Your Business, Your Rules with Paul Dallas

Episode Transcript
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Ray Mayfield (00:04):
Welcome to the Frontrunner Podcast with your
hosts Ray Mayfield and TiaraJones two engineers more from
coworkers to inlaws. And nowbusiness partners, creating a
safe space to be open and honestabout what it really takes to
start or run a business.

Tiara Jones (00:17):
We know it's easier said than done. But you were
built for this and you are notalone. Join us each week to hear
stories, lessons learned andstrategies from trusted advisors
and new and seasonedentrepreneurs on how to endure
the marathon entrepreneurship.

Peace everybody.
Thank you for joining us foranother front runner podcast.
This is Ray

and this is Tiara.

Excellent.
Excellent. So we got a goodtreat in store for everybody
today so T can you tell us whatwe're talking about?

So Today our topic is your business your rules

Ding ding ding ding good. We're not alone.
today. We do have a specialguest and we are recording at a
remote location. So t goingeverybody logistics in the
rundown someone who's joining ustoday.

Yes. So today we are with a longtime friend of
mine. We went to ODU togetherhave known each other for years,
Dallas, Paul Dallas, but he goesby Dallas and he is the co
founder of The Haven arts,Virginia. And so he has an
amazing art gallery here inManassas, Virginia. And so we're
gonna start talking about alittle bit more about how he got

(01:23):
to this point. So Dallas is aBrooklyn born entrepreneur with
a passion for music, art andtechnology. He's a gallery owner
and art curator broker for thehavens. Art, VA. So welcome,
Dallas.

Paul Dallas (01:39):
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you what's going on
y'all?

You You may you may hear we definitely
appreciate you. Welcome into theHaven man. Thank you for helping
us set up It took us a while toget up and running a couple
hours ago, Murphy man that willget in the detail sometimes. But
it's all good. It's all good.
all worked out. Absolutely. Wellhere and

it's nice to recording from his art gallery.
We are on site at the artgallery that you all definitely
have to check out. We'll giveyou all the details. But yes, we
are here.

Yeah, definitely.
It's a good change of scenery.
Yeah. Love Love here.

Love here open up in the attic here. Yeah, no, see
no art, but trust me. We're inthe recording studio. Right.

It's all good.
It's all love man. We definitelyappreciate you're welcome to
send today. Hey, man, thank youso much, man. So Dallas, once
you tell us a little bit aboutyourself, maybe give us some
background where you're from,you know, how you how you got
into, you know, the The Havenand your your love for art. Um,

I mean, I really didn't come up feeling like I
had a love for art. It's kind ofweird. But I did grow up in
Brooklyn, like you said, and mymom from 88 to 2001 worked at
the Brooklyn Museum. And so Ispent a lot of time there, like,
bring your kids work days, if Iwas sick of school was close. In

(02:55):
New York, in New York, wecelebrate every holiday in the
school system. So like, therewas a lot of days where I was
out of school. And anytime I wasI was at the museum. But I never
was into the art. You know, Imean, like she worked for, I
don't know who she worked. Shewas like on the admin side. So
like, when I went to the museum,it was like, behind the walls
and the space that you didn'teven realize was there. So I

(03:16):
seen the art passing through,but I've never like really
stopped to like look at it. Andthen it wasn't till years later
that Kevin a good friend of meand Tiara. Yep. He wanted to go
to New York to just hop aroundsome different wineries and
museums, and I went with him andwe went to this one gallery
called Eden Soho, which is likea pop art Fine Art Gallery in

(03:37):
Manhattan. And I just kind ofthat's when it kind of sparked
like, and that was way after,you know, from when I was a kid
in the museum, but this placehad art that I was really
interested in like, the museumstuff was like old like
literally like ancient art. Butthis was like more bright colors
pop art, like stuff that you youwould say to yourself like when
I get a big house or have a nicefour year I want that piece. So

(03:59):
that kind of sparked it. Andthen long story long, came back
to Virginia from that trip. Andme and Kevin had just moved into
a an apartment, but thisapartment was supposed to be
supposed to be like stores, butthey couldn't sell the the real
estate of stores. So theyconverted them into apartments.
But it had like the aesthetic ofa store still. So we had like

(04:20):
the gray slate concrete. Oh,nice and like 1213 foot
ceilings, and then like threeentryways that face the street
then look like a store. So I getback and we just sit down one
day. And I'm just like, you knowwhat, we could turn this into a
gallery. And then from there, itkind of just started with me
going to different art shows inthe area. And I'll be honest,

(04:41):
like scalping artists from thoseshows, hey, I like your art you
want to come and you know, checkout a new gallery. And I just
kept to all of them. Like, yeah,I got myself alright. Oh my god
knows. I don't want to say I waslying. I felt like I was setting
myself up. You know, it was kindof just forecasting what was
gonna happen as opposed to, youknow, tell them the full truth
but I was able to get like threeor four artists some local some

(05:03):
from from far away and they werelike alright, cool, yeah, we'll
we'll give you the art, theysent the art. And we started
doing like private shows in theapartment where we would like do
a full conversion like take allthe furniture and like stuff it
in Kevin's bedroom. And thenlike all the other rooms we
would just make look like actualbusiness and it worked out we
did like private shows swankylittle things to like silver
trees and like cotton fixesmaybe we brought the artists in

(05:27):
and did like live painting andstuff like that. And that's kind
of what started it. And the nextthing you know, I started
sewing, sewing some pieces. Andone of my main buyers, Alex,
who's now my, one of the COowners here, he started buying a
lot of art from me. And heessentially kind of had a
parallel track in terms offinding this love for art. And

(05:50):
yeah, he started buying for meand then he started throwing it
out there Oh, you should open upa an actual gallery never saw my
my gallery at home as actualgallery, he opened up actual
gallery and I'm just like,whatever. Anyway, fast forward
to last year COVID struck. Andthen we closed down the gallery
that we did at the house becausewe weren't sure how successful
would be going into the youknow, further into the year. And

(06:13):
at the end of the year, Alexcame back around was like you so
you don't want to try this. AndI'm like, I really don't want to
do it. Now. It's COVIDeverything is close. But um, I
ended up saving up a lot ofmoney on like stocks and just
not going out. I was single, noclubs, no dinners, no, you know,
I'm saying none of that. And bythe end of the year, I'm looking
at my bank account, like, youcould do something I don't know

(06:34):
if it's gonna be by gallery, butand then we made a phone call
one night, talk to the realtor.
And then he was like, Yeah, hewas just so excited to get
business because you could tellthat COVID really like had, you
know, done damage to hisbusiness. But um, he was like,
whatever you want to do. That'sgreat art, cool, whatever, you
can have it. So we literallycame the next day we did the

(06:55):
paperwork, put the money down.
And then that Monday, we wereowners of a space. I wouldn't
say we were gallery owners atthat point. But then me and my
other partner Jose, who was alsoa co owner, we we just got to
work in here. And suddenly nobusiness model, no real plan. I
kind of just took what I wasalready doing and just do it

(07:17):
into this part.
And yeah, we just startedputting muscle into it.
Literally that night. I mean,first day, and we started
ripping up carpet and tearingstuff out nice and yeah. And now
we're here. So that was November30. Here we are now on what
September 18. Not even a year,and we were doing pretty good.

(07:37):
So

and when you originally started the first
gallery out of your home, whatdate did you start that?

That had to have been? It was in the fall? I
think that was I want to saythat was September October of
2017 or 18.

So you've been doing this art thing for some
time. Give yourself more credit.

Yes, man. It's been it's been a minute now. But it's
just it's kind of transforminginto so much. But yeah, yeah,

not I still well.
That's dope, shout out shout outto Kevin to him. I got to meet
Kevin also to cheer. Very, verycreative in the pretty pretty
solid brother, man. So that's,that's dope, man. So that's
crazy, man. So you went from youguys went from really creating
the art studio in your livingspace to actually stepping out
and actually building somethingfrom the ground up. That's
amazing, man. So in 2018 to 2020and 2021. Here you are. So in

(08:30):
the background, you have a youknow, consistent nine to five
job as well, too,

or Yeah, yeah. So I work at AWS, Amazon Web Services
I've been there for actually,what's today, the 18th this
yesterday was my five yearanniversary. Yeah, so I'm a
broadcast, live streamingengineer. So basically do like
in turn, it's like an internalTV studio, but for like 2
million people because weservice the whole Amazon stuff.

