU had to establish a “footprint” in the market, what WPCU calls a “hub and spoke” model.  This model started with one large traditional branch location and then build four around it, establishing a network effect.

In the last 12-18 months, WPCU has modified its approach to serving a younger, technological savvy demographic. Their focus has turned to

1. Mortgage lending, primarily first-time home buyers
2. Business lending

WPCU is a financial cooperative, in fact Ohio’s largest, with over $3.4 billion in assets.  As a financial cooperative, anything WPCU makes above and beyond what is needed to operate business and have adequate capital is given back to the WPCU membership.  In 2016, $8 million was distributed to WPCU members.

What makes WPCU a great place to work?  WPCU offers its employees one of the richest benefit packages, with strong healthcare incentives and retirement programs; an emphasis on promoting from within; educational benefits to help with career advancement; and a philosophy of “work to live,” where family and work are both important for the success of employees.

Giving back to community is important for WPCU.  Every year during the Employee Day celebration, two charities are highlighted and supported during the upcoming year.  $150K to $200k per year is raised through employee fundraising events.  WPCU is always looking for more opportunities in the Columbus market from community partners.

WPCU has been undergoing a re-focus on Small Business lending, called Member Business Services.  In the past these loans have been outsourced.  With larger banks becoming more fickle with the loans they originate, WPCU has seen an opportunity to work with smaller businesses, building a relationship approach; not only lending, but also engaging is full financial relationship.  

WPCU has a system in place, similar to what you see on the internet with marketplace lenders.  If you have a business loan request up to $250k, WPCU has an automated scoring tool that is used, making the application simple, and funding as quick as three days.

WPCU will never revoke their commitment to lend to a small business simply because the whims of the market. It’s about helping businesses grow and promote job growth.

WPCU has over 300,000 members and 760 employees. 31 branches in Ohio, with five in Columbus metro area.

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With more than 60 years as an integral part of the Grandview, Upper Arlington and Marble Cliff communities, the TriVillage Chamber Partnership is dedicated to a singular purpose - the success of the business community.

To schedule a guest appearance, or find out more about sponsoring Business Inspires, send an email to michelle@chamberpartnership.org

Please take a moment to rate and review our podcast in iTunes.  That helps us spread the word about Business Inspires!

TriVillage Chamber Partnership
Destination Grandview
Wright Patt Credit Union

Podcast affiliate of Circle270Media Network

Business Inspires Episode 1 – Starburst Media

We are excited to share the premier of our new monthly podcast, Business Inspires, from the Tri-Village Chamber Partnership.

To run a successful business, you need resources, valuable connections and community recognition. Business Inspires will provide you with the tools you need and do exactly that, inspire you to create the business you are envisioning.

Our first podcast features a conversation with Laura Oldham, owner of Starburst Media and current president of the TVCP. Starburst Media is a digital marketing company that specializes in working with small businesses on their website, copywriting and social media needs.

Laura discusses topics including:

The business of digital marketing:

There’s really not any predictability, which is something that I thrive on, the constant stress of what might pop up day to day. That’s something that I really like about having my own small business.

The changing nature of a small business:

When I started I thought it was just going to be copywriting and social media because that’s what I had all the experience in. But every single business that came to me and that I talked to, they all wanted help with their websites. Every small business needed even the simplest website.

Helping other small businesses:

At the very beginning the whole goal was to be able to help people like my parents, both of whom own their own small businesses. The big issue that they had was they would want a website but developers would charge them a ton and not be willing to help them when they needed to make small changes. So what I wanted to do was come up with a way to basically empower these small business owners to make changes themselves.

Listen to find out about the first website Laura made, for which she got paid in bacon, and how she and her husband fell in love with Columbus during a visit on ComFest weekend. Hear all of that and more on our first episode of Business Inspires!

How to listen

• Stream Business Inspires via Spreaker
• Subscribe to the Business Inspires podcast on iTunes
• Find us on Google Play
• Listen via YouTube
• Stream on SoundCloud
• Stitcher
• And look for us on your favorite podcast services. We should be there. If we aren’t, let us know!

http://chamberpartnership.org/

http://www.destinationgrandview.org

http://www.starburstcolumbus.com

http://www.columbusfoodadventures.com

Podcast affiliate of Circle270Media Network - http://www.circle270media.com

Business Inspires Podcast Premier on 1/23/17

The TriVillage Chamber Partnership will premier a new podcast, Business Inspires, on Monday, February 13th. Their first podcast features a conversation with Laura Oldham, Starburst Media. Laura is serving as the current Chairwoman for the TVCP Board of Directors.

To run a successful business, you need resources, valuable connections and community recognition. Business Inspires will provide you with the tools, resources and examples to inspire you to create the business you are envisioning.

With more than 60 years as an integral part of the Grandview, Upper Arlington and Marble Cliff communities, the TriVillage Chamber Partnership is dedicated to a singular purpose — the success of the business community.

We'll also talk with Columbus Food Adventures, thanks to Destination Grandview.

Mark your calendar for next Monday, February 13th and listen in on your iPhone Podcast app, GooglePlay or your favorite podcast player! A promo for the podcast is available now. Subscribe on your smartphone today!

To schedule a guest appearance, or find out more about sponsoring Business Inspires, send an email to michelle@chamberpartnership.org Please take a moment to rate and review our podcast in iTunes. That helps us spread the word about Business Inspires!

Our partnership with North American Broadcasting has made the podcast possible!

Starburst Media

This is business inspires a monthly podcast of the tri Village Chamber partnership to run a successful business you need resources valuable connections and community recognition. Business inspires will provide you with the tools resources and examples to inspire you to create the business you are envisioning. Here's Michelle Wilson executive director of the tri Village Chamber partnership.

Welcome to our first of many. Business inspires podcasts. In this episode we're speaking with Laura Oldham of Starburst media. Laura thank you so much for being our first guest on business inspirers thank you for having me. We want to talk to you today about your decision to start a business move to Columbus all those things that you did a few years back and just be candid. And we just want to hear your real story. So let's start out with a fun question which was what did Laura want to be when she grew up.

That is a funny question because I wanted to be so many different things. I would say probably top 10. I wanted to be a writer an actress a restaurant owner a scientist.

I wanted to be in math. I really enjoyed history and considered psychology. So it's really that's very right brain left brain. It was kind of all over the place it switched every week. So one week I'd be writing 20 page novels next week I would be cooking gourmet grilled cheese for my siblings so it was kind of all over the place.

That's awesome. So how how does some of your childhood dreams tie into what you do today.

Well I was kind of thinking about that a few weeks ago actually. Where did I land. Where I am now which is on the Internet. It's funny because every day I kind of do a little bit of all the things I wanted to do. I write every day not necessarily for Saturday Night Live like I want to do. I get to write sometimes funny for some clients sometimes very serious law firm content but it's all over the place which kind of I mean when I was a kid what I wanted to be was all over the place. So from day to day everything is different. There's really not any predictability which is something that I thrive on as is the constant stress of what might pop up day to day. And that's something that I really like about just having my own small business because I do accounting which I like I was in an accounting club in high school and won statewide Titus's.

So I mean there's the math there's the words there's acting like I like to network because it's such a hard thing for me. It's just a little bit of all the things I always wanted to do.

And Laura you serve as our chamber president so networking is a big part of what the Chamber does when we connect businesses and you do you do do that. And that's great that you can act that way but also that you do. You do a very good job of that and you do help us connect businesses each day. So you touch a little bit on what you do with business. But tell us about Starbursts media.

Sure. So I started starburst media almost seven years ago. I was living in Chicago without any financial responsibilities so it was very easy for me to quit. At the time I was working at two different bars as well as a Internet startup. So it wasn't. It wasn't difficult to kind of throw everything to the side because I didn't have a mortgage or a child or all the things that I have as commitments today and I was very fortunate where my then boyfriend now husband encouraged me to do it and said he would be willing to financially support me during the inevitably hard first few years. But my background was in journalism and advertising copywriting was kind of the jump I took after college and then Digital Marketing working with some Internet startups so I kind of wanted to roll up all of the skills basically that I'd come up with and try to come up with a way to do it for myself that wasn't having to work 80 hour weeks so that I could actually pay my rent in Chicago. So what I started I thought I was going to be just copywriting and social media because that's what I had all the experience in. But every single business that came to me and that I talked to they all wanted help with their websites. Every small business needed even the simplest Web site. So when this was you know seven years ago I started taking classes on Linda and Skillshare and whatever other free or very inexpensive services I could find to learn to e-mail and see is sent a little bit about you know Page P and JavaScript and I'm not an expert necessarily in coding but I know enough that I can get a simple website for small business together pretty quickly and it's evolved a lot since then where I work with a lot you know bigger businesses and more complicated Web sites.

