Getting Creative with a Brick and Mortar Venture
By Hillary Huntington Mégroz (Cohort 9)
When I decided to follow the calling of entrepreneurship, I knew two things for sure. One, I wanted to create a safe space where art & humans could converge and flourish, and two, I needed a back-up plan, so I didn’t end up on my parents couch!
At the time, I had been working in corporate America for twelve years and had saved money, allowing myself the opportunity to follow my dream…
BUT what if I invested all that money in the dream and the dream went belly up and the savings account hit zero?! This is what kept me up at night. So, when a friend suggested I invest my savings into a physical space to house UNRULY Collective (versus the actual business idea), I was stunned. Could I actually own real estate in New York City that provided me with additional income streams and opportunities to pivot my business? The answer is YES.
Over the next year, buoyed with the confidence of this notion, I secured a business partner, built relationships with mortgage, insurance, and real estate brokers, learned about the opportunities available to female and first time buyers, and I finally purchased an abandoned brownstone in Brooklyn.
It has been seven years, and not a day goes by that I am not hustling my physical space to keep the UNRULY Collective dream alive. I often say that I am standing inside my bank account, that with each repair, every event, and all my effort, I am quite literally working on my forever work in progress while it gains equity with each passing day.
And, oh, the things a space can be – UNRULY Collective is an art gallery, a live music venue, a comedy seller, a piano salon, a workshop destination, a podcast studio, a wedding venue, a pop-up shop, a cafe, a production space, a garden party, a DIