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Community Is the Design: Inside Denver's Green Spaces with Jevon Taylor · Seated with Furniture Row

0:01
Hi, and welcome to the Seated podcast with Furniture Row.
0:04
I'm Jessa, creative director and design extraordinaire, and I'm
0:08
Barb, interior designer and buyer.
0:13
Hello and welcome to Seated with Furniture Row.
0:18
We've been traveling around a little to different locations
0:22
and today we're in a beautiful community space called Green
0:26
Spaces with Javon. Welcome to two seated with
0:31
Furniture Row. Javon Taylor is You're the
0:37
founder of Green Spaces. Owner.
0:40
Owner, founder and owner of Green Spaces.
0:43
And you just are really focused on shaping environments where
0:47
sustainability, connection, and culture come together.
0:50
And you just provide the spaces that we can directly impact how
0:54
people feel, gather, and grow. You tell me about you.
0:59
Yeah. I mean to clarify, green spaces
1:01
has been things like 2009, it was one of the first Co working
1:04
spaces here in Denver and I took over in 2022 and kind of
1:08
revamped the entire business model to make it more than a Co
1:12
working space and support small businesses and events etcetera.
1:18
But I'm a dimmer native, born and raised here in Denver, grew
1:22
up playing sports and went to Kansas City on a basketball
1:25
scholarship. And Long story short, ended up
1:29
graduating like 2017 and had the idea to start environmental
1:34
clothing brand to really just advocate as like we as consumers
1:39
have a lot more power than than we think we do.
1:41
And that sparked me opening up my first retail location down
1:46
the street from Green Spaces, actually in the middle of COVID.
1:49
And from there, I kind of just started doing a lot of things
1:55
that nothing do with clothing, started working with Patagonia,
1:59
with National Wildlife Federation school districts, and
2:02
really found a passion in community development.
2:04
And I think that's what gave me the ideas when I did that
2:09
opportunity star Green Spaces. So it really isn't like sparked
2:12
the initiative because green spaces being a Co working space
2:16
got hit hard during COVID. And so the old owner came to me
2:20
and was like, Hey, you have a lot of ideas for the space
2:23
because I had my team working out of here, my clothing brand.
2:25
And yeah, pretty much I pitched him.
2:28
So no ideas for the space. And we worked at a deal the end
2:32
of 2021 for me to take over the following year in 2022.
2:36
And yeah, it was pretty much the grind to turning into this.
2:41
Yeah, yeah, we're excited. We're what it's what it's
2:43
become. Well, and one of the reasons we
2:45
wanted to be here is because home isn't just about your house
2:51
always. It is truly about your
2:53
community, like people say, my hometown and our hometown of
2:59
Denver always benefits from community space and people being
3:05
able to work together. And I think it's one of the
3:07
things that makes it really special.
3:10
There's just like a creative spark here, like a pioneering
3:14
spirit and kind of allowing small businesses to come
3:18
together all in one place and with the community that also has
3:23
that same entrepreneurial or let's start something spark is
3:28
really great, yeah. No, for sure.
3:30
You know, they said you can like choose your family.
3:32
Yeah. I think you also like choose
3:34
your home. Yes.
3:35
And I think home is like where you belong or where you feel
3:38
belonging to. And yeah, I think that was also
3:40
a a layer of what dimmer was missing or has been missing over
3:44
the last. I would say I've been here.
3:46
Yeah. There's a a lack of belonging
3:48
from certain like natives and they end up going to different
3:52
bigger cities like DC or Chicago or.
3:54
That are more established. Exactly because they feel like
3:58
they can belong more there, because there's more
4:01
opportunities. And I think that's the mission
4:02
behind green spaces is how do we help people find home, you know,
4:06
do support through community, through access, etcetera.
4:11
Well, yeah, I love that intentionality of bringing
4:15
people together. And I think people here, it's
4:20
just a community full of transplants, so it can be hard
4:25
to come together around a shared mission and kind of giving
4:28
people that space is really important.
4:31
So would you say that's kind of the main, you know, problem you
4:35
were trying to solve or or what? What other issues were you kind
4:39
of trying to solve by taking over green spaces and developing
4:44
it? I think the biggest one's
4:45
access. Yeah.
4:46
You know, when I had my clothing store, we were one of one of few
4:52
minority owned businesses, but then also one of even fewer
4:56
small businesses in the area. Yeah.
4:58
So I was like, OK, when I take over green spaces, how do we
5:01
convert these old office spaces into retail spaces?
5:04
So it's like A to lower the barrier of entry, you know,
5:08
because if a small business who, you know, say you're just got
5:12
success in your online sales and you're looking to get a physical
5:16
space, you might not have the budget to pay, you know, four,
5:19
$5000 a month or upwards of $10,000 a month for retail space
5:24
in a prominent location. Of course, you can go to like
5:26
Aurora or Thornton, but like those are smaller markets.