But at the very beginning the whole goal was to be able to help people like my parents both of them own their own small businesses and the big issue that they had was they would want a web site but developers would charge them a ton and not be willing to help them when they need to make small changes. So what I wanted to do was come up with a way to basically empower these small business owners to make changes themselves. So my philosophy has always been to provide tutorials at the end when a website launched so that the small business owner doesn't necessarily need to depend upon someone like me when they have a new employee join their team. So that was kind of how I evolved into doing websites and now day to day. Probably about 80 percent of my time is doing websites and the social media and copywriting is done by my assistant who does a fantastic job of keeping up with that whereas I am really enjoying doing the website work now. So that's what you prefer. It's what too. Yeah exactly. But I still like helping with the social media. But the older and more tired I get a social media posting is a little tough. So what was the very first website you designed it was actually at the bar.

I was working at the time it was for Patti Long's beer and bacon pub in Chicago was a 300 dollar bar trade show. The first website I built I got a lot of bacon and some beer out of it.

Ok great. God bless Pat the owner be willing to let me try and having faith in me. But he was. That was my first big quote unquote big website. And my first ongoing social media client and it was really fun to watch them. They landed on the Travel Channel and the Food Network and all these other places while I was doing the social media and it felt it felt like hey this is you know this is actually helping their business. It was a really cool way to start. And what brought you to Columbus. Well we dug and I realized was we could we had gotten what we wanted to get out of Chicago Basically we weren't going to the museums we weren't going to the beach to play volleyball we were going to the same bar and restaurant down the street ordering in the same Chinese takeout. But we were paying a lot more for a very very small place. And when we got serious about you know we're going to want to fambly at some point. We want to house and if we want to do that in Chicago we're going to need to make millions of dollars more because we weren't we weren't interested necessarily and moving to the Chicago suburbs where it takes two hours to get into the city.

So we did a tour of the Midwest basically and consider different cities like Pittsburgh Louisville since Cincinnati and Cleveland and we came to visit Columbus. It was the first time I'd been here since college which I had in my head what Columbus was and it was you know being drunk and I other streets on campus and we came to Columbus to visit just to see what it was like. And it happened to be Kompass weekend and we fell in love. And we we just what a great energy young city but not necessarily in age but more so.

And the way that the city felt like it's on the verge of really growing into something even more awesome than it already is. So another very irresponsible but gut reaction we got on Craigslist and we found an apartment and we didn't see it before we got it. But it's in the Grand View area. And we rolled up with a U-Haul at about 10:00 on a Tuesday night.

My gosh look at this adorable neighborhood. There's this cute little theater. There is all these restaurants and bars and it was just kind of by dumb luck that we landed in the area after doing some research on LinkedIn and Yelp and we just love the tri Village area.

We moved five and a half years ago and now we have a house in Upper Arlington and we have a yard and a dog and a child and all the things that we knew you know almost a decade ago that we're not going to happen within the city limits of Chicago.

Great. So how did you start your business here. How did you reach out to potential clients and establish yourself.

You know this is going to be the greatest endorsement for the chamber but the first thing I did before I even move indoors away to move to Columbus was I reached out to Michelle and I said I'm a small business owner looking to grow my business and I'm going to be moving. Actually I said I'm going to be moving to Grandview. And we set up our meeting at stops and that was a day or two after we had moved to Columbus. And Michelle told me that we were actually in fifth by Northwest not in Granby. So the Craigslist listing wasn't necessarily completely truthful but that's totally fine where in the grand view area and I met with you and joined the chamber I think the next day started coming to all the luncheons and being very nervous about it but it was honestly the best move I could make as far as. I met so many people who immediately were like oh my gosh you know I've been looking for someone who could help me with my website. You know I have a local restaurant or travel agency or whatever. And it's been wonderful where I've had a chance to work with all these small businesses especially in the tri Village area and I feel like I get to make great connections with these people and actually hopefully make a difference in their business in their day to day lives.

Well I definitely think you do and I think that's the beauty of our area is that. And working with other small business owners is that you get to make these connections and they become friends down the road or they come back to you for more business. And if it's for instance coding or something that is something you might need to farm out then you know we refer these businesses on to other people and we keep all these connections going and it's very beneficial to everybody involved. So tell me what some of the challenges you have been through or faced as a small business owner whether it was just starting out or even currently what are some challenges that you're facing.