(09:00):
So anybody from like thejanitorial staff to like a
kitchen staff to Jeff Bezos,like we do all of the videos and
live streams for them. So it's apretty dope job. keeps me busy
and cutting a lot. I used to saythat what I was doing here is
cutting into my day job. But nowit's more like my day job is
cutting into what I'm doinghere. So that's becoming a

(09:22):
thing. But yeah, I love Amazon,I give them I even told my
bosses that, you know, I creditthem for this, because without
that job and, you know, they paypretty decent over there at AWS,
you know, and the benefits aregood. And it just, you know, I
feel like a good job allows youto do so much because people I
think forget why we work we workto afford to be able to do the
things that we like to do andthere's a lot of people who work

(09:44):
who can't afford to do what theywhat they want to do. Some of
them can't afford what they needto do, you know, and so I really
give a lot of credit to and Iwill say it's a lot of stuff you
can say about a big company likeAmazon, but you know you get in
there good. You and they'regood. You No, I mean, like, I
feel like a lot of people givethem a hard time, but it's like,
you know, fight to be in aposition you'd rather be in, you

(10:06):
know, don't, don't settle forthe position that you don't
like, you know, so I like myjob, you know, and I keep it
real with my managers about whatI have going on here as well. So
they're really attentive tolike, they first A lot of times,
when we get into a meeting, thefirst thing they asked about is
the gallery more so than, thanthe, than the job at hand there.
So so it's been pretty tight. Istill think I don't know how
much longer it's gonna, how muchlonger I'm be able to do to do

(10:29):
both. Like, even yesterday, Itold my mom, she got Max, I
haven't been over there in awhile. And I was like, you know,
I have two full time jobs. Andshe's like, what, full time job?
You only work at Amazon. I waslike the gallery. And I was the
first time that I even startedto look at this as you know,
full time because I get offeight hours on Amazon. And then
I come here and do either nine,maybe 12 sometimes. So. So yeah,

(10:52):
well, your Amazon's cool.

That was dope man

definitely makes a difference. When you have one,
you have a job that can supportyour, your other entrepreneur
work and things like that. Butwhen that job also supports the
work that you do, it just takeskind of a weight lifted off, and
you have to worry about whatthey're gonna say what they're
gonna do, even though youshouldn't be worried about it,
but it's just, you know, it justkind of takes that pressure off
of you.

Yeah, because the time alone is a burden, you
know, trying to balance the two.
So the last thing you need islike the people who, who you
need to support you to beagainst you, right? I mean, so
it definitely helps to have ajob where, you know, you have
support, even though it'ssupport that they don't
necessarily, but they literallydon't have to get there. Right,
there's, you know, the guysthose jobs where it's like you
six minutes late, you're gettingwritten up, you know, this is
definitely not not one of thoseplaces. So, so you're shuttled

(11:34):
to AWS

nice, and the flexibility is not something to
take lightly.

Absolutely, yeah, that's amazing. I know, like,
like our backgrounds, we bothhave, you know, what we call
like the nine to five grind. Andthis is like a, you know, what
we do here with the podcast andwoke up, but he's more like a,
almost a 24 hour gig. So yeah,shout out man. Like, if you have
organization, for your nine tofive grind, I suppose should you
do, it takes a weight off yourshoulders, makes you look more

(12:03):
easy to shake a move like a needto, to get things off the
ground. And so that's amazing.
Um, so, you know, when we wereyou were breaking down, you
know, how you got into theHaven, you know, you showed us
your pictures of how you went,from day one, you don't knock
the walls down, build thingsout, man, the the nuts, that's
crazy to me, because you putsweat equity into getting this
up, you know, and it's a touchpoint for me. Because when we do

(12:23):
the podcast, we will live onFacebook, and we're telling
people, you know, just start,you don't have to have it all
figured out. And it's like,perfect to have you on here to
you know, as a testament and atestimony to that to that story.
Right? You know, we knowbusiness plan, but you had a
vision, you had an idea, youhave a plan.

You know, we're not having a business way apart. I
don't want to send people intoit, like, oh, whatever you think
about just go and do it. But,but, um, to you definitely want
to have a vision, you know, Imean, because like, without the
plan, at least you havesomething that you can, you
know, even if it's not on paper,like even if it's just in your

(13:05):
head to have some sort of guiderail to like what you're doing,
you know what I mean? Because,like, even this, like I tell
people all the time, like wedidn't have a business plan. And
I think they like they take itthat way. Like also you just,
you just winging it. We're notwinging it, like this room is
exactly what I envisioned itwould be, you know, that room is
exactly what we planned it tobe. We didn't know how it was

(13:27):
gonna get to that point, wedidn't know if it was gonna be
by alone, if it was gonna beliquid, if it was gonna be, but
you know, whatever grant, wejust knew. That's what we wanted
it to look like. And I mean, ifI think if I was to draw up what
I thought this place would be,and then look at what it is now,
it'd be pretty damn close. Andbut not because of a plan more,

(13:47):
like I said, because it was avision. Exactly. So.

And I think if you think back to when you started
in your home, like, I'm alwaysone to kind of start simple
start small to test out yourconcept. And that's exactly what
you did. And so I think nothaving, you know, the typical
business plan that people sees,but if I'm sure you had things
that you had written down, itwas kind of unstructured kind of
plan that you had, because youbuilt it all out first in a

(14:11):
smaller space. And then you grewit to what the Haven is now.

Now we'll say two, I think a lot of what went into
the original place was justopportunity. Like I've always
kind of seen myself as like athinker, and like, use what you
have to your benefit. So I stilldidn't really feel like this
Uber connection to art. When Ihad the idea to do it there. It

(14:34):
was more of like, we have sleekgray floors and 13 foot
ceilings. This is perfect forgout. And then it was like the
flow of the room too. Becausehaving the three entrances It
was like, people can come inhere and they walk this way. It
just makes too much sense. So itwas more about like, if it makes
dollars doesn't make sense morelike entrepreneurial like we can
make some money off of this.
There wasn't until it wasn'tuntil I started getting some of

(14:56):
the pieces in from some reallygood artists that I'm Looking at
it like, oh snap, this is kindof dope, like one The art is
amazing and to is cool to be theresponsibility started to kick
in, because now it's like, Okay,this isn't art to just decorate
the, you know, the house, thisis art that they're sending with
the intent on selling, right?
And then that's where I have tobe that seller. So then it was

(15:19):
okay, well, this is more thanjust, you know,

they trust you, right.

So then it was like keeping up with that and like,
setting a rapport with the, withthe artists to let them know
that, you know, I'm seriousabout it, and I can actually
move your work and we canactually make some money. So it
was like combining, that's whenit started to kind of more
become a love for the art andthen like a passion for the
selling part of as well becauseI don't really do sells, mainly
because nine times out of 10what you're selling is somebody

(15:43):
else's stuff that you don'treally take, you don't really
care about. But being that Icared about the art it made
selling more fun. So I thinkthat's when it started to become
more of a yes, it's a, it's asmart money thing, but it's also
enjoyable. So yeah, kind of grewon me.

And on that selling piece, that's real, because, you
know, the kind of thebackgrounds that Ray and I come
from, especially me, and the jobthat I had before working with
startups, we didn't have to sellanything, we were kind of like
the best kept secret. So thenwe're now now getting this
position where, you know, I gotto sell myself and so it was
weird for me. So you know, Ithink Ray, maybe a little bit
more had more experience in it.
But it's a different space tohave to, you know, really put

(16:21):
yourself, put yourself on andreally sell yourself and be
confident in that and walk inthat. So. But I definitely agree
that if you're just loving whatyou're doing, like with this
podcast, and then kind of usingthis like as a marketing tool
for us. We're just beingourselves and just doing you
know what we do, and it just themoney will follow type of thing.

Yeah, yeah, you put you put your passion into
it. Right. So yeah. So So yeah.
So you know, so even though youdidn't have a written down
business plan, of course, youhad the vision, right? So you
know, and what I find dope too,is that you took time to
cultivate that vision, you know,before stepping out and in
buying, leasing, renting orrenting office space to turn
into our studio. So you took thetime to curate cultivate, and

(17:00):
then you you had an opportunityto invite people tend to get
feedback, establishrelationships. So that I think
that process to me is always themost amazing man when you meet
people, and they never take theleap, because you know, the
smallest thing holds them backsometimes. And, you know, the
business plan, to me is a bigsticking point. Because I think

(17:22):
a lot of people that I've comein contact with is like, do I
need to get a template for abusiness plan or write this
down? I'm like, No, you don'tneed to, like if you know what
you want to do, you can executeit without a business plan,
right? You could have mentalchecklist that you just move
through, boom, boom, boom, boom,in order to get you know, from A
to Z. So that that fascinatesme, that's quite impressive. So
so as you have the Haven solet's talk about the Haven a

(17:42):
little bit, right. So, you know,let's talk about some of the
things that you do here, or, youknow, for the local artists and
local talent may go ahead, goahead and plug your plug your
your network, man.

So when it used to be called the gallery 66 Well,
the first gallery at theapartment was gallery 155. And
that was like a simple play onaddress. And then always had
this idea of like, Okay, if weexpand, what can grow with, you
know, do we want the name totransfer or do we want the idea
of what we do to transfer and Ifelt like with a name, like
gallery, 155 b, and just theaddress of where we were, they

(18:15):
would be easy to it wasscalable, and that no matter
where we went, it'll have anaddress, it'll be in a certain
city, it'll be in a certainarea, we'll just go in that
place. So we moved over here.
What other dudes we used to workwith, throughout the idea of
gallery 66 because of again, thelocation right there where we
were, and that's okay, thatmakes sense. And is it it shows
a connection loosely to gallery155. And then, as we started, it

(18:37):
became more than art, like thefirst few events that we did
were like, parties, you know,they there was no art on the
walls, but we the the money manwas had his hand out like the,
like asking for the for thebread. So I'm like, you know, we
never thought that selling artalways knew that art wasn't

(18:58):
going to be what kept the lightson in here. But we know, we
didn't necessarily know whatwould. But that's when we
started to think about, youknow, what we could do to
generate some revenue andparties was the first thing
because of just you know, payingentry and stuff like that. So
then it was okay, so we're notjust a gallery, we do parties.
And then we had people coming tous saying, hey, I want to rent

(19:19):
this place to do a party. And Iwas always in the back of our
minds. But it wasn't until artwas kind of always on the
forefront. Because you know,again, you have these people
looking at you like, Hey, yougot my, you know, $50,000 is art
work? Are you doing anything tomove it? But then I started so
you know what, we don't onlyhave to sell the art, we can
bring the people here and kindof let the art so so, you know,
so that's when the party startedto happen more frequently. And

(19:42):
then people started coming to usand saying, Hey, can we rent the
place out to throw a party andthen was like, of course you
can't. And then to your pointabout how how we serve as a
community. red tape, and thelack of it is where I feel like
we serve as a community to burstlike Where you can go to a
McDonald's or a big corporationor even like a big event center

(20:03):
and say, Hey, this is exactlywhat I want. I want our cart
like this. I don't care aboutthat menu. This is how they're
like, no, this is this is youroptions. What we do here is we
give the client as far as eventsgoes, the full run of show and
let them tell us what they wantto do. And then we do our best
to try to bring it to fruition.

(20:24):
And then we have the so we doevents, baby showers, parties,
paint, private painting service,we do lock ins, we do private
movie nights, we do screening.
So we've done music videorentals here. We've done
podcasts. And just likeinterviews here, we've done a
lot of stuff. But our main thingis like events where you haven't
met Tiana, but shout out toTiana creates, she's our in

(20:47):
house event curator. So whenpeople come and book us out for
a birthday party, whatever,they'll sit with her and tell
them a theme, like what colorsyou want, like what kind of
diaper cake, what kind ofbirthday cake, and then she
handles all of that. And then webasically turn this space into
that person's vision. So perfectexample, artist by the name of
meego Shout out to me.

(21:12):
He wanted to do a party and avideo shoot at the same time.
But it was a beach theme. Sohere we are in the middle of
Manassas, you know, no water, nobeach. So it was okay, how are
we going to do that. And then,that was the first major like
event kind of design that wetook on and we brought in like
600 pounds of sand, and likecovered the showroom and like

(21:36):
sand and we put like beach ballshanging from the ceiling. And we
had we turned Tiana turn the thebeams downstairs and like these
big palm trees and like, beachback. So it was crazy. And then
like, even when the clientwalked in, he's like, this is
beyond what I thought you'regonna do, and way beyond what I
had planned on doing. And, and,and we do it for an affordable

(21:59):
rate, too. That's the otherthing. So that's another way I
feel like we serve as acommunity and that most of these
banquet halls you go to, you getwhat you get an empty room, or
you might pay an arm and a legfor like some chairs, and then
like for catering and all that.
Sure. But here, it's like, it'saffordable one. And if there is
a roadblock, we we try our bestto meet you halfway and try to
make it work. You know, I mean,like we're not gonna, we're not

(22:22):
gonna say no to an idea becauseyou're $50 short or because you
know. So that's, that's thebeauty I love. That's what I
love the most about ownership isthat you decide when you're
going to, you know what I mean?
You can give people more bybeing just a little more
understanding of situations. Andwe also work with our clients in

(22:44):
terms of our payment, like howthey make payments, and we're
super flexible on that as well.
So yeah, we just try to we justtry to be accessible and
affordable, mainly. And thenbeyond that we just started in
July. As far as like officiallyopening, we do also plan to do
more like a stuff around certainholidays, like food drives, and
like backpack giveaways and allthat stuff. But, but we're still
growing. We're a small team, butthat's all the stuff that we

(23:06):
have. That's some of the stuffthat we have planned in the
future as far as the communityjust more outreach stuff and
more like our kids and gettingthe kids more involved in the
arts. But yeah, right now, it'sjust mainly just being being
affordable and accessible, youknow, and even when it's not an
event, we tell people all thetime, like if you're creating
something at home, and you justwanted a new space, which is
somewhere else like this is thisis the spot for it. Yeah, you've

(23:29):
seen the facility like it'splenty of places to just sit
down and like, just just createand that's what we that's kind
of what we want here. So, soyeah,

I don't think there's any place that you can
walk in around here and get acomplete done for you. Like
event coordination space, I hadno idea that you guys went to
that level, like that's huge.
Here I have the space and willcompletely, you know, design the
whole room for you. Can youexplain kind of what the space
looks like? So I think that willgive people a better idea of
what we do. This is just notlike a one floor gallery where

(23:59):
we're sitting right now. So

downstairs is about I don't want to lie about the
square footage of the mainshowroom, but our main party
room has a stage we have a largea medium sized stage that can
fit you know, a coupleperformers a small band. We also
do projection mapping and whichis like is which is something
that I don't even think I'd beable to explain over a podcast.

(24:25):
Yeah, but we'll have to link itif you have an example we can
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's prettydope. It basically scans what it
sees and then you can use likeyou can project digital overlays
on to pretty much anything likeif it was shining in this room
right now I can project themonto this wall behind you and
make a turn colors and make thewall look like it's collapsing
like a whole bunch of crazystuff. But we do that and but

(24:47):
downstairs is it's a it's a bigshowroom where we host most of
our main events like that'swhere the DJ would be. That's
where the main party will go. Wealso have upstairs which doubles
as an art studio or lounge and ascreening room. Which has 110
inch projection screen, we havepool tables we have dartboards
we have area that can be a barwill say that we have a full

(25:11):
recording studio, and also aphoto studio as well upstairs.
And basically when all of thosespaces aren't being used as what
they were created for, they justdouble it's like art space, like
just places you see every roomhas like chairs, and like just
comfortable areas where you cansit down. And you can even read
in here, like it's just a placewhere when an artist comes up

(25:32):
here to create, I want them tofeel comfortable and to feel
like like they're at home, likethey can go any corner and just
kind of do whatever they want,you know what I mean? But yeah,
and then we also have a smallkitchen where we do some food
service. As well as a work fromhome space downstairs where if
you're, if you're at home, youwant to get away from the kids
or the dogs are barking order,the lawn crews outside and you

(25:54):
have a big meeting, you can comehere we have gigabit internet
and you could just find a cornerand just kind of get your work
done. So. So yeah.

And then you put on a lot of different other vendors
and entrepreneurs as well, no,your grand opening, you had a
quite a few different vendorshere.

Yeah. So that's, that's another thing with we try
to have competitive pricing whenit comes to like vendor fees and
stuff like and we grandfatheredin a lot of the local people who
were kind of supporting us fromthe beginning. So a lot of them
we still give discounted ratesto for because they we gave a
lot of people a lot ofopportunities to participate in
this whole thing through socialmedia. So when we first got the

(26:31):
keys, I instantly startedposting, you know, if you ever
want to come home, if you everwant to come paint, if you ever
want to come, you know, help dothese fours, like, then a lot of
people did come You know, andthose people who came are the
people we still have like someof the strongest relationships
with. But the same goes for thevendors who came to some of our
earlier events where we didn'thave a name, we you know, we
couldn't guarantee that theywere going to get you know a ton

(26:51):
of people up here who are goingto buy stuff, but they were
still willing to you know, hangtheir hat on us and come and
support and like so thosevendors, we still kind of show
love to them to new vendors, wetry not to you know, bust them
over the head when it comes to,to pricing. But we also do our
due diligence to get peoplehere. And every every vendor
show we do I typically make likefree promotional flyers for each

(27:13):
individual vendor, as opposed tolike making one flyer with
everybody's name and tiny font.
Because I find that just from amarketing standpoint, people are
going to share something withtheir face on it more than they
do something but yours, youknow, so. And I think there's
value in that, you know, if Iwas to charge somebody for that
flight, it'd be, you know,damage just as much as the
vendor fee ended up itself. So,so I try to give them something

(27:33):
for their participation beyondjust putting people here. But
yeah, we do. We do sourcevendors a lot for different
events. Typically, if it's aparty, a game night, or anything
that does on a larger scale,we'll open it up for vendors to
come and participate. And it'sbecoming a, it's becoming kind
of like an exclusive thingbecause we don't have a ton of

(27:54):
space. So I can't I don't everwant to pack it out with
vendors. But But yeah, wedefinitely try to show love to
the to the vendor, community andarts community.

That's dope, man.
It's dope, man. I'd like um, youknow, so so let's, let's unpack
this a little bit. Right. Sowhen you when you got the keys
to the facility, um, you know,talk about some of the stuff,
you know, the hurdles you had togo through in order to take what
was here before in transitioninginto the hate because I think
this is important, becauseagain, this is another roadblock
where a lot of people who hadthese creative ideas, but like,

(28:25):
I don't have the money, youknow, to do all these things
that I want to do, you know,welcome you know, you know,
share your testimony, your storya little bit what how you
transitioned what was here intowhat you have now. I

mean, Well, for one, I couldn't believe that we
got got this space at the pricewe did, because everything that
we were seeing online was like,you know, 8000 square feet, 7000
square feet, 4000 square feet,and $3 a foot. So it's crazy.
Those were the ones we were justlooking at. The first one we

(28:58):
clicked on was this one, and itwas nothing like that. And
again, I think a lot of that hadto do with COVID sure. But
anyway, when we got in it wasthe main thing was I think it
goes back to that vision. Andthen it was the excitement to
the excitement is what drove alot of that in the beginning,
where we all kind of had somemoney already because we all had
decent jobs. So it wasn't reallyabout the money. It was when we

(29:21):
when we first got here it waslike I said I think like
excitement drove it was justlike, once we got the key was
already It was late in the day,we had already worked that day.
But it was still like now we'rehere. Now let's do it. I think I
showed you other pictures thatvery first night, we started
tearing down the drop ceiling.
And I think once that started,it got to the point where it's
like once you rip the ceilingdown you kind of can't stop. So

(29:43):
it was more like we just had tofigure it out. So a lot of it
was just figuring it out. But meand Jose did it all by hand
ourselves. Like we had certainthings we had people come in
like we had an electrician comein to help with the lighting.
But beyond that we'd likeeverything you see We did
literally by hand. And when Isay by ourselves, obviously,
there are people that hope andin terms of like, just the day

(30:04):
to day work, like we would getoff work and we'd come here and
put in like 12 to 15 hours, Imean sleeping here and you saw
some of the videos to dust likewe literally just in here
covered in like, dust and justsweat for like three weeks. It
didn't take long, like and thenwe just I think once it started
rolling, that momentum was likea snowball down the hill. Like
it really didn't take much todry because it was like you have

(30:27):
to finish it now. You know, ifwe ever gonna open it has to get
done. But the one thing I willsay that wasn't easy was doing
it without the loans because nottoo many people can can just go
at it and because you know, Iwas taking I didn't have to rob
Peter to pay Paul, we had themoney. You know, it wasn't a ton
of money, but we so I don't wantanybody to feel like you know,
go go through your house at yourinvestment and like you just

(30:50):
because I said we didn't do itwithout alone. Like it wasn't
killing us to spend this money.
Like that was the one thing eventhough it was kind of shotgun,
we knew that. Alright, if we dothis, how are we going to be in
terms of our the necessities wealready have? And we all agreed
that we wouldn't so we went withit. But yeah, I think the
excitement it was the drivingthe driving factor. And then the

(31:10):
other thing too, a lot of thestuff that you see was here
already, so Okay, like there waslike, tons of sheetrock already
here there was these acousticpanels that Chelsea hanging up
the carpet that was downstairs,we tore up and brought it
upstairs. So like we kind ofrepurposed a lot of stuff like
even even the backdrop that'shanging here was like a u haul.

(31:34):
Whatever you call these things,like the blankets were for
covering up sensitive stuff. Butyeah, we just repurpose
everything. The bar top wasalready here. And then you see a
lot of the furniture and stuffis made out of pallets. So we
really just got creative andcheap. That's what makes them
work. That's what Yeah, and thenafter a while it stopped it

(31:54):
stopped looking cheap andstarted more looking like the
aesthetic, you know, and then wekind of rolled with it when now
you know people love it. And youknow, people come up here. And
you know, downstairs, you cansee it's more finished a little
more clean. But up here, it'slike more upcycled and people
love this room like they lovecoming upstairs. It could be a
whole party of 200 people andthey will try their best to
squeeze up here without evenbeing like the I don't know what

(32:15):
it is. I really don't know theywant to be I don't know, I don't
know why. But so this are wedoing some right. So

the party is always upstairs.
I feel like that party is alwaysupstairs.
Yeah. But I mean, that's I thinkthat's very creative, right?
Because it's sweat equity. Andyou're fortunate to have some
money to spend on but torepurpose in, you know reusing
materials, moving things fromupstairs or downstairs or
upstairs and you know, you gotcreative with your space. You'd

(32:40):
also just let that be atestimony for those who just
know, I can't do it because Idon't have everything I need.
Just start right. Just take thefirst step right. And like
Dallas said, right, the passionis what drives you not I think
that's the most important thing.
And if you don't have passionfor what you're doing, then you
shouldn't really be doing it.
Right. There's a reason foreverything. And if you really
want it, you'll you'll make ithappen. That's for sure.

Yeah. Yeah. Great.
And then I mean, talking aboutnot letting things get to you on
how things look, you know,because sometimes you will be
like, well, this doesn't looklike the usual art gallery or I
got to make it you know, withthe white walls you know, that
usual type of art gallery look,but you know, I'm glad that
didn't stop you. Because youkind of just took it you use
what you had and said okay, howcan I really make this my own

(33:20):
and that's what I love about ityou really you really made this
you and your you know your cofounders you really built this
up, you know yourselves your ownwith your vision and it looks
great.

And we tried that we went I showed you the
pictures it looked ice man whenit was just white, we did the
whole all white everything thewhite floors, white walls, which
isn't necessarily a typicalgallery look, most galleries
have the darker ceiling, darkerfloors, but it was just too too
clean. And then it was almostlike, and this might sound crazy

(33:51):
when we first started, like wehad like, a stripper pole for
like, part like certain partiesand like it just didn't, it just
wasn't feeling like it wasn'tgiven Art Gallery. So you had a
lot of people coming in and theywere like, you know, one the
white didn't seem it seemed tooclean for what was kind of going
on in the room and I and itplayed out literally too because
you know, you pack out all whiteroom with with people, a bunch

(34:14):
of people, it's gonna get dirty.
So the first thing that sort ofhappened, the floors were turned
in black and it was just like,Okay, this isn't gonna work. But
that's also why we changed thename to because it was more than
a gallery. Yeah. And it was inmy biggest fear, not fear, but
concern was that the certainlocals will come here expecting
a certain experience based onthe name. And when they got here
they'd find like, Okay, wellthis isn't quite what I was

(34:37):
expecting. So I think the Havengallery event space in studio is
still doesn't shine light onkind of all of what we do here,
but it does, it broadens. Itbroadens the scope of what's
here. And I think the eventspace thing is really what kind
of helped help kind of bring allthat together because events,
they're all events, you knowwhat I mean? But it's not all
art. So, so so yeah. Um, butyeah, we tried to we tried to

(35:00):
pristine gallery look, and itjust didn't, it didn't fit the
aesthetic of what what we weretrying to do and changing it up
so

and then you've been changing things, you know?
Right, exactly. I know I'vecompeted at different times, and
they just keep changing. So meand that's okay, thanks. I'll
have to stay your showroom doesthat the state looking the same,
you know, every single day

will come rst is kind of like people coming
because like I said, there's apersonal personal walk in here
today, and stay for for eighthours, and then come back
tomorrow and there'll besomething, it might not be a
huge change, but it will be achange that's noticeable by that
even that person like wait, thatwas, something's different. And
people love that about the placebecause I, I've had people
explain it one way. And thenwhen when they get here with the

(35:40):
person they were explaining itto they're like, this isn't what
you told me. He's like, dude, Ithought that's what it was. But
they changed it so much. Sodynamic. So it's definitely
dynamic and ever changing. Ithink that's what makes it It
keeps it fun and interesting tonot just for the people who come
here. But for us. We always findsomething, something to do. You
get to create, you get to createit. That's growing up. My mom

(36:01):
was like that, like we had adecent sized apartment in
Brooklyn, but she always waschanging it around. Like, every
weekend, every other weekend,she was moving the living room
to where the dining room is ormoving the couch from this way
to this way. I don't know if shehad a functionary book or what
but she would change stuff likeall the time. But um, I think
that kind of stuck with mesubliminally because now it's

(36:21):
like, this should move for like,let's change it up. Let's make
it look a little different. Andit makes it makes you your own
space exciting. Instead ofgetting stale. Yeah. But um, but
yeah,

absolutely. I know, I know, the first time
when I'm on measure earlier lastweek. When we came in here,
you're moving to showcase yourmoving showcase around, but I
think nothing that's very cool.
And there's even some additionalart hanging on the wall. They
does now. So there we came. Solike, you know, I like it, man,
I appreciate the creativity.
That's sure I appreciate thecreativity. Definitely, man. So,
you know, as you're looking at,you know, looking back the, the

(36:54):
span from now from then to now.
Like, can you touch on some ofthe hurdles, or some of the, you
know, the obstacles you ran intothat you had to overcome in
order to get where you aretoday.

