Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Krystal Gast. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Krystal, thanks for joining us today. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?
I think the American standard of success is, wrong. Or skewed. Or distracted. Success, to me, means making a positive difference in peoples lives. That is so much more real and important than money or net worth. Those have always seemed like very fake ideas to me. I can’t grasp those concepts. But, I can understand when I do something that makes someone happy or feel belonging or connection. The biggest concept I base my business around is collaboration. Working together with others and letting our curiosity guide us is the most worthwhile endeavor I’ve experienced.
Krystal, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Jerico is a community of creative entrepreneurs, makers and artists founded by Krystal and Jeb Gast. Located in three historic buildings at the industrial edge of the Edison neighborhood in Kalamazoo, MI, the community is home to 23 shared and individual studio spaces currently occupied by a broad range of creative operations including: an industrial design firm, video and music production studios, a tattoo shop, coffee shop, yoga studio, listening room and more.
I am the co-owner of Jerico. I work together with my husband, Jeb, to provide physical space and other unique opportunities to artists, makers and creative entrepreneurs in Southwest Michigan. Our workshops, faire’s, gallery, and private resident studios provide opportunities for artistic and creative experiences to the greater Kalamazoo community.
When we purchased the buildings in 2014, we suddenly had thousands of square feet of space that we had no plans for. We immediately imagined a sort of campus filled with artists working, collaborating, beautifying and attracting visitors to appreciate and engage with the art and events happening there. Being in spaces like these always inspired me and offered experiences that I wouldn’t have found anywhere else. To be in the position to create a space like that for others was very exciting.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
We had a business in Seattle before we moved to Kalamazoo and one of our regulars was very interested in what we were doing and wanted to help. He invested a lot of what we used to get started and helped us purchase the buildings. He is a partner in the business. We also got personal loans from friends and family members to help with building projects and updates along the way. And, we keep our eyes out for any grants or loans that offer helpful funding opportunities. We got a KIVA loan at one point and have received a few facade grants from the City of Kalamazoo to help replace windows and other things like brick repair on the facade of our buildings. We also used credit cards at times when we couldn’t get other funding and it helped in the moment, but is not the best option, by any means.
Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?
This goes along with the first question. Finding funding is very hard. We were very lucky to have an initial investor, but even after that we still needed money for new roofs and HVAC and windows, etc. and could not get approved for a loan from any financial institution for so many frustrating reasons (many beyond our control). So, we had to get creative. We asked for help from friends and family, we worked for very little money for many years, we used credit cards and spent a lot of time researching grants and energy loans. We talked to as many people as we could about how to get funding and networked as much as possible. We had help from friends to do projects ourselves and did a little at a time. We paid off our mortgage in 7 years and are now just working to continue to improve and renew the buildings as much as we can a little at a time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.hellojerico.com
- Instagram: @jericokzoo
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jericokzoo
Image Credits
Personal photo (building with Jerico at the top) is by Elemental Media Company