I mean I'd say month to month the challenge is change. Obviously the biggest stress is whether I will be able to pay my bills because month month you don't know how much work is going to come in and how many you know computers are going to crash which last year I had two computers that needed to be completely replaced which was no thank goodness I could. But you just don't know what's going to pop up day to day. And be able to pay for child care is real as a real stress when you don't know every two weeks you're going to get this dollar amount check.

I mean that's been a stress from the beginning and I can't imagine any day when it's going to be completely out of the picture. I always have a fear that maybe I just I want my clients to always be happy I want them to feel like they are getting value from my work and that's something that I will probably always second guess myself on. But you know so what I in my office I've surrounded myself with. Thank you cards from clients from the last seven years to try to remind myself that people do appreciate what I'm doing and the time and effort that goes into the work we do for them even if they don't always often think it's been fortunate to have a lot who are very kind and said I was going to ask you how how you persevere when you when you face a challenge and if it sounds like one of your big challenges is self-assurance and so you know you're surrounding yourself with those those notes.

And I'm sure that gets you through moments but was there one really great piece of advice that somebody gave you along the way that really made you want to stick with what you were doing and not to throw in the towel and go find a corporate job that does guarantee a every two week paycheck with benefits.

So when I said I was going to start this.

Everyone said it was a foolish decision and it by all means it was. But Doug stuck by me and said you know this is your best bet because I don't really fit into a perfect job.

From a corporate job. I don't. There's nothing that would be my dream to do day to day. So for me being able to have all these crazy things that pop up is actually something that's good for me. As far as good advice. Just sticking with it and believing in myself is a thing that I strive to do everyday. My office has all these inspirational quotes that I've put up on the wall and some banners and pennants and I just try to keep it as the most positive. I literally switch to a standing desk so I'm always up physically but I would say just trying to stick with it. But you know being realistic. Sure.

How about talking about some of the sacrifices it takes to be a business owner or a small business owner.

So when I first started out and I did not have tons of clients it was a picnic. For me it's like literally living in Chicago. We would going I would say you want to go to the Cubs game today. Sure it's Wednesday afternoon. Why not. Let's walk to Wrigley and that is not my reality anymore. But you know first someone said to you when you work for yourself you can work whatever 16 hours a day you want. And at first I was like oh yeah ha ha. But more and more that is the reality that it's unfortunate that I really like what I do because I'm working most nights and weekends to try to make sure that I'm staying on top of all the requests. But I'd say work life balance is probably the biggest thing that you kind of have to accept you're never going to get exactly right especially once you have kids because there's all these wonderful ideas in your head of how things will look when you have children and you work for yourself. You say oh I'm going to be around so much more and I can work from home instead of having daycare. And the last year and a half of my life has definitely taught me a lot of lessons where there's not going to be a perfect balance but you know except whatever it is at that time and just kind of love it as much as you can.

That's great. So what if anything would you perhaps do differently if you were starting your business today already established in Columbus Ohio and with family and I would have maybe a hundred thousand dollars to back up when it started so I could feel a little bit smarter with the way things went but I don't know.

It's hard to say if I started my business now I'm a very different person in a very different time in my life than I was almost a decade ago where things would have to be a lot more calculated. I would probably be going to classes to make sure that I'm making a well thought out business plan instead of just kind of shooting from the hip. I'm fortunate that things have worked out how they have because on paper things probably shouldn't have because a lot of reckless decisions were made based entirely upon my gut such as moving to Columbus Ohio just because we thought it had a nice vibe like that is a ridiculous but I mean it did work out great.

Yeah yeah. That's fantastic. So I'd like to kind of wrap this up with. How does Laura Oldham define success.

For me I would say success is being able to comfortably pay my bills and feel like I'm making a difference in people's lives that I talk to every day. It means a lot to me when the general tone of emails texts facebook messages and calls from clients because I get all of them constantly when they're positive. I feel like OK this is I'm doing the right thing. This is this good I would say. Just being able to pay my bills and keep clients happy. That's what I would say is my success and you know day to day. Did you define.

Well congratulations and we're so happy to have you. And starburst here in our area and certainly helping a lot of clients and if people wanted to find Starbursts how would they do that.

You can visit my website Starbursts Colombus dot com. It's got a lot of clients on the portfolio from the tri Village area things too. Honestly my involvement with the chamber then Granby Area Chamber now tri Village Chamber has been fantastic for me to be able to find people to work with.

Great thank you so much. We appreciate you joining us on Business inspirers. Thank you.

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