I mean, you know, honestly, me and Jose talk about
this all the time. And we reallythink this place is like just go
so crazy, but it's just like aportal to like all things just
good. Like, as we built thisplace up certain stuff, which
just happened I was like, how isthat even possible? You know,
we've met people here withcertain connections to like,

(37:26):
like, for instance, one of thegirls who works next door. She
She lives in my my apartmentcomplex, right. And one night,
I'm leaving the gallery to gohome short story to go home. And
it was like one of those nightswhere we did like 12 hours in
here just working in where Ilive, the parking is really
tight. So if you want to spotthat's like by the house, like

(37:47):
your front door, it's rare.
Otherwise, you have to like Parkway and visitors and walks
anyway, just one I get a spot.
I'm waiting for somebody to pullout as I go to pull in this car,
like cuts me off and jumps in myspots, like four in the morning.
Oh, sorry. Oh, I was mad. I saidsome words. And then, um, so
anyway, fast forward to likemonths, months later. This go

(38:08):
from next door, she comes over,she's like, Hey, you know, my
boyfriend does art. And I justwant to introduce him to this
place. Because so cool. I'm justlooking at these people. Like,
it looks like he looks sofamiliar. And this month's after
this right somebody or whatever.
So we talked, we exchangednumbers or whatever, then they
leave. And then fast forwardlike last week, last week, they
pull up, and I see the car andI'm like, No, no, no, no, I know

(38:29):
that car, you know, and so thatthey're coming to the event.
Like I didn't invite him, youknow, they come to the event,
they saw it online or whatever.
And I'm like, No, you're thedude that cut me off in the
Bigler that when that he's like,that was you? And I'm like, What
are the odds at work next doorand live next door? They live on
the third floor? I live on thethird floor, all the way across

(38:52):
town. Right. But, but I say thatto say that, like stars align
here, you know, so like, therehasn't been a lot of like,
tension in terms of what nottension but there hasn't been a
lot of roadblocks in terms ofthe business and I you know,
knock on wood. But um, it's beenkind of smooth. I mean, the only
thing would be I think peoplelose sight of the future like
file your taxes and know how allthat stuff works, too. You know

(39:15):
what I mean? Because come April.

Yeah.

So I think that part, but the biggest roadblock
has been time with my day job.
And just Jose works a prettybusy day job. Alex lives pretty
far from here. So it's been timemanagement has been the hardest
thing and then then laying thetracks as the train is going
down. And you know, I mean, thetrain being the rent, you know,
the visuals and all that stufflike you most people and this
will put them into perspective.

(39:46):
Most people work to pay forwhere the things that they have
when he lived and all that. I'mnot you don't work to pay for
your job. Yeah. If you if youstart if I stopped working here,
then my other job is also To paythis rent. So that's been the
hardest part of like realizinglike, this isn't, this has to
pay for it. So true. Like, youstarted taking money from over

(40:08):
here to pay for this, you end updown bad, right? I think that's
been I think that's been the Iwouldn't call it the hard part.
But it's been like, the part ofthat kind of over your shoulder
all the time is like, don't slowdown. Because if you do, you got
to pay for it. Right? So I thinkthat that pressure, but that's
also the driving pressure tothat's that's kind of what keeps

(40:28):
you keeps you going momentum. Sowe just try to stay creative.
And try not to look at thatpressure as something daunting,
but almost as the goal for eachmonth, you know, and you don't
want to live paycheck topaycheck in your daily life. But
I kind of feel like when you runthe business, you settle for
paycheck paycheck. You just getthere. Yeah, even get close,
like you realize, like anybodylooking to start a business,

(40:50):
like don't feel bad if youbarely make it, because a lot of
people don't make it at all. Youknow, like my landlord told me I
neighbors hadn't paid the rentin months, which was the best
news I can hear cuz I'm like,all right, we only need about 10
days. They can go months. Wegood thing. Yeah, exactly. But
yeah, I think that's been that'sbeen the hardest part is just,
you know, staying focus and notletting that that pressure of

(41:11):
time and everything kind ofoverwhelming. And I'll say like,
yesterday, I was working forAmazon. I work from home, I fell
asleep joining me in and it wasa meeting that I was supposed to
be running like, videos and thewhole like a high touch me and I
wake up like 10 minutes later tolike 30 messages, like where are
you the video supposed to play?
And I'm like, Oh, snap, my powerwent out. So, so I had to, like
literally finesse my way out oflike, having that escalator up

(41:38):
the chain. But um, but yeah, soit's just, you know, staying on
top of time. Yeah, that's been.
That's been the hardest part.

How's it been with your partners? Because you have
two other partners, right? That

is cool. How do you guys know each other? Sorry?
Yeah. Yes, so

so I've known Alex since 2000. And like 13. So
we've known each other for quitesome time, but he was my then
girlfriend's neighbor. And theyhad kids that went to school
together. So they would playtogether. And that's kind of how
we met. And then Alex wasfriends with Jose. Then I met

(42:17):
Jose through Alex and then whenit was always just me and Alex
talking about doing the gallerything, but when he came on to do
it, he said, Oh, Jose isinterested too. And I'm like, oh
Long's he got the bird. Andthat's kind of when me and Jose
started to get we actuallyformed our bond and got tight
from doing the work here, like,do that same sweat equity. And
just and also, you know, doingthis was like a blood pack, you

(42:39):
know, you sign that lease, oryou sign the paperwork. You
know, we don't have to like eachother. We start, we start helps,
it definitely helps you likeyour partners. But um, so yeah,
when when we first started thatI had met Jose, at least a year
or two before that, but weweren't, we weren't really

(42:59):
close. He was just always theguy that was like at Alex's
house. So yeah, so we got coolover the investment. But yeah,
that's, that's that's prettymuch how we met. And it's been
cool working with him. The onething that they both they're
very different. We're all verydifferent. But Jose is
definitely that's my right hand,man. Right there. And Alex is

(43:19):
also that's my right hand too.
Because one thing that Alex isthat you can call him for
anything and he got you got Imean, but yeah, so So yeah,
we're all tight. And we haven'thad any, any major issues. I
mean, they don't I don't saythat to say that you won't have
issues with your partnersbecause we've had issues.

We know that

we have issues all the time, but it's how you it's
it's knowing that going intothose issues, you know that
you're both you both have anintent to come out of it. Okay.

Great point not malicious and non malicious

working through the screen like we've had we've had
it out over some stuff but it'salways been if you're not that
passionate about making it workor about whatever issue then
then you shouldn't be doing soso yeah, we have our we have our
differences but nobody likes ayes man. Nobody likes somebody
who's just gonna always just nodand smile so so we all bring our
different things to the tableand it works and at the end of

(44:16):
the month when it's time to paythe man like it's always there
an estimating thing like that'sthe main thing so so yeah,

there's no but I read this book called The good
from good to great and I thinkit's in this book or this quote,
he says if you have apartnership and the point is
always agree the two partiesalways agree one of them is
unnecessary, right? So it's likeyou got your sandpaper right?
Like you're gonna have to likesmooth some things out with one
another and do it in a cordialfashion was not malicious. And

(44:43):
so so that's that's a mouthfulright there to a tee and I have
an interesting relationship tobe in first met each other at
work, then, you know, again, hersister and marry her. And then
now you know, sister in law. Solike we have we have an
interracial relationship too,but it's not I always move. And
everybody who has been listeningknows, it's like, we have our

(45:03):
issues. And again, it's notmalicious, but it's just things
you have to work out to try tofit the pieces of the puzzle
together the right way for thebenefit of what we're working to
build and building towards. Sothat's always important for
people who out there developingrelationships and partnerships,
you know, your, your, you know,you got a friend, you know, for
10 1520 years, and you guyscrumble to pieces, when you when

(45:24):
you step out on somethingtogether, you got people, you
know, for three years that I getback way more in the business
than anybody else. So it wasimportant to understand where
you're going into business with,then they both you hit it on the
head, like the individual youever make the individual that
you're doing business with, itmakes it so much easier for the
end of the day. Yeah, absolutelyno. So. So, you know, within the

(45:44):
Haven, and the constructs andsome of the things that you host
here, you know, tell us tell usabout like, what, what drives
you, I know, you're a creator, Iknow, I know, you you like
bringing people together, fromthe community to showcase their
art to let go to have fun, too,and create this a fun
environment, people that do whatmakes them happiest in, but I
talk about some of the thingsthat that drives you, you know,

(46:06):
as as, you know, one of thethree partners for the Haven and
the things that you do here forthe community.

I mean, at this, like I said, I think that the
answers, why don't want to makeit seem like the dance is always
just, you know, keeping thelights on, but that that is a
big driving factor. But no, Imean, honestly, I never really
looked at it like that I neverreally, like felt like, there
was really, I don't want to saythat, that we don't get anything

(46:34):
out of it. But it's always justbeen, I just enjoyed doing it.
You know, it's been fun, justeven, you know, I was in music
management for a long time. AndI kind of was just always in
service, you know what I mean?
Like? So like, for me, it's justbeen fun to manage the whole
thing. It's like playing theSims. You know, I told you, I
told this chef, that one timeshout out to her. That, you

(46:55):
know, it's like, the, it's likethe Sims, like were you the
actual characters, like we'rethe characters in the game. And
it's cool to see your house kindof level up as you go along. You
know, I mean, so like watchingeach room go from nothing to
this, this studio, or watchingthe little makeshift kitchen we

(47:16):
had turned into like, now we'restarting to actually look like a
kitchen. So I think that's been,what's driven us the most is
just seeing the fruits of ourlabor, like, just like,
literally form in front of us.
And I think and I think that'sbeen, at least for me, I can't
speak for Jose or Alex. But Ithink that's been the biggest,

(47:38):
the biggest reward has just beenin the biggest driving factor is
just seeing it just and beingthe ones to do it. You know what
I mean? Like a lot of people. Alot of people in this area say
that, you know, everybody whocomes here, we're a good
percentage of them. Also, allthe city needed this, like, I
had this idea, or somebody saidsomething about, and it's like
everybody had just said it, youknow, I mean, so like, it's cool

(48:00):
to know that it's something thatwas sought after, and that is
finally somebody doing it. Andit also helps to be the that
person, you know what I mean?
It's dope to be that person,especially being an implant. I'm
not from here, you know, I'msaying I don't have, you know,
Kevin's like, literally the onlyperson like I can say, I know,
and you Right, right, that Iactually know what I mean. And
so it's dope to kind of feellike, I'm kind of shouldering

(48:22):
that, because now so manypeople, that people who, who,
who, who know about this place,when they, when I change little
things, like we took the cloudinstallation down there, like
what you did when I came here toget some pictures. So it's not
it's a little pressure there tolike, just to keep it going and
just keep giving them you know,that thing that was missing, you

(48:43):
know, so I think that thatthat's been the driving factor
as well.