5:29
So you're not really making any money, but it's affordable.
5:31
Yeah. So here I was like, OK, we're in
5:33
the heart of a prominent district.
5:34
It's full of creative, full of community, other also large
5:37
businesses. How do we create a access, you
5:41
know, for small businesses and creatives to not only have their
5:44
businesses, but to have their events?
5:46
I mean, we have, we've had events from yoga classes, the
5:50
conferences to nonprofit gatherings, you name it, we've
5:53
had it here. And, you know, we've kind of
5:56
lowered that barrier of entry, you know, through just providing
5:58
access. Right, just for people to kind
6:02
of know about those events too and not have like this high cost
6:06
or have to be part of the secret group to understand what's going
6:09
on. And just for context, we are,
6:13
when we were talking about the Arts District of Denver, we're
6:15
in the River North Arts District, which is just the
6:20
center of community life in Denver more formally.
6:27
Obviously we have little neighborhoods throughout Denver
6:30
like you mentioned, but I think when people think of downtown,
6:35
they think of this area and it's very creative.
6:39
We have graffiti walls throughout the neighborhood that
6:44
are really curated by really talented graffiti artists and it
6:51
there are galleries here. It is a creative arts community.
6:56
A lot of new companies start here and new concepts and then
7:02
concepts from around the US that are kind of niche and maybe only
7:06
have a couple locations decide to open locations in this area
7:12
just because it's creative and it's fostering of new ideas.
7:16
So yeah, I think it's a really great intentional place that you
7:21
chose. So another question that we like
7:25
to ask all of our guests, just kind of tying it back to how you
7:31
curated this space was what is your idea of perfect home decor?
7:41
Personally, I really enjoy. I don't know if you guys have
7:46
heard of Louise Barragan. He's an architect and he's
7:51
pretty famous in Mexico City. He has like 5 homes and there
7:54
most of them are museums now OK, but a lot of natural elements.
7:58
He's also known to have like these beautiful gardens in his
8:00
home or just yards. And some of his homes are like
8:04
made in the middle of like volcanic settling and all these
8:10
different things. But like there's no AC all like
8:12
the windows and air access points are like perfectly placed
8:16
and there's light points and etcetera.
8:18
Also like James Terrell and his architecture, how he's able to
8:21
bring in light to rooms. So personally, I enjoy that
8:25
style. Of course, in my personal home
8:27
right now, like there's tons of plants and windows and I like to
8:33
find different elements from like I like to travel a lot as
8:36
well. So there's a lot of elements
8:37
from Mexico City, from Europe, from all different places.
8:40
I've been there like intentionally curated, got to
8:44
have dog friendly spaces. I have three dogs so a little
8:47
bit of that, but I try to keep it as minimal as possible and
8:50
just like for the furniture, really keep it as comfy as
8:53
possible. Purpose driven.
8:55
Purpose driven. Yeah, my living room is my
8:58
that's my favorite room in the space, right?
9:01
So yeah, just making it real cozy.
9:03
I want to feel homey. I want to feel like open and
9:05
free and just like a welcoming space where I can like host, you
9:09
know, intentional community as well.
9:11
Well, what is intentional community mean to you in real
9:14
life? It's a good question.
9:17
I think it means, oh, just really curating people around
9:22
you that are, you know, that your values aligned with
9:26
curating people around you that are pushing.
9:29
Personally, I'm a visionary. So like people that are pushing
9:32
visions forward and are going after a dream, right?
9:37
And I think also when you create a space, like it's not always
9:40
about you putting things in it, but also like leaving space,
9:43
yeah, for people to show up as they are and kind of put their
9:47
spin on it as well, right? And I think that's what we've
9:49
done here. Green spaces is, you know, of
9:51
course we put our, we provide the space and but we kind of
9:55
give a shell and then let the community curate itself or plant
9:58
whatever seeds they want to plant in that garden per SE.
10:02
But I think one of the through lines I'm getting from you is
10:06
just integration, like integrating different influences
10:13
in your interior design. You know, when you were saying
10:16
you were creating your fashion line, it wasn't just about
10:21
fashion. You had to kind of like look at
10:23
all these other different influences and how you wanted to
10:26
create. And, and I think that is what
10:30
true art is, is being able to take a bunch of influences and
10:36
curate them together into a whole.
10:41
It's not just about what's the end product.
10:43
It's like how do what's the process more so?
10:46
And I think that's what green spaces is, is it's creating, you
10:51
know, minimalist, yeah, intentional setups that allow
10:56
people to impart their own influence on.
11:00
Yeah, I mean, even when I first, well before I was in the process
11:04
of taking all the green spaces, I like pitching the idea of like
11:07
I'm going to create a, a Co working space that has events in
11:11
the marketplace and all these different elements in like to a
11:14
person who hasn't been in the space now, like it kind of
11:17
sounds like you're trying to do too much or like you're trying
11:19
to put too many things in one building.
