 Welcome to another edition of Rational Business. I'm joined at the table today by a very special guest, A.J. Fox, who you could easily consider a creative solutioner. A.J., welcome to the table. Thank you so much for having me, Nigel. You are involved in so many things that it's almost impossible to find a good starting point. But let's start with your business. I guess I should say businesses. I have multiple businesses. My main business is Sobra Mesa Creative Solutions. Sobra Mesa is a word that isn't really translatable in English, but it comes from a Spanish word, which basically talks about sitting around a table with friends and having community and having good talk over like coffee or like a pastry or something like that kind of that feeling and that environment that's created. What was that word again? Sobra Mesa. All my best ideas have come from sitting with my friends, other creatives around a table and just like having a snack and like brainstorming, shooting off like different things to one another. And it's been really cool. I really started doing more of like the event work. I was doing event work before COVID, but that slowed down for obvious reasons. For very obvious reasons. And then Rufio from Rue Entertainment, he puts on monthly events with Ritual Noise in Denver every second Friday at Tracks Nightclub. And they needed a vendor manager and he gave me an opportunity and I knew nothing about like vendors or management. But once I started to pick up on it, I like realized I was like, oh, wow, I was kind of built for this every time I was younger and they like shut down a street and put up booths. I was there. I was like, I want to go. What's going on? Who are these people? And I just really like knowing different people who do different things. So it just fits in well. Right. I mean, you must have a vast collection of expertise in all different areas. Jack of all trades kind of type of deal. I have like ADHD, so hobby jumping and just kind of staying on my feet and always trying to go deeper and see what I can do more and how I can be helpful has always been a big part of like getting into what I do. Right. In your business itself. Okay. So you do a lot of work. What was the name of the gentleman again? With Renfyo. With Rue Entertainment and Ritual Noise. Oh, Rue Entertainment. Right. So you do a lot of work with Rue Entertainment. But how about you on your own? Because you also organize events locally. Yeah. So I wanted to, you know, after getting into the vendor management stuff, I wanted to create more opportunities locally because like Denver is a track and I don't want to go there all the time every single time I work in event. So I really wanted to get into local events. I started a second business with my best friend Emily Rodriguez and we have a business called creative strokes events, which is kind of like a mash between my business and her business. And we put our names together. Nice. So we do local events and we've been doing that for about a year together. We're about to do our sixth event together, which will be the giving season's fair. November 5th, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. We're shutting down the street and we're going to be hosting vendors inside and outside of Longmont Public Media, which I also do event work and vendor management with them as well. We're going to talk about that in a few minutes. Right. So, yeah, I know the whole starting events here. My friend Emily came at me with a really cool idea. She was working closely with the Altona Grange Hall and helping them with like their foods and flea markets type of like market series and thought that we had the potential to do something really cool. So we did like a fall festival there. It was a really fun time. Followed it up with like a makers market in December. Really good time. We try to focus on like just small business owners, makers, artists, cottage type of maker things. I like it. I like it because you're always trying to help. I don't want to use that. I was going to use a word I shouldn't use. You always want to try and help the smaller businesses be successful. I'm all about like small business support, you know? I think so many creative people and people who have an idea, they have this idea. It's a great idea, but how do you execute it? Like how do you break up that big goal into like bite-sized chunks and turn it into something that you can actually like achieve and that's just where like coordination and organization comes in. So a lot of, sometimes it feels like you're hurting cats. Sometimes it's always worth it, every single time it's worth it to just see people be able to like show up in the world the way that they want to show up in the world. I agree. I agree. Especially when it comes to this aspect because here at the Captain's Lounge, for instance, we had a lot of trouble marketing who the Captain's Lounge is. Right. What the CIT network is. And so I've been delving into that over the last couple of months and boy, what a confusing area to work in. Right. Branding. Oh, branding. Right. It is so difficult. It can be. It can be, like even for me, it's hard. I think a lot of people like creative entrepreneurs, they have so many different areas of passion, you know? Like I know that you're not just podcast interviewer, you do photography. Right. You're also like everywhere in the community. I see you all over the place. And I mean, I have my hands in so many different like places as well. I like to make vision maps with like my clients and it's something like a therapist passed down to me like years ago. Figure out what your mission statement is, what your big goals are, the things that support you in achieving those goals, the things holding you back and achieving those goals. It's really