I like that because like you set up little mini
exhibits, that people can comein and see each and every time
so like, it's a pitch drops likethat they could be and bring
people with exactly to sell theart. I mean, it just all adds to
it.

So yeah, we saw the video, the cloud, the cloud
formation, he's talking with theLightning Man, amazing. It's
downstairs, it's just, it's justamazing. Like, it is really
cool. We look at you know, artcoming to life, you know, 3d for
3d for me. Yeah, that's onething, I appreciate it. But I've
been telling my wife, it marriedabout somewhere for a couple of
years, I want to get more intoart. And then I want to I want

(49:23):
to buy art, I want to start, youknow, learning more and, you
know, supporting the creativepeople who out there in the
world. I think that I thinkthey're easily overlooked for
the value they bring to thetable. Um, you know, my
background like in in will saylike, and then national defense,
right? It's, it's, you know,it's engineers, it's, you know,

(49:45):
program managers. But I thinkthe ones who are the artists and
have the creative minds are muchmore appreciated because it's
the maneuverability, disabilitySydney's from a different
perspective, as it is theability to look, look beyond The
problem with through the problemand figure out the solution, but
actually, we have a roadmap tobuild towards it. So I
definitely appreciate it, man.
And I can't thank you enough forwhat for, you know, for T for

(50:07):
bringing me here and meeting youand seeing what you're having.
Man. Is this amazing? It'simpressive. Man, you said shot
before man, it smells great inhere, whatever.

Yeah, he's doing today, unfortunately for us,
it's for they have an adultField Day across town. And he is
he's a caterer. So he's makingall this stuff, I won't tell you
what he's making. I won't makeit worse.

Because most good, it's all good.

So you're even provided a space for him to be
able to cook. So it's not justart. It's also other
entrepreneurs, here's yourspace, right?

In just just a gym.
For those looking to start abusiness that might have saw a
similar format, like in order tomaintain a liquor license, you
have to sell $2,000 worth ofprotein food every month. So
it's a we have a somewhat of asymbiotic relationship on
steroids. Where, where, where itthat gets us gets us that
number. Very cool. And alsoallows us to, you know, maintain

(51:04):
the bar. Not to mention that'snot the only reason. He's also
awesome chef. Papi eats onInstagrams anyone listening
think it has two s's at the end.
But yeah, awesome chef who wasdoing, he was, you know,
Instagram chef, you've seen him,you know, guys cooking online.

(51:25):
And I have seen his food all thetime. And our friend groups kind
of overlap. So that's kind ofhow I met him. And yeah, I had
the food and then one day, wedid a brunch here. And then it
kind of just kind of took off towhere it was, like, you know,
you're doing the meals, youknow, from wherever you're at,
why not do it from a morestable, stable space, you know,
people can come in, they cantake it to go, they can sit down

(51:46):
and eat. And this has beenworking. I mean, we do some
pretty good numbers, and we'repretty consistent, doing about
three times a week. So that's aversus free incident. Isn't

that great? That's alright, that's alright. I like
that. So the fact that you know,and, you know, for the all those
who had those ideas out there,study, learn, you know, you
know, Dallas has dropped thegym, you know, 2000 2000 pounds
of protein a month in order tomaintain a license to sell

(52:18):
alcohol is important.
It doesn'tcount. Yeah, sorry. $2,000 worth
of protein, right. Yeah, acouple in Norway in order to
maintain a license wasimportant. You know, do you do
you research? Do you research?
Absolutely.

In fact, we're the only according to the ABC person
I spoke to were the only ArtGallery from what she said in
the state with food even intheir, their business model.
Most of them you know, they gointo it just you know, blinders
on for the art I'd imagine. And,and that's why most galleries
you can't even get a glass ofwine, because you have to have
you have to have a food at leastthat's what they told me. Yeah,

(53:02):
she says not too many have that.
So we're, we're in first placewhen it comes to that. So I love

it.

That's amazing.
That's amazing, man. So so like,you know, as you look at the,
you know, the blueprint, and youknow, I know, I know, the artist
monster ever working, but youlook what you're happy with the
Haven man, like, what was next,like, you know, what do you what
do you envision Next, you know,for the Haven.

Um, I mean, honestly, we're looking at
literally next door, we want towant to do a full on performance
Hall. So that like, we candedicate this just to like, you
know, typical art, art, youknow, Canvas art, stuff like
that smaller shows paintingserves. And then over there,
which is same floorplan but asyou can tell, they built this

(53:43):
second level after they builtthe original building. So over
there, it's just opened. So we'dbe able to have a stage and we'd
be able to do like a full thesmall concert hall, that we have
just a performance art space.
That's one of the things that Iwant to do next, I'd also open
up the revenue because we alsomight be able to do ticket sales
at a higher volume for you know,events. And yeah, that's what

(54:03):
I'm doing. I also want to get, Iwant to get this kitchen fully
up and running. But as far aslike big picture, I do want to
kind of shift the focus back tothe art. That's why we've been
doing a lot of pop ups. We haveone tomorrow actually and DCU
Street and 14th we do want topop up out there right on the
corner. So just trying to sellmore art and kind of put some

(54:24):
light back on that. Butotherwise we kind of keep that
same mantra of like we just aswe go. As we go. I'm waiting for
you know, some heavy hitter towalk in and see the drive and
see what we're doing and saylook, man, I want to invest some
money. Every night. Yeah, and Idon't I try not to hold my hand
out i want i want whatever tohappen here. I want it to be

(54:46):
genuine and like organic. Idon't that's why we never did
the whole the loans like thatreal transactional. Here's your
money. Now give us back thisplus I'm like to be like that. I
want it to be like I see whatyou're doing. I Like it, I want
to invest in it, you know what Imean? So I think just taking it
day by day, and just keepingdoing keeping up what we've been
doing, if it ain't broke, don'tfix it. Trying to keep it

(55:08):
everything legit, because, youknow, for us it can be, it can
be extra pressure. In terms of,you know, we've already had some
of that from like the neighbors.
And one thing I would tellpeople as far as that, like, you
know, I don't like to, likeautomatically categorize stuff
hate as hate. But if you can't,like come up with a logical

(55:28):
explanation as to why certainstuff starts to happen on the
move, that's kind of what itstarts to look like. And what I
say is don't stoop. You know,cuz that's what they want you to
do, especially in business, theywant you to stoop to a certain
level, and then they can say,Oh, look at him, look at that
business owner doing that wrongthing you're not I mean, so, you
know, I just thought he wasright now just try to give them
you know, don't do anythingagainst your morals, or you
know, your principles orwhatever, just to appease

(55:50):
somebody else. But if you'rewrong, or if it's something that
you can fix without causing moreof a stir, then just go with
that, because, you know, be yougot to be here tomorrow. Last
thing you want to do is to behere, we're stressed tomorrow,
somebody, you know, poking andprodding at you, because you,
you know, you talk to them acertain way or gave them a hard
time. So like I said, I don'tsay don't fold but, but you

(56:10):
know, be played chess. Chess,not checkers, because that's
what they want, you know, in,in, in regular situations for
us. Even so, in business, youknow, especially in a place you
see, we're kind of in a quietindustrial parks, we're kind of
like the new shiny thing. Soright, get all the we get all
the attention. So just bemindful of that. And be cordial

(56:32):
to your neighbors to like you.
Even if they're not to youalways be cordial to them.
Because I like to tell peoplethis all the time. I like to
leave the ball and otherpeople's court, no, play your
hand the way you know, you know,is right, and then let them let
them make the next move. letthem decide how they gonna, you
know, go about it. Because atthe end of the day, they got to
live with what they did whatthey did, you know, I mean, so
if you can go to sleep at night,knowing like, you know, I

(56:54):
handled that situation, the bestway, they're gonna be the one
sitting up at night, staring atthe ceiling, trying to figure
out, did I do the right thing?
You know, so, so always try tostay on the right side and stuff
like that, especially when itcomes to, to your neighbors when
it comes to business. But Butyeah,

yeah, yeah, definitely want any drama at
your place of business? Oh, noproblems. Yeah, yeah, makes your
life easier, makes those whopager in here, it makes their
life easier to, um, you know,just want to keep it cordial.
And just, you know, keep thathigh character, man. That's what
it's all about, you know, likeyou said, you want to be able to
sleep easy at night, butpersonally important, absolutely
important. So, so as you as youtalked about before, you know,

(57:31):
you still have, you know, your,your job AWS, while you while
you're, you know, you're runningthe Haven, um, let's talk about,
you know, the, the burnout andthe fatigue factor. Right, like,
so what are some of the releasesand some of the things you may
do, you know, to kind ofmitigate that? Know, Are there
times you take may take a dayoff from here at Dell from
there? And then what do you doin your downtime, if there is

(57:52):
any at all don't have downtime.