11:20
And and now that we've tried to prove a concept, it's like, ah,
11:24
it makes sense. But I think that's one thing
11:26
I've always enjoyed is like curating partnerships that don't
11:30
necessarily make sense on paper, but like, once you see the
11:33
effect of them, it's like, ah, that makes sense.
11:36
Well, and I think our propensity as a community is to be a lot
11:40
more dynamic than we used to be. We I think historically just as
11:46
a people want to put things in a box like concepts in a box.
11:51
But one of the most exciting things about present day is that
11:57
all of these concepts that don't fit squarely in this neat little
12:01
box. Oh, it's a Co working space, you
12:03
know, but it's so much more than that are becoming more familiar
12:11
and it's just expanding everybody's mind.
12:16
And I think it's great because people need a community space
12:20
for different parts of their life.
12:23
We all we've talked about before on the podcast, we need a third
12:27
space. Humans are naturally social
12:32
creatures and we can't just be in our house all the time.
12:35
So really being intentional about where are we spending our
12:39
time outside of our house and having that third space for
12:43
whether we want to be social or we want to get out of our house
12:46
so that our work day doesn't look the same every day.
12:50
It's great to have. Yeah.
12:51
And I think third space is really like delete a lot of
12:55
barriers we put in our lives. And I think we put these false.
12:58
They're like, you know, yeah, I guess false barriers or
13:02
boundaries. You know, I think even we look
13:04
at like the map of like states, there's no boundary between
13:08
Colorado and like New Mexico outside of like a sign on the
13:11
highway. You know, I think we do that on
13:13
our lodge as well, Like, oh, it's just a Co working space.
13:15
It's just this. And it's like, why can't it just
13:18
be what it is? Yeah.
13:20
And and just like accept, but that's kind of, I think I try to
13:24
like delete the barriers that we put on ourselves.
13:26
Is there a detail you've seen completely change how people
13:30
interact in a space? Like something that really
13:33
stands out. I mean lately shout out to
13:36
Furniture Row. I think this furniture truly
13:39
added a different elements to our space.
13:42
I think we were always trying to hit the cozy minimal vibe, but I
13:46
think we've in partnership with you all have like been able to
13:49
hit that finally where it looks legit like the patterns of the
13:53
rugs and the and the couches match.
13:55
And that's not like we're trying to do too much if this is space
13:58
perfectly. So I think that's added a whole
14:00
different elements our space. And I think it when people come
14:02
in and they're having their coffee or tea or meeting with
14:05
their friend or colleague, like it's, it's just more comforting,
14:09
but you know. For sure.
14:10
Yeah, well, any space, whether it's your home or your office or
14:16
your Co working space or Community Center, it's kind of
14:19
like you can't expect to just have one place that you're
14:25
always going to be productive at or, you know, have conversations
14:29
that I think we have like when your friends are like let's get
14:33
coffee, I always picture just two people sitting at a table
14:37
together. Or when you're working at a
14:39
coffee shop, it's easy to just like think of you sitting at a
14:42
table on your computer. But that's not always what's
14:45
going to drive your creativity or your productivity on any
14:50
given day. And so having a space to be
14:53
comfortable and the sofa that's like supportive, but I could set
14:58
my laptop on the arm of it because that's just, I'm in the
15:01
mood for that and. The color of it drives you
15:03
creativity. Yeah, looking at like a black or
15:05
like a just a normal grey. Yeah, Brown.
15:08
Couch it's like this is only what kind of green this is, but
15:11
it's like, you know, matcha ish green and yeah, it fits in like
15:14
yeah, I don't know, it just adds a different element.
15:16
Yeah. Overall, yeah, I do see the
15:21
impact of you letting nature sing a little bit, which is
15:27
really refreshing to everyone because I think we all crave
15:30
that to a different degree. Is there anything that you
15:34
really try to do to curate sustainable furniture or
15:41
sustainable spaces? Yeah.
15:46
I mean, the goal behind green spaces is like really to I guess
15:51
expand on the definition of sustainability and how it goes
15:54
beyond just like the earthly definition of like we're going
15:58
to save the turtles and save the trees.
16:00
And like yes, that is very important that we try to do that
16:02
as. Well, yeah.
16:04
It's like, how do you create spaces that like retains talent
16:08
and retains community? And yeah, that's kind of what
16:13
green space definition of sustainability is.
16:15
It's yeah, just providing the access, retaining that
16:20
community, retaining the talent and creating the spaces for it
16:24
to thrive in. Sure.
16:25
And kind of stepping back and and letting community and
16:29
creatives do what they do. Right.
16:31
Well, I think, you know, we all have the idea of this is what we
16:35
need to do to save the OR, you know, we need to save the
16:38
turtles. But we got to break it down into
16:41
what does that look like on a daily basis?
