We recently connected with Quintrel Brown and have shared our conversation below.
Quintrel, appreciate you joining us today. Coming up with the idea is so exciting, but then comes the hard part – executing. Too often the media ignores the execution part and goes from idea to success, skipping over the nitty, gritty details of executing in the early days. We think that’s a disservice both to the entrepreneurs who built something amazing as well as the public who isn’t getting a realistic picture of what it takes to succeed. So, we’d really appreciate if you could open up about your execution story – how did you go from idea to execution?
I have been a creative ever since I could remember. Anything related to the creative arts had my full attention going back to almost the age of 5. I also had a passion for making money on my terms and loved the idea of entrepreneurship. As I got older, I dreamed of being not only a film director but owning my own business. Unfortunately, life didn’t pan out that way, and I decided to enlist in the US Navy. I went on to serve eight years in active-duty service. With the passion to still pursue my dream as a film director, I decided to leave the armed service and go to film school. I graduated with my BA in Film and Media in 2019 and searched for purpose with this new film industry knowledge. As time passed, I didn’t see many resources or opportunities for creatives at the time. Soon after graduating, the COVID pandemic came about and changed our lives forever. I believe that the pandemic was the spark that lit my passion to find my purpose and led me to develop the concept known now as KRE8 Spaces. I enjoyed many creative ventures and never liked to box myself into just one box. I also knew being innovative and thinking outside the box was a true key to success with any business. During COVID, I noticed more people also finding their purposes through creative arts than ever before and felt this was the perfect time to launch my multi-purpose space concept to support them. I teamed up with other creatives to open our space, The KRE8 Place, which equips creatives, music artists, and entrepreneurs with affordable resources, opportunities, and community to succeed and grow in their creative expression journey. This concept took lots of planning and tweaking, but I am about action and learning over time. I knew that we would learn new ways to improve over time and that the time was now to launch.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a St. Louis native and grew up in the North County area. I graduated from North Technical High, and shortly after that, I joined the US Navy. I recently left the armed services after 13 years and returned home to offer my services to my own community. I am also a creative; creating safe spaces for people to grow and having a wide range of creative expression was my number one mission. I gathered a team of motivated creatives to help me create a unique multi-purpose content creation art space concept that would revolutionize creative arts support and rewrite the narrative for the artistic community. After witnessing the difficulties of accessing creative arts equipment, software, production space, and other resources, we created an affordable, all-inclusive, one-stop-shop, multi-use creative space.
The KRE8 Place isn’t just “another” media studio or event venue. It offers affordable memberships, free workshops, space rental, and music artist support. We even offer a weekly social club open to the public for professionals to come together to network, collaborate, and exchange resource information. On top of that, we offer services for everything ranging from live music shows, St. Louis artist showcases, visual screenings, live streaming, podcasts, photography, videography, event celebrations, music recording, video editing, & more.
After being open only one year, we have held hundreds of social events to bring together creatives, including music artist showcases, networking events, wellness retreats, movie nights, workshops, art exhibits, and even murder mystery dinners.
We do not shy away from following dreams. We help foster dreams into reality with education, mentorship, consistency, discipline, and resources.
Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?
There are two other co-founders for KRE8 Spaces. I’ve known Christian Boyd for years before embarking on the journey of KRE8 Spaces. We had so much in common that it only made sense for us to become friends. I initially met him through my friend. He was her little brother, and she asked me to look out for him while he was in the Navy. We not only shared military experiences, but both of us had a creative and entrepreneurial spirit. We both were about action and building a better future for others and ourselves. We joined forces to launch our very first multi-purpose space concept of KRE8 Spaces in 2021.
I met Dwayne Ferguson in 2017; he, too, had an entrepreneurial and creative spirit. We teamed up to work on a number of web series as we both were videographers and producers. After seeing what Chris and I developed with our first location, he was on board to be a part of a bigger concept for St. Louis.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
I would say staying true to our word, providing genuine support, and our commitment to innovation. As a Navy veteran, we had three words etched into our minds: honor, courage, and commitment. These three things hold true to the kind of business I wanted to create. I wanted my brand to be held in high respect, a safe space for those who felt they didn’t have a voice, and for us to be committed to the vision originally presented to the world. For years, St. Louis, like most other cities, received the stigma of a “crabs in a bucket” mentality—little support amongst each other and being a gatekeeper to resources and opportunities. We are working to change that narrative and plant the seed towards genuine support. Through word of mouth, we have been able to triple our reach within our market in just one year. Over time, we have also built strong relationships with local organizations and the community. We aim to become the leading and go-to creative arts space in the Midwest.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.kre8spaces.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thekre8placestl/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kre8place
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/quintrel-brown/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwVqv8TtG-GdObbltA21myg
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-kre8-place-saint-louis
Image Credits
Image Credit Quintrel Brown