We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Nicole Jensen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Nicole below.

Nicole, appreciate you joining us today. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

I believe that customer service is the mosts important part of any business. You may have the most incredibly inventive idea imaginable, without listening to your customers, showing them that they are valued and going above and beyond for them then you with ultimately fail.

We don’t believe that customer service is achieved in one grand act so much as it is in a million little ones every single day. Not unlike a personal relationship, consistently showing up is what matters, building the rapport, building the trust and being a brand and company that people can turn to and count on time and again is what we strive for. We listen very closely to what our customers tell us, we are extremely responsive, flexible and proactive.

If someone reaches out with a request we do everything we can to make it happen. This can look like allowing someone to get married in one of our installation rooms at no charge or helping with the coordination of one of the 14 surprise engagements that we have hosted. It is partnering with our community and non-profit partners to give back locally. It is through collaboration with local artists and businesses to continue to cultivate a thriving local community. It is through responding promptly and kindly to every single review and feedback email that we receive.

Guest satisfaction has to be a top priority each and every day through every in person and virtual interaction. This also goes for staff interactions, you have to show your staff that you appreciate them or they will never show your customers that they are appreciated.

With all of the above being said, an example of showing customers, community and staff that we appreciated them was during the Texas freeze in February of 2020. We closed during those days and partnered with our non-profit and community leaders to distribute food and water to those in need. We also opened our doors at Hopscotch for free warm meals, water pick up all to the beat of a local salsa band to help bring the community together.

Nicole, 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?

About Myself:

I connect people through the creation of unique and impactful shared experiences.

Hopscotch is a full circle moment in time for me, I have taken a winding and yet direct road to get here. I was an “art nerd” in high school and started my college career as an art major, about halfway through I decided that while I loved art exponentially I didn’t see a career for myself in it. I wasn’t a groundbreaking painter or graphic designer, I was just really creative. I decided to switch my major to Business with an emphasis in Marketing and Logistics Management. In college I worked in hospitality and marketing at a casino and resort, unknowingly setting an amazing groundwork and passion for customer service and guest satisfaction. After graduation I moved to NYC and embarked on a career in large scale event planning which included things like networking, negotiation, high level problem solving, hotel partnerships, sales, marketing, creative thinking and food and beverage. I then moved to Austin, TX 13 years ago and after spending more time in the industry I started my first business, Austin Tour Company. In that business I continued to create experiences for people, I have since sold that business to focus fully on Hopscotch. When my now business partner and I met to discuss the idea of what is now Hopscotch it truly felt like everything clicked in to place. It was (and would require) the culmination of everything I had been doing and learning up until this point in my life and career and this time it got to take me back to the beginning and my first love, art.

We connect people to art and through art and I couldn’t imagine anything more perfect for me.

Hopscotch was founded in 2018 in Austin, TX with the goal to provide consumers with unique, impactful and distinct immersive experiences. We create spaces for local, national and international artists to showcase their works in sustainable and creative ways, encourage them to be inspired by new mediums and empower them to reach new audiences. Our spaces are meticulously curated, location-centric and community driven. We aim to be a point of gravity for artists and guests that share our value proposition. We combine art with thoughtful cocktails, artist driven retail, vibrant music, food and community events to create a space that is welcoming to all. We are outwardly inclusive and promote equality. We are also passionate about sustainability and giving back.

I am most proud that people who have been taught by society that they don’t “like art” come to Hopscotch and feel like they belong. We love that we inspire and connect multi-generational families, that we bring people from all walks of life together and that, under our roof, they are able to find the common threads that connect us all.

I’m so proud of our reviews and how we make people feel.

“I’m still in shock at how spectacular this attraction is, I had a smile on my face from start to finish.”
“Life-changing immersive art gallery experience! The exhibits allow you to zone out and experience a different kind of reality.”
“Hopscotch has to be in the top five art experiences I’ve ever seen, I gained strength and energy from my visit. I would highly recommend it.”
“I walked in with the weight of the world and walked out weightless, it is surprisingly joyful.”

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

At a base level, I believe that if you have been an entrepreneur or self-employed for any moment of your life you are resilient already. If you have been one for any large length of time then you continue to prove your resilience, it comes with the territory, the ability to be resilient is one of the top requirements of owning your own business. That is not to discount the many ways in which every single person demonstrates resilience in their every day lives.

Similar to customer service, resiliency happens each and every single day. I wish I could say that it gets easier but for me at least it doesn’t because you’re always thinking bigger, pushing harder and striving for more which means you’re constantly putting yourself in challenging situations. Having to learn new skills at a high level and always thinking of what’s next and how you can differentiate yourselves requires extreme resilience. Being the one who’s shoulders all of the decisions falls on requires resilience as does continuing to stay positive and press on through endless challenges.

Since you asked for a specific example I would say it all goes back to resilience combined with patience, how long can you sit in the unknown and the uncomfortable? We were very naive to plenty of things when we started out, which I fully believe you have to be or you would never start at all. You have to believe things will go better than they actually do:)

We started in January of 2018 and thought we would have our first permanent location open that summer, our first permanent location didn’t actually end up opening until the fall of 2020 due to a multitude of construction and real estate delays that I won’t bore you with. That might have been more bearable only now we had to open (due to lease requirements) in the middle of a massive pandemic. Like everyone else in the industry and world, 2020 and 2021 tested our resilience as a society. I don’t think we give ourselves enough grace or credit for everything we all went through.

Conversations about M&A are often focused on multibillion dollar transactions – but M&A can be an important part of a small or medium business owner’s journey. We’d love to hear about your experience with selling businesses.

Yes, in 2021 I sold my first business, Austin Tour Company.

“ATC invites guests to explore and discover the best that Central Texas has to offer through its unique public, private and self-guided experiences. By partnering with local businesses we create experiences that showcase our city from a locals perspective and are built for all lifestyles. Join us and enjoy what makes this such a unique and energizing place to live and visit.”

In general I have a very relational and community driven style of doing business. I strongly believe in the power of networking and that everything we do is connected in some way. You never know when someone you thought was a casual aqaintance could be the person that makes a difference later in life. My first advice is to always work hard, honestly, thoughtfully and reliably. I work continually on what I consider to be my personal brand. I am someone people know will be there for them, I respond to every email, call or text and do my best to make friends with everyone I meet. Don’t burn bridges, start and end every relationship and interaction with as much professionalism and respect as possible. Be a good human.

My first major piece of business with ATC was from my first boss in NYC a decade prior. She was brining 1,000 guests to Austin and trusted me to plan their event for them. If I had burned that bridge years prior I don’t know that I would have had the funds to get ATC off the ground without her event.

So, when I went to sell ATC I had multiple people and partners that I had worked with already that believed in the brand and ultimately believed in me and what I had built. So much so that they made offers and I was able to sell it and am see it live on under new ownership.

The other two simple pieces of advice I have is to learn how to say no quicker, when you’re starting out you’re so excited to have business that sometimes you take on clients or situations that end up not being worth your time and limit you from taking on things that are worth your time. You only have so much bandwidth so use it wisely.

Think bigger, set a goal then triple it. You don’t hit goals you don’t set. Always think bigger, you would be shocked at what you can achieve.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.letshopscotch.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/letshopscotch/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heyhopscotch
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/12638191/admin/
• Other: Google: https://g.page/r/CUkQcgQOIe9KEB0/review

Image Credits
Hopscotch