16:43
And, and just like in all areas of the community.
16:46
And I feel like people have a really good idea of what that
16:48
means in their home, but what does that mean in their hometown
16:52
as well? And what you're saying about
16:53
retaining talent is important because if you're constantly,
16:57
like, going through people, like, you're not really
17:00
investing in what they have to give.
17:02
And you're spending your energy just like trying to find new
17:06
people instead of trying to, like, push the initiatives
17:11
forward that are so important. I mean, even like shameless plug
17:15
to to Kelsey and obscure, like, you know, the best tattoo
17:18
artists, you know, beyond Colorado and she could be
17:21
anywhere. But like, you know, she
17:23
transitioned from her old tattoo shop and then found a home here.
17:27
And, you know, it's made a lot of connections and it has grown
17:29
our business. And it's like that's an example
17:31
of like retaining that talent, providing that access to a space
17:36
where people can belong, you know, or call home.
17:40
So. When we've got to get away from
17:42
the idea that people or designs or even furniture are just
17:50
replaceable. Because I think that we spend a
17:54
lot of time finding somebody or something that fits perfectly
18:00
within the puzzle piece of what we're trying to build.
18:02
And you can't just say, oh, I'll find another tattoo artist.
18:07
I'm sure you you would. But it's like really
18:09
intentionally finding what you're looking for to fit goal
18:15
makes people feel valued and making them feel that way.
18:19
And like, there's certain small businesses or people who are
18:21
like, oh, like, my friend should be here.
18:23
Like right? Sometimes it's true, like they
18:24
could be here, but like, there's also a certain level of like,
18:28
filtering you have to, you know, create when you're creating
18:32
spaces like this, right? Because like 1, you want to
18:35
bring in people who have good communities as well.
18:37
Yeah, You know, because we bring in a bad apple can kind of ruin
18:39
everything for sure. It's all about the vibe.
18:42
Exactly. Yeah.
18:43
And then you want people who are, like, serious about their
18:45
business. You want people who are, you
18:46
know, wanting to have the same vision as you.
18:49
Like, how can I build this community as well?
18:51
How can I bring my community in here?
18:52
How can I connect others around me?
18:54
How can I just enhance the overall because it goes beyond
18:57
the space, too. Like, yeah, like I'll preach to
18:59
everybody in here. Like what we're doing here goes
19:02
beyond just these wall boundaries.
19:04
It's it's for the whole city. You know, we're pioneering
19:07
something that doesn't exist. And now we're able to expand
19:10
that to downtown now and hopefully further beyond that.
19:13
Right. You're opening a new location,
19:16
right? Yeah, that's very exciting.
19:18
Yeah, opening on 16th St. in partnership with 9 businesses
19:25
bringing them downtown. It's a city supported project
19:29
where we are taking over a whole block on 16th St. so between
19:33
16th and Welland and 16th California.
19:35
And it's going to be a mix of retail spaces, restaurants,
19:40
coffee shops, makerspace, art galleries, event space, the
19:46
whole 9. And our whole goal is to, you
19:49
know, really give people a taste of within rest offer, because
19:53
right now you can go on 16th St. and and find nothing from
19:57
Denver, you know, but that's our main pillar.
19:59
Like you, you visit that you visit Denver like you're going
20:01
to, you know, go to 16th St. And I want to give like people
20:06
an opportunity like this is where you also find Denver on
20:09
this block. Yeah.
20:11
And give them the best that we have, you know, everything from
20:13
Ethiopian food to Mexican foods to our artists who really dope
20:18
coffee shops and also create elevated spaces that Denver
20:23
hasn't seen as well. Right.
20:25
Well, it's like you're bringing the neighborhoods together a
20:27
little bit as you kind of talk about the different ideas that
20:32
are going in that space. I think of Santa Fe, I think
20:36
like the arts district there and, and yeah, just like all
20:40
sorts of different neighborhoods kind of coming together.
20:44
And I think that is sustainable as well because instead of
20:51
putting effort into bringing in a chain that you can find
20:55
anywhere, it's like let's invest in what's close and and stop
21:03
bringing ideas and things from all over the place.
21:08
It like far away in and just focus on what's nearby.
21:12
So I feel like that's really been missing from 16th St. and
21:17
I'm excited to have it, I think. And honestly, I feel like the
21:20
majority of downtowns are kind of in that same boat.
21:24
Like, yeah, they feel more comfortable inviting national
21:26
brands to come in. Yeah.
21:28
But when you look at like, it's safer.
21:29
It's safer per SE, but like say, like when COVID hits something
21:33
like that, who's the 1st to leave?
21:35
Yeah, the national brands because it's like.
21:37
They're not invested. Exactly.
21:39
So like when you bring in the local businesses, they haven't
21:42
vested interest because it's like that's where they're based
21:44
to the community is with the families are etcetera.