Worse person acts, just skip this one. Because I
said early on, just realized Imight not be the best at
managing this time. And that wasfirst time I felt See I legit,
like it. And it was because ofit was because of both, you
know, I'm tired. And I don'tknow, I think even for myself

(58:17):
would be to take more breaks forlike I said, the hardest part is
like, you know, weekends areshort, you know what I mean?
They become even shorter whenyour business and for me
weekends no longer exists,because stuff, you know, that
stuff like, stuff, you know,parties happen, events and
whatnot, so, so I would justsay, factor in rest. And you

(58:38):
know, take that time out. Andalso have a team that you can
trust that you can, you can, youknow, leave things to. And in
were there, I could definitelytrust team, but we're all kind
of the same, but we almost needa room. You almost need a staff
now. But yeah, just just justmake time for yourself. And take

(58:59):
breaks, even if they're shortbreaks, just just close the
laptop, you know, take a walk,just do something else. Even if
it's for 20 minutes, just giveyourself that space to just give
your mind time to time tobreathe. But yeah, that's what I
was saying. That's more adviceto myself more than anybody
else. But you know, I think thatthat's a learned thing too,

(59:20):
though, especially if you're,you know, I've done I've always
had something entrepreneurialgoing on, but never, never with
this level of like intent andwhat the intent was always
there, but the pressure is herebecause of the bills because it
brings a difference. Yeah, itbrings a different level of
pressure when it comes toactually starting, especially

(59:43):
brick and mortar, right. It'sone thing to run your business.
Right. It's another thing thatactually have a physical space,
you know, I could pay $20 for adomain but way more than
quadruple. Lights. Yeah, thesenice electric You know, they're
like more or less But yeah, sojust taking time to take a break

(01:00:04):
and realize that you know,without you, you can't do
nothing. Yeah. Like if you, ifyou not if you're not here
physically and mentally, it'sgoing to start to show what one
physically obviously will showyou you're not here but mentally
it's going to show your work andyour execution, you know what I
mean? Like, even to the pointwhere, like, maybe you, you're
driving home, it could bereally, you know, I don't live

(01:00:29):
far but I'd be tired. Like, I'mgonna just stay here. Yeah. So
yeah, so you definitely got topay attention to your to your
body and how the effects whatyou're doing is having on you
and, and also understand that ittakes time to train yourself to,
to work at that level, you knowwhat I mean? You might think you
you can go all day and allnight, but it's a whole nother
thing. And I actually need to dothat. And, you know, so and

(01:00:50):
that's something that, you know,thankfully, I've been able to
do, but like I said, definitelygonna start slowing down and
setting some time aside, andmaybe certain certain actual
days aside. Yeah, cuz Idefinitely find that you can't
plan anything. It's really hardto plan. Absolutely. So like,
you know, I've been telling mygrandma was coming to Hampton
for months, but it's just like,get all the way to Wednesday and
boom, something pops up for thatSaturday. I was like them, I

(01:01:12):
can't go nowhere. But so I thinkI need to get more firm with
setting the date and saying thatstick into is done. Yeah, yeah.
So yeah.

Ray Mayfield (01:01:21):
I think that's important. Nothing is wonderful.
I know for me, I wake up anddrive to work and fall asleep
driving to work some days. Well,it's just because you're just
you know, you're you're alwayson the go. So it's definitely
important if you had theopportunity to do so yeah,
definitely pick a date on plugeverybody. You need it, you need
that reset, you need a littlerefresher, anyways, man is good.
It's good to stick your, yourmind your body's like a computer
every now and you got to resetyour machine. So focus properly,

(01:01:43):
you know, so take care of yourhealth as well. If they say yes,
very true. Very true.
Absolutely. Absolutely. So, sotalking about tea, you know, so
how are you guys? You guys metin college, obviously. Right.
Next question, are

Tiara Jones (01:02:01):
you right? to just throw in a curveball?

Sometimes a freestyle, you know, off the
top, I think like I telleverybody previous like I
thought a lot of curveballs manso I don't want to do number two
crazy, but you know what, so thetiara, I know, is a very driven
very task focused, which isgreat because me while while I'm
very driven, I'm most likely youalluded to before, right? My

(01:02:27):
tasks are up here. Right? My mydaily mental checklist is up
here and get your rest everybodybecause if you keep it up here,
you can quickly forget it too.
So, you know, my mentalchecklist is up here. And I'm
just curious man, like, youknow, what the what the little
TT used to know like, like, isthat how to use always been
always been like that task? Boygoal oriented individual should
like

Paul Dallas (01:02:49):
I was gonna say college t I'm gonna wish he was
going with that. But they werealways a year ahead of me. So I
was kind of I was the new thenew guy on to the friend group.
You know, they had all you knowy'all did a year plus knew each
other before before school. Soyeah,

well, I came in not knowing anyone kind of new to
the group and, and then you camein kind of after everyone.
Right?

So yeah, I mean, no, she was she was always the
mom. She was always the shape Iwant to sit by I want to use
that. I don't want to use tiarawas. You know what? I'll say
this. I'll say this. I can'tspeak much to her now because we
haven't hung out. Literallysince then. There. Yeah. I think
the last time I saw you beforethis was bumped into you in Old

(01:03:37):
Town. But your mama sayssomebody came right away. But
um, but yeah, no, she's alwaysshe's been consistent. I think
not much has changed in herdemeanor. You know, she was
never the part of the big partyand type. She was never the the
she was always the one to keepto make us feel like we were
willing. She was always thebest. Yes, she was the one that

(01:03:59):
always made us feel like but butshe was always willing to let us
wile out at her dorm. So thatwas always cool. This

is a funny story about that I was usually the hat
out for them because no onewould come looking for me no and
have trouble you know, oranywhere I am. I was the safe
haven. Okay. Definitely the safehavens, boy. Well, yeah, good.
Good times in college, it was agroup of us, like six or seven

(01:04:28):
of us that were, we're alwaystogether, it was pretty close.
And for the gallery open, someof us were able to come back and
see each other. So it was coolto kind of have a reunion, and
then have the reunion in thisspace. So to see, you know, how
far you know, we've all come andthen how much you know, Dallas
and his team has created it wasthat was a good day.

None of us being the guy to come to the class
reunion who's not doinganything. Oh, everybody had
something everybody gotsomething going on. And I think
that's and then you know, shoutout to those who I have anything
going on. Yeah, I'm saying thiscool one day. Yeah, yeah. But
it's seriously, as far as afriend group, it's awesome to
see, you know, that you didn'thave to, you'd have to look at
anybody. But then we left, weleft Ray Ray behind them, look

(01:05:13):
at them that we got to go helpthem like Should we get them
help like, so we nobody has thatproblem in our friend group. And
I think that's dope because Iknow a lot of people who can't
say the same thing. So it's coolto see that we all stuck to it.
And I didn't finish it with you,I just, you know, as I gotten
sick and dropped out. But still,you know, and again to
entrepreneurs, who cares, mostof the world dropped out within

(01:05:37):
10 to say, they say, forgetthis, I can go make my own
money. You know, however youwant to do it. But I will say
don't let anybody pressure youand tell you that there's only
one way to do it. That's that'sactually not the case. You know?
So

I think we were talking about that with Nicole,
my sister was why the other dayabout how like, if you're, if
you have your kids, and if theysay, you know, what one being,
you know, I don't want to go tocollege, or I want to go a
different route, like, how wouldyou feel about that? And I would
say, being completely honest,before I would have been like,
no, you're going to college,you're doing this, but as the

(01:06:13):
years have gone on, and, youknow, I've jumped into this
whole entrepreneurship thing,too. I'm like, not here for the
whole college thing. BecauseI've seen kind of where it,
where it took me in my mindset,and I think where you were going
was I was kind of a square, it'sokay, you could have said,
that's where you're going. And Iwas, I was very, you know,
I didn't want to kind of rigid

the fact that she picked up on that.