cool. But that's kind of what I start out every single time, just helping people get narrowed down on like really what is their mission statement. Right. We actually did work on our own mission statement and we've helped from someone else and we've actually stuck to it pretty good. The problem we're having, of course, is getting the name out. Right. And that's always the problem. Right. And everyone suffers from that. Yeah, everyone does. But you know, the solution is actually really easy. You need to show up for your community and your community needs to show up for you. And there's the case. Yeah, that's the key. Community's showing up for you. It is. All the answer is in community. You know, these corporations are going to, like, I mean, maybe if you get like a sponsorship or something in the future. But as far, if we're talking like on local, boutique, business, small business level, you need to show up. You need to make neighbors. You need to know beyond like a first name basis with the people who own that restaurant or, you know, whatever it is, the services, the two people like neighbors again, you know, I think it's been interesting after COVID. As we're talking about the community, that now brings us into the Longmont public media. Right. And you really surprised me. You've only been working with them since August. Right. Well, they've only been doing like events on the level that they're doing since August. It's very new to them. Longmont public media started during COVID. So they didn't have the opportunity to get their name out there. They kind of like, you know, when you're a new business, you can come into the scene with like some momentum. You know, you're like, we're new. Well, this is what we're doing. Like get excited about us. We're excited about being here. And you missed out on that during COVID. You're not allowed to do anything. And then also it's a very small operation and different personality types. Not everyone has the energy level. We'll be like, hey guys, we're Longmont public media, you know? Right. It's important to have people who do want to show up and do things like that. Right. I met their marketing manager, Ryan, in a really funny way. We met playing Pokemon Go. Longmont has a really impressive Pokemon Go community. Hold on a second. I have got to do this. Yes. What? Yeah. No, he literally, we're in a group chat on Facebook that I randomly got added into, because I wanted to play like raid Pokemon with people and I don't have enough in real life friends that will play Pokemon with me. So you have to make them online. And it's a very local group. He posted in there one time. He's like, hey, I'm with Longmont public media and we're going to start doing events. We're looking for people who are interested in being involved, essentially. And I was like, hey, I'm an event coordinator and vendor manager and I've been looking to do more things in Longmont, more things I can have my kid involved with as well. So sign me up. And came, I did a tour. My mind was blown when I did a tour at LPM. I had no idea that that kind of space with all these resources and all this equipment was all available to the community for free. And, you know, I was just blown away because I do photographic opportunities and events with my business, Sobra Mesa. And I do like a Sobra Mesa creatives photo shoot every month with a different theme. And I'm always looking for different studio spaces, different areas to shoot. And it just seemed like kind of like a one, like one place to just stop and resolve all my issues that I run into with every single time, lacking equipment, lacking space, lacking lighting or something always happens. Oh, that's a guarantee. Right. So I was just like, my mind was blown. I did a couple of events with Ryan, just weekly events and they were fine. It was a slow start because people didn't know. But, you know, that's kind of what we were expecting. And then we had to hit it really hard because we got put with doing the member drive in September and it was like two weeks or sorry, not two weeks, but it was like a lot of them just trying to get new members to sign up and we got a bunch of new members to sign up. We had a bunch of great events going on and the community that's shown up and shown out for LPM has been super like just like astounding. It's really cool. There's a lot of people who don't walk in that space and just you can just see like the wheels and the gears turning in their head. Right. Yeah. And I'm just like, what kind of art are you going to make here? Nice. Yeah. Longmont Public Media. Let's talk about that for just a little bit more. It's in a wonderful old building located on 4th and Kimbart here in Longmont. And when you walk in, you can just feel the energy of the building. I don't know what it is. And they've got a beautiful studio area which is very large. They've got mixing boobs, recording. They have a podcast studio. Podcast studio. They have like the audio engineering. Yeah. They have like printers if you need to print out, like make prints of anything. They have like computers with all the editing software you need for video or photo. They have like live Twitch streaming. Right. Availability. It's just crazy the amount of like opportunity. Right. That is in that space. And we were faced with like, you know, the city of Longmont was really trying to focus on making sure that the budget was being used in a way that wasn't the best use for the city and the people. And so we had to present and show up to city council meetings every week. I went for three weeks in a row and I spoke and I made like a speech. And I've never talked to like the mayor or like city council or anything like that. And it was really cool seeing how many people came from different corners and places of Longmont just to show up for LPM and even people at like the city meeting who weren't there for LPM were like, actually LPM has impacted my life in a positive way too. And they're a staple to our community. So continuing just to get more eyes and ears with, again, like coming back to that, it's just, it's hard to get out there. There's so much content to digest. It's getting thrown at you all the time, getting people to look at your promotions, your flyers, come to your events, come to your classes. Oh man. It's difficult. It is. It's difficult. Any other words to talk about on your business or Longmont public media? Because we're now going to change if we've got nothing more to say. Well, I guess the whole thing with the business and LPM that ties in is community. I'm passionate about community and I'm passionate about helping people make the art that they want to see in the world. Right. So that can very much just sum that up. I've got an amazing event coming up as well. We talked about that. It's like the giving season's fair, but that is like, if you are an artist or if you have a small business in the area or if you are trying to provide like a service or you're trying to put the things you make out there in the world or if you like to bake, this is a great opportunity to set up a table and to meet so many people in the public in the community and to do the thing that you love to do. So anyone who's interested in that can always get a hold of me. Absolutely. Change gears. Yeah. Modeling. Yes. You also do an awful lot of modeling. I do. And we've had the pleasure, of course, of working together. Right. Couple times now. Couple of times now, but how did you get into modeling? Oh, man. I got into modeling when my mom worked at the Dillards at the Twin Peaks Mall that was torn down here in Longmont and they set up a runway show and they needed like models. So like everyone got their kids involved. I like walked the runway in the mall. How old were you? I was probably like eight or nine. Oh, nice. Super young in like the school uniform type of deal. And I was, I don't know, I've always been like a thespian at heart. And I was like in musicals and plays growing up, did photography classes in school, would take photos of my friends, they'd take photos of me. So it was really like a hobby for a long time and then I started managing models and I wasn't a model. But then every time I was managing models and going with them to their shoots and making sure that they had their outfits like just helping with all the back, like the behind the scenes stuff. While the malls were getting ready, the directors would be like, hey, let's get a couple of photos of you or whatever. So I'd jump in, get a couple of photos and it would be cute. I'd be like a new profile picture. I didn't think too much of it and then people started to ask me to model more and more. And then it turned into brand ambassadorships and like promo modeling, which is like I do mostly like, I just did like a brand shoot for like a lingerie company that's like locally owned. So mostly that's like the kind of work I do is with local people. With local businesses that need someone to show off their product. Yeah, that's what I like to do. And of course it doesn't have to be clothes. You could be holding something, standing on something, sitting in something. It could be anything. We've done like a whole variety of clothes and not clothes shoots. Like I mean some of the alcohol commercials, they want like a really like classy, elegant, like put together look in some of them. They're like, do a Jello shot off your friends butt. Hold on, let me make a note of that. I want to see that video. I was actually going to print it out, print out the still image. It's just so glorious. I want to hang it above my mantle and get one for my friend who is my co-model in that because that was a good time. But I love modeling. The photographic events that I do every month are so that way I can just like create a different theme to add to portfolios for people and like another opportunity. I'm very much like into making sure that like BIPOC and LGBTQ plus like people can get in front of the camera. Anyone of any experience level should be able to get in front of a camera at any point and feel confident. And feel, yeah, uncomfortable. And comfortable. And just have a good interaction with like person taking the photos and getting the photos taken, the environment. So sometimes like the group meetups can be really intimidating for models or photographers and you almost like want to go with a friend so that way you don't feel out of place. Out of place. Right. But the photo shoots every single month they're a blast and they just keep getting better and better. And we get to like feature a different photographer in the area. So it's nice because you get a group of models to network with that photographer. They get to check out that style. Yeah. You know, interact with that person because each person, each photographer brings something so different. I'm glad you mentioned that because people don't realize it but every photographer does something a little different. Right. They look at different angles. They different lighting techniques. Different editing styles. Different editing styles. Right. You know, and I mean your work even and it changes from set to set. It depends like what you're doing. What you're doing if you're doing something outdoors or if you're going to do something more set up. Yeah. I was doing, I did a shoot with a very good friend of mine, April T's. Mm-hmm. And she wanted to do a sunflower shoot. Mm-hmm. So we went and did the sunflower shoot all locally here, even though she lives up in Bailey of all places. Wow. That's far. At 9,000 feet. I did a series of color and I just did, you know, very standard colors type photographs and I'm looking at them and going, you know what, I'm going to make these look like they came from the 1800s. And I've got software that will allow me to do that. Mm-hmm. And I turn this whole set into something that looked like it just came from the turn of the 18th, 19th century. A little sepia-ish, but not too much. Mm-hmm. Really look sweet. Sent them off to her and she said, job well done. Right. Exactly. And that's like the whole thing and it's like being it just, again, getting faces to meet. Yeah. So that way like, you have common interests. Maybe we could have common interest and common together. Absolutely. And share space. Absolutely. Well, so yeah, and make art. It's like the shoot we did down at the Speak Easy when we first really got to know each other. Right. That was good. It was our first time meeting. We were friends on Facebook for a while before then. Yeah. And it was so nice because everyone got on. It was a lot of fun. It was a lot of fun. And that's something else people don't understand. If I'm not having fun behind the camera and you're not having fun in front of the camera, the results are going to suck. Right. However, if you both work together in a teamwork type thing, so much better. It is. I mean, that's also why when I perform, I usually have a performing partner too because I'm sure I could go and perform and do a whole act just on stage just by myself. But having someone, I do comedy burlesque. So having a partner to interact with and pull funny pranks with and gags with and everything is so much better. And at the end of the day, you know, I involve food. I need someone to smush the cake on me. Right. It's just better that way. It's funny because a lot of models starting out afresh, see, you have done this without realizing it. They say, Nigel, can you give me any tips? And I say, yes. Go along to your community theater and try out for a show. Right. That is going to give you everything that you need for photography. You're going to have to be on stage. There's going to be light shining on you. There's going to be people barking orders at you, asking you to do something. And it is a great way of learning what you have to do when you get into modeling. Right. Because people don't realize it. As soon as you are in front of an audience, modeling, acting, giving a talk, giving a presentation to 10,000 people, it's all acting. It is all acting. I like to call it code switching. Okay. Different environments need different types of energy. Yes. And I have an energy budget. So deciding, it's like we're doing the podcast first thing in the day because if we did that at 1 p.m., different version of me. Different version. I can understand that. For sure. But I just think that it's important to know how to turn it on. Yes. To just turn it on, to know it's like, okay, to really know when to show up and how to present yourself in the way that you want to present yourself. Absolutely. Again, with the branding comes back to branding, you know, branded as comedy, burlesque food type of fun performances. If I did something that was outside of that realm, people would probably enjoy it, but it would be a little confusing. Yes. And people, but people already love what I do and that gives me an area to keep pushing and pushing. So I think once you know what lane you want to be in, you can really, like the only competition you should be in is yourself. Because like once you start comparing and contrasting yourself to other actors, performers, creators, that's like you comparison games, the imposter syndrome kicks in. And you know, we don't have time for that. No. No one is going to be a better you than you. That's like comparing apples to oranges. You wouldn't go and eat an apple expecting it to taste like an orange. And when you want an orange, I think that there's plenty of space in the world for us to show up as who we want to be showing up as. And I think that there's plenty of space for us to support other people, even if they do photography too and you're doing photography, even if they're doing comedy burlesque too and you're doing comedy burlesque or whatever, there doesn't need to be like a competition type of vibe at all. I mean, April Tees, who I mentioned earlier, she has her own burlesque group. Very, very successful. Awesome. So it's kind of nice. We should probably think about wrapping this up for now. Yeah. I've got a funny feeling that we can probably sit here for another hour and talk about stuff. I mean, yeah. Do you have any closing comments? Oh, man. Closing comments. Closing comments. Don't be afraid to be yourself or to do the thing that has been, you've been held back to do life is short and don't take it for granted. Make the art that you want to make in the world the way that you feel most authentically to show up. Don't assume the capacity of yourself or others and just show up in the best way that you can. Absolutely. Couldn't agree more of you. AJ, thank you so much for coming into the studio. Thank you, Nigel. This was just a wonderful interview. It makes such a pleasant change from in politics. Oh, I know. I'm about to go into that soon. Oh, well, I hope you've enjoyed this interview. We've only scratched on the surface of who AJ really is, but she has given a lot of very useful information and a lot of good tips and she's just a really open and honest person. So, you know, if you're in the Longmont area and you need help with an event or modeling or whatever, contact AJ, she will be able to help you. Also, top left-hand corner of the screen, there's a subscribe button. Please hit it. On Nigel Aves, your host, signing off. We're in the Captain's Lounge Studio and that was a rational business. Thank you very much. Take care out there. Bye-bye.