21:47
And luckily we've been able to partner with the city to also
21:50
not only provide access, but give the the tenants like us
21:54
affordable space to go, you know, they're paying 1/3 of
21:57
what, you know, the cost of, you know, a National Railway paying
22:02
downtown and give them a long term opportunity and for like 5
22:06
years. So yeah.
22:09
And I think Denver is one of the only cities that's, you know,
22:12
putting those kind of dollars or actual resources behind this
22:17
kind of initiative. So I'm glad we get to kind of
22:20
get to be Guinea pigs and select all the data that we need to see
22:24
how we can expand to other like Tier 2 cities that are also
22:27
trying to find greater ways to revitalize our downtown.
22:30
Well, and when an investment is made into quality and heart and
22:38
actual creativity, then there's less having to replace and the
22:45
construction and all the things that go with turnover because
22:49
people are actually going to authentically enjoy what is in
22:56
place and, and the culture that's being created.
23:00
So I like that piece of that. I mean, it's kind of like in
23:04
furniture. If you buy IKEA, yeah, it's a
23:07
safe bet it's going to be affordable.
23:13
But is it going to last for 10 plus years?
23:18
You know, is it going to last a long time or are you just going
23:22
to have to keep replacing things?
23:24
And so I think it's nice whether you're talking about, yeah,
23:28
curating a home, a space like just like the actual logistics
23:32
of construction in any space that you build in a, in a city,
23:37
what's actually going to last year and what are people going
23:40
to attach to? And not just, you know, what's
23:43
going to be safe and make people comfortable to, you know, go
23:47
into this establishment because it's well known.
23:50
Yeah. And it's kind.
23:50
Of like you talked about earlier, like regarding
23:52
sustainability, yeah, I think certain large organizations or
23:56
cities, they like try to put these like Band-Aid or like
23:59
Febreze over a trash can. Solutions in place when you
24:03
know, OK, once that Febreze, you know, kicks off, that trash is
24:05
gonna start smelling. Again, still there.
24:07
Yeah. So it's like, how do we create
24:08
more longer term solutions? Yeah, how do we actually take
24:11
the trash out? Exactly.
24:15
For sure it might be a longer process, but in the long term
24:17
it'll pay off. Yeah, how do you avoid
24:20
performative sustainability? Define performative
24:27
sustainability I. Think people put labels on
24:31
things and say, oh, you know, BPA free or this has really, you
24:38
know, sustainable materials, but the process in making things
24:44
sustainable isn't actually there.
24:48
It's just, yeah, they slap a label on something and say, oh,
24:53
it's made with, you know, whatever buzzword.
24:57
It's marketing, but it's not actually.
24:59
Yeah, I, I think it comes down to like the core ethos of like,
25:02
you know, what you're building and, and also being able to show
25:06
like real data, yeah, behind, you know, what you're doing.
25:08
Because to your point, it's easy to slap a ABPA or, you know,
25:12
something on the, on the logo or something.
25:14
But like, how do you actually like, no, this is what we're
25:18
actually doing and here are the numbers to prove it.
25:20
And I think that's what we're looking to do downtown with our
25:23
sustainable initiative is like, yes, we're saying we're for the
25:27
community. We're saying this can be built
25:28
by the community and we're actually going to show that and
25:31
then also show like how that benefits everything else around
25:34
it to therefore scale it, which is the sustainability of it.
25:39
You know, it's going to go beyond this five years that we
25:42
have the contract with the city. It's going to even go beyond the
25:46
city of Denver. And I think that's real
25:48
sustainability. Yeah.
25:51
Because I mean kind of just ranting at this point, but like.
25:56
We all need a good rant. Like we want to like long term,
26:01
how do we collect all the data that we need for not only like
26:04
foot traffic, but the taxable revenue that's generated, the
26:07
jobs that are created, the, the vibrancy that's improved, the
26:12
belonging that people feel in the city, like collect all that
26:15
data and then be able to show that to a city or state of
26:19
Colorado. And like, how do we get this
26:23
initiative on one of those bond votes?
26:25
And we like 2A to 2F, you know, 3-4 years from now we're able to
26:28
get bond dollars or tax dollars support.
26:31
Instead of 10 businesses coming downtown, we can get 30 more
26:35
downtown with these dollars. Right, exactly.
26:39
These spaces so it's like. And that is huge because you
26:42
can't just say like, oh, it would be great if like smaller
26:46
businesses were available where the main foot traffic is.
26:50
If they can't afford the real estate to be there, you know,
26:53
and you can't, you know, get the masses behind sustainable
26:58
initiatives of, you know, buying higher quality furniture or you
27:03
know, buying more sustainable things for their home and having
27:09
sustainable practices if it's not affordable for everyone.