And I think that was kind of school, like, you
know, of course, I wasn't reallyinto the partying, and you know,
all that type of stuff. But Ijust felt like I have to be here
at this time, I have to do this,everything was just so templated
and contribute that to, youknow, being in the IB program,
you know, in this area, and thengo on to School of Engineering
and these majors trying to getout in four years, and, you

(01:07:02):
know, all this type of differentstuff, trying to like just, you
know, just make it through, Imade myself think that I had to
be this person that just stayedby the book, you know, and, and
that's not it, because I thinkexperience is the best teacher.
And so you know, it's taught mea lot. And, you know, my kids,
when they come up, as long asthey have a vision, they have a
plan of what they want to do,like you're not about to sit in

(01:07:23):
my house and be like, I am goingto school, and I do nothing,
that's not an option. I mean, aslong as they have something that
they want to do. And in thesense, I know, when we were
talking about, you know, takingtime to rest and things like
that, when you know, kids are inschool, now there's a lot of
pressure, there's a lot ofthings that they're having to
deal with, and being open togiving your care today. So yes,
that's not you know, how itusually is, and how you can give

(01:07:47):
your kids a day off of nothaving to be sick or anything
like that. But you just got toget out of the mindset of the
usual things that people do andhow people look at you and all
of that, like, just let that go.
Like if your child needs amental health day of your
challenges, they're just tired,and they don't want to go to
school, let them take a day.
Because I mean, we take vacationdays, like you know, Nicole was

(01:08:07):
saying we take vacation days, sowhy can't you know a child if
they need that if they feel likethey have a lot of pressure on
them? Why can't they take thatand so that's, that's one thing
I know, that I've learnedthroughout the years, and you're
talking to other entrepreneurs,that you really have to just
just just start figuring it outand not not being pressured to

(01:08:27):
stick to what everyone else hasdone, or what everyone has
always told you to do. And howyou just have to work a nine to
five all your life and then hopethat you have money to retire.
Like there's other options, itdoesn't have to be that way in
so many different areas of yourlife. So um, I'm still learning
and seeing how I can just gowith the flow, okay?

Because I mean, like the world was so black and
white at one point or anothersplashes of color everywhere,
you know me so you don't haveto, you know, you can do a test
with the evolution oftechnology, the internet, we can
learn anything, you can teachyourself anything, you know, but
again, you may not need thedegree but you got to have that
passion, you got to have a goalin state. I think that's that's

(01:09:10):
extremely important. More thanthe degree, right? There's a
drive to do something to be apart of something bigger than
yourself. If you haveopportunity to do it, you know,
just do it man. Like you know,don't wait. Tomorrow is not
promised man Life is short. Youknow, so short. So definitely
get up off the couch and youknow, put yourself in the game.
Put yourself in the game. It'svery important for sure.

(01:09:31):
Absolutely. So so you know backback on script now right. So but
that's that's good. I'm alwaysinterested to meet people who
were in tears circle becauseTierra is such a she's different
from a lot of people that I'vecome in contact with so it's
always interesting to see italways been this way.
Yeah. So, so Dallas missile. Sotell us man as you you know, we

(01:09:59):
talked about Your vision yourpast your drive, where you see
the AV going, how you see itbecoming more integrated into
the community, man, you know,where can people find out about,
you know, the haven to some ofthe events you guys host? Or the
opportunities in the space? Andyou know, where can they run you
guys down at and look at youguys definitely support you.
Yeah, well,

mainly Instagram, haven arts VA on Instagram, and
also my personal InstagramDallas for president the number
four. And then our website havenarts va.com, which I will say
sometimes might be a little, afew days behind in terms of some
information but like I said,we're really small team, so bear
with us as we as we ratchetthings up. But yeah, that's

(01:10:43):
where you can find most of ourstuff.

Okay. Very cool.

Yeah, check them out, contact them, definitely,
we'll put the address of theactual you know, gallery and
event space on our show notes.
So if you guys that are in thearea, you can come and check it
out.

This is definitely space unlike anything I've seen
before in the art world, I thinklike my my relationship to art
is is always like, you know,our, you know, the Smithsonian
Art Gallery. The Atlanta or isthe two in galleries down there
places I've been to in LosAngeles, which a little more
abstract. But this is amazing.
To me. What you create here ispretty cool. So on some of those

(01:11:18):
spots where you are, you know,your social media, your website,
all those places where artistscan link it with you to and
discuss opportunities for to,for you to host their art here.

Yes. So anybody who's interested in stuff like
that, I would say reach out tome on instagram direct. The
reason I say that is I meet alot of people in a day nowadays.
So it helps to have the instantface to the name. Gotcha. You
know, because I'm the typeperson I never it will take me
months before I save your numbermy phone. So it will just be in
there. Like, literally sit heresearching through my phone like,

(01:11:50):
what did I say to them last Itype it into search to try to
figure out which one of thesefive seven ones just as this
person, so definitely contact meon Instagram. That's the best
way to get to me I literallyanswer every every message now
until I blow up then you know?
No, seriously, like, you can hitme on Instagram, you can send a
you know, do the commentssection on the on the website or

(01:12:12):
through the havens artsInstagram, which is managed by
me and Jose. So somebody willget to you on that very though
that's the best place to reachus

there. Very cool, very cool young local artists
worldwide man, you know, thecheck it out, come through. And
even those who are justinterested in space for an
event, work event, child childevent, some fun, he told you
about some of the creativity,they put in a way they
transitioned downstairs into abeach was still kind of mind
blowing. To me. That's crazy.
But I think you know, we look atthe space you have here is very
user friendly. And the fact thatyou and your team are so

(01:12:43):
accommodating to anybody whowants to use the space for
something is also unique initself too. So definitely,
definitely hats off to me. Thankyou for creating something so
great. Yeah, and

as far as my project, about as far as the
kids parties goes, we also dolike kid painting service. So we
get like locally. So let themmix their own little drinks. And
Tiana is a certified childprofessional too. So no. So if
you do bring your kids here, youknow, we got somebody who CP CPR
certified, like, we also have itto where the parents can come
upstairs to the lounge and theycan hang out, please have a

(01:13:16):
glass of wine. But then we alsohave cameras throughout the
building. So they can actuallysee what their kids are doing
stairs from upstairs. So it'squite on the big screen. And so
they have that peace of mind. Soeven though we have a childcare
professional, we also they cansee and know that you know,
cool, so we bring in like ainstructor and you know, to
teach kids how to paint and allthat we give them their own
easels. And yeah, that's prettydope.

I love Have you thought that through, like all
the type of, you know, thingsthat the parent would think
about. You've kind of thoughtthat through so you have
something Yes, you can still seeit. Yes. You know, someone's
certified so a lot of peoplewould just pass that exactly.
No, we don't want any of that.
Especially not on the watch.

paint, paint. Paint is 100% non toxic. Yeah, I'm
saying all our glue non toxic. Ilove it. I eat it all. Gotcha.

not encouraged, but it's okay. Yeah. kids will
be kids. I know. And it goes onto all too old man was dope man.
Like say, dude, we definitelyappreciate your work and massage
into your space. It's a breathof fresh air. You know, we have
our own studio where we do ourpodcast. We're just you know us
pretty much looking at eachother rolling eyes to rolling
eyes me most of the time.

Because Ray's comments y'all be here we

certify gains spitter. But it's all good,
though. You know, like, I thinkI think it's important to
understand what's out there inthe community is what you guys
live in, which is why I'm Imean, I'm excited to be here
too, because I didn't know thatHayden was here. And now that I
know I guarantee you know, I'dlove to stay connected with
Dallas and his team thanks toyour for the introduction.
Absolutely don't need youanymore.

mentioned I don't think that was touched on this.
But he also is an artisthimself. Yes. And so we have one
of his original paintings I'llbe sure to post that so you guys
can see it and we were we were

the only original Oh the only we have the only
original

painting

there's two more originals I have but they're
both tables that I mean they'renot they're not painting so yes
that's the only originalpainting

I feel special we feel special yes in the

massive fight with my daughter over where it's
gonna go

now it's gonna go on maybe I'll just make her one.

Oh man no she would love that she would
absolutely love that. She wouldshe would appreciate it we would
too but you know we willcontinue to support you no
matter what you do man and I gotsome of the some of the archer
created here if it's not it'snot paintings I look I look at
tables to there

you were I'll show you soon as we don't ya heard
that right. Yeah, I heard thathe he said he was gonna buy but
he'll look at

what does that mean is man I don't want to
disappoint. But it's all good.
It's all good man.

But again, thank you so much for allowing us to
come into your your gallery andevent space and being open to
being our guest today.

Yes, thank

you. Oh, it was fun. And before we wrote like
what what are the hours what arethe hours so it's it's it's
private so it's it's pretty muchinvite only your by appointment?
So but like I said that thatmeans that that sounds more you
know, don't just hit me hit meup on Instagram. If you want to
come up just let us know mostmost of the time we're here
after four somebodies usuallyhere but like I said, we all

(01:16:21):
have those day jobs. So untilthat's the thing of the past
after for pretty much any day.
Gotcha. But yeah, just shoot mea message Dallas for President.
Yeah, and we could set up a timefor y'all to come check it

out. Nice. Nice.
Perfect, nice. So deltaappreciate Joseph Dallas. Look
forward to coming back andseeing you again to at a later
date. You know, just checkingwhat you guys see see what
you're up to and how you guysare evolving and continuing to
provide a great service to thecommunity man again for me,
thank you so much for hosting ustoday. Appreciate it. Look
forward to the great things thatcomment a appreciate

y'all. Thank you and maybe next time, I'll come
to your studio and

check us out man.
I appreciate everybody. Thankyou so much and we look forward
to seeing guys get on the nextgo around. Until then. Peace.

Stay solid peace.

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