27:13
Yeah, exactly. And it's like I think to your
27:16
point of how do you your earlier question of how do you like it's
27:21
like how do you keep things sustainable or how do you like
27:24
pretty much stopping greenwashing with the BPA
27:27
calling that solution like it's being able to be held
27:29
accountable of like, you know, we're not going to wait till
27:33
2040 to start these initiatives. It's like we're going to show
27:37
that like. Yeah.
27:39
Here's our long term vision, right here's how you can hold
27:41
accountable year one through 15. You know, because your tangible
27:46
like goals that we have. Right.
27:48
Well, and even it's all kind of in the details too.
27:51
Like when I came in here, I got a coffee and your barista was
27:55
pressing things through a strainer and I was like, what is
27:59
that? And she's like, oh, it's her
28:01
rose cardamom syrup that I'm making, you know.
28:03
So it's like in house, like from actual like cardamom and rose
28:09
petals. It's not like I'm importing this
28:12
random syrup from this big company and it's just, you know,
28:17
chemicals in our coffee. It's like we're actually going
28:20
to like, make this. I'd never knew.
28:22
How much? Of art coffee was until I
28:26
started working with amigas like coffee is an art and there's so
28:30
many layers that go into I was like wow, blew my mind about
28:33
coffee just coffee and I. Was just like no no it's it's
28:35
about the milk and what kind of milk temperature have filler
28:40
yeah I'm. Pulling it a disagree I'm.
28:42
Like, yeah. Over my head now.
28:44
I'm a coffee nerd, so you know K cups don't do it for me.
28:49
I. Actually, I get a little bit
28:51
offended by K cups. I appreciate the hand pressed
28:57
cardamom rose syrup. But yeah, it is down to just
29:01
like those little details of let's do the thing in every,
29:07
let's be intentional in every step of who we bring in and how
29:11
we operate. And like, yeah, I love the
29:15
plants that you have creating just like the space that people
29:19
feel like they're getting a little taste of nature that the
29:23
air's, you know, clean, like plants clean the air.
29:27
So that's kind of cool. And yeah, just the the quality
29:31
furniture that's going to last over time with table tops that
29:36
can be cleaned so that if they get, you know, there's no ring
29:39
stains where you have to replace.
29:41
And they call it Smart Top. Yeah, yeah, smart top tables.
29:45
So you can just, there's no. Say that 10 times Fest.
29:48
Yeah, if you could fix one thing about how people build spaces,
29:53
what would it be? I think people try to replicate
30:01
too many things and like they lack a little bit individuality.
30:06
Yeah. Kind of like spaces who do have
30:10
the individualistic elements to them stand out dramatically
30:14
versus other spaces. People gravitate toward.
30:17
It yeah, exactly. And I think people spend too
30:19
much time on Pinterest. Yeah, it's like actually like
30:22
feel your space and like what is this space need?
30:24
What do I feel like this space needs Yeah, what are my
30:27
stakeholders feel like this space needs.
30:29
It's technical to meeting like community and sort of but yeah,
30:33
I think people like hey dog. So Leo, hi.
30:39
I spend too much time like, you know, trying to replicate other
30:42
ideas rather than like Leo. He can, He can.
30:46
Join, but he's a welcome guest. It's very exciting.
30:53
It's part of the community. Oh my goodness, Leo man,
30:59
one-on-one. Who's Leo?
31:01
Let's do a little introduction. So Leo is my dog.
31:05
He's a kelpie based in Australia.
31:08
OK, but he's four. Yes, Years old.
31:11
Yeah. And he's just a hyper.
31:13
Dad. There you are, Daddy.
31:15
'S where I guess, yeah, but now he's cool.
31:17
He's he's my top flight security.
31:19
OK, OK. And Benny's around here
31:22
somewhere, but. Yeah.
31:25
And Leo's known to crash interviews.
31:26
He's I. Love it.
31:28
Yeah, we need, we need an interview, an extra interview
31:32
guest here to to lighten the mood.
31:36
But yeah, I mean, it also goes back to like, it's a dog
31:38
friendly space and nothing's too precious here.
31:43
You can be comfortable and have your pets.
31:46
So I love that for sure. You were saying that spaces that
31:52
are built based off of your stakeholders being the community
31:55
are more important than like just the safety aspect because
32:00
it's actually something that people can get behind well.
32:04
Yeah, it's like, who's going to be using your space?
32:06
Yeah, you know, yeah. The Pinterest audience or like
32:09
your actual community, right? You know, so like build on that
32:12
rather than just like, oh, I think this looks cool, right?
32:15
Because I saw it online rather than like, Oh, my community said
32:19
they wanted this, so let's put this in the space.
32:22
And you can always like take inspiration from things, but I
32:24
think that we do get stuck too much in looking for outward
32:33
ideas, looking outward for ideas and validation instead of
32:39
looking inward. And not just like in ourselves
32:44
individually, but in our community and in our space.
32:49
So I, I like the idea of asking those authentic questions.
32:52
And I think that's where, you know, like AI can be a great
32:56
tool, but it is so iterative. Like it's it's taking all of the
33:05
ideas that people have had before and bringing them
33:07
together and showing it to you instead of you giving.
33:11
I think it's really important that you give your input 1st and
33:14
then take. Like loud inspiration.
33:16
From there, yes. Your idea?
33:17
Your idea? Rather than like generate the
33:20
idea for you, Yeah, for. Sure.
33:21
Yeah. Your idea that you got by
33:23
looking at your community and getting questions answered that
33:28
way, Beyond 16th Street, where do you see yourself kind of
33:33
growing into or green spaces? Where do you see it growing
33:37
into? Man, that's a great question.
33:41
I'm kind of in a phase right now where I feel like we're stepping
33:45
into a new phase, like a new arena.
33:50
And I pretty much told myself that I'm going to lock in on
33:54
these next five years, make the 16th St. project the best thing
33:59
ever, collect all the data ever, and really just see what happens
34:05
from there. I think if we do it really
34:07
right, we'll open a lot of doors for ourselves beyond just like
34:13
space curators. And I would love to dive deeper
34:17
into the actual ownership structure of buildings, you
34:20
know, so we have more of a stake, some of these projects
34:24
and we have more of a say. So, you know, I think up to this
34:29
point, we've shown success of like coming into a space and re
34:33
envisioning it, but now how do we start owning spaces and also
34:38
give small businesses the opportunity to own their spaces
34:41
as well? I think that's the the real
34:43
impact. And then getting real dollars to
34:47
to fund those initiatives. I think that's the the next
34:50
phase. And it's kind of like building
34:54
these spaces out at scale, you know, and I think community
34:59
spaces can be through so many different mediums, right?
35:03
You know, I mean, we've shown it here, we're going to show it
35:05
even a larger scale downtown. But you know, community looks
35:09
like Co working. It looks like event space.
35:10
It looks like, you know, a marketplace, a coffee shop,
35:15
etcetera. And now it's going to be
35:18
restaurants and art galleries. And like there's so many
35:20
different mediums you can curate it through.
35:21
So I'm just looking to expand that.
35:23
And I mean, the world's changing so fast now.
35:27
Yeah, I think things drastically change within like weeks, you
35:32
know, rather than like years. Yeah, absolutely.
35:35
AI and new technology so. Well, in social media and people
35:38
being able to share ideas across the world, really like, oh, this
35:42
cool thing that they're doing in Mexico, we could bring it to, to
35:45
our space, you know? So I really like that aspect.
35:51
And I think that, yeah, I, I'm excited to watch it grow because
35:58
when you travel to new communities, I always feel like
36:01
I want more of a purpose than just to like eat and drink.
36:06
And so I like being able to be like, what does the community
36:09
actually look like in this new city?
36:13
Like, what are like people in Denver like, or what are people,
36:17
you know, in any given city like?
36:19
So he's just so comfortable. I love it.
36:27
But yeah, so I think that your space really answers that
36:31
question well and gives people activities and and things to
36:35
interact with and take in and learn from outside of just like,
36:39
let me try this, you know, raved about restaurant, which is also
36:42
great, you know, but it can't be like the only thing I feel like
36:46
we crave more. And I feel like that more is
36:51
constantly being redefined like you're saying, and quicker than
36:54
ever. So as we start to wrap up a
36:58
little bit, I'm going to just kind of ask some some questions,
37:05
little rapid fire questions just to close things out on a good
37:10
note, if you're cool with that. What is one small sustainable
37:16
habit you swear by? Could be like anything, just
37:19
like in your life or in your business.
37:24
I save a lot of water. OK, Yeah.
37:27
For sure, yeah. Eating sustainably, supporting
37:35
local farms. It's great.
37:37
Nice to be a local farmer prior to green spaces.
37:40
Live so many lives. Yeah.
37:43
It sounds like I. Say those are the biggest ones.
37:45
Yeah, well, that's awesome. What's the community space you
37:49
visited that's inspired you? There's this Co working space
37:55
slash community space in Mexico City.
37:57
It's called Hob HA A/B beautiful space.
38:02
It's like 4 stories and it's Co working, it's coffee shop, it's
38:06
Cafe, it's yoga studio upstairs and they do all kind of creative
38:11
music events and just a really, really dope spot.
38:15
Every time I go there I'm always inspired to like, level up.
38:18
Yeah, people from Mexico City seem so creative.
38:23
Everybody I've met there like like when I was in design
38:26
school, they would talk about like how they would have live
38:31
graphic design challenges, for example.
38:35
And so there would be like 2 graphic designers competing on
38:39
the big screen and there'd be like an audience, but it was
38:42
kind of like a club at the same time.
38:44
So I feel like innovation there. And from what you're saying is
38:47
so rich and people just are free to be creative and find ways?
38:54
That's one of many spaces out there, Yeah.
38:56
But yeah, it's in Mex City is all color.
38:59
All the buildings are colorful. There's plants and trees galore.
39:03
It's just like you're inspired by everything around you, so.
39:05
What's a misconception people have about your work?
39:10
That is just a Co working space. Yeah, that's that's the biggest
39:16
misconception. It's so much more than that.
39:19
What's something you're currently learning?
39:25
So much I feel like currently in my life, I'm learning a lot
39:29
about like, I wouldn't say blind faith, but just like faith in
39:36
general of like and not always leaning on your own
39:40
understanding of why things are happening or how things play out
39:46
and just accepting, I don't know, there's leaving room, you
39:56
know, I feel like there's my life right now.
39:58
If I were to like give it an analogy, I feel like I'm on
40:01
like, what do they call like bike treadmills?
40:05
I don't even know but like the stationary bike, stationary bike
40:11
and. Like the resistance is high.
40:14
Like I can't look at the number of how many miles I'm at.
40:18
Yeah, you. Just have miles and just keep
40:19
pedaling. Yeah, like that's kind of what
40:21
I'm at my life and like learning to just stay consistent and not
40:25
think about anything else, but just like make sure my legs are
40:28
pedaling. Right.
40:29
You don't have to know exactly how it's going to play out, just
40:32
like keep going and it'll become clear.
40:35
Exactly. Do you have a book, quote, or
40:39
idea you keep coming back to? There's actually this older man,
40:46
he's no longer alive, namely Mr. Freeman.
40:49
He, he told me this early on in my journey and I was telling him
40:55
like what I wanted to do with my life, etcetera.
40:58
And he was like young man, he's like, don't spend all your life
41:01
becoming what you've already become.
41:05
And that always sticks in my head, like every time I doubt
41:09
myself like. It's a good.
41:11
One, you know, we always think we have to like do this first or
41:14
become this before we can do that.
41:15
And it's like you already are who you need to be and already
41:20
doing what you need to do in most cases.
41:23
And just like you need to step into your greatness and and like
41:27
go full force with it. You know, don't doubt yourself
41:29
in your process. We're always going to be
41:31
inclined to build, a lot of us. But it's we have to recognize
41:36
the value of where we're at to, to, to keep building, yeah.
41:40
And know that you already have everything you need to do.
41:42
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
41:43
And and appreciate everything that you have already.
41:48
And then just kind of like the building is just for fun.
41:51
It's not like I have to get here in order to be fulfilled.
41:55
Yeah, and there's that. Book forgot the guy's last name.
41:58
His name is Ron but he has a book called Studies and Truth.
42:01
It was like written back in like 1970 something.
42:03
But anyway, I was reading that a couple months ago and it was
42:08
talking about how like, if you really feel like you're being
42:12
the vessel that universe or God or whatever puts you in place to
42:17
be, like, there should be no question on whether you'll be
42:21
provided which you need to fulfill that mission, right?
42:25
And I feel like I've read that book multiple times with like,
42:28
they just hit me differently this time Come like, damn.
42:32
Like I shouldn't, I shouldn't question anything, you know,
42:37
like I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and I
42:40
feel like I'm giving everything I need to do to make it happen.
42:42
So I'm just like. Yeah, yeah.
42:45
So. I love that I feel like that is
42:48
just I nothing could really follow that.
42:51
So what is a way that you suggest people follow green
42:57
spaces and and kind of connect with the ideas and the and the
43:02
mission there? Yeah, definitely follow us on
43:04
social media, just at Green Spaces on Instagram and
43:09
LinkedIn. Definitely stay keep in touch
43:12
with all of our businesses when we got coffee, Kira, all the
43:16
ones we're going to have on 16th St.
43:18
And yeah, follow me on LinkedIn. I'm going to be a lot more
43:24
active there, posting updates on Green Spaces and just
43:27
initiatives in general. Yeah.
43:31
That's amazing. Greenspaces.com.
43:33
Greenspaces.com. New new website on the way.
43:36
That's awesome. Well, yeah, I just really loved
43:40
getting to understand how you create these spaces, and it's
43:46
been such a great conversation, so thank you for being here.
43:50
Thank you all for having me on the podcast.
43:52
I'm also like supporting our our mission or vision behind the
43:56
nonsense. It's been super helpful.
43:58
I'm grateful to have y'all as a partner and excited to see how
44:02
far we can take it. Well, we believe in it and yeah,
44:05
we love community is one of the most important things.
44:07
So just really glad that you're doing everything you can for it.
44:12
So I appreciate y'all. Yeah, yeah.
44:14
Thank you. And for all of you seated
44:17
listeners, make sure to continue following Furniture Row on
44:23
YouTube and and all the socials anywhere you get podcasts, make
44:29
sure to subscribe for if you liked this episode.
44:34
So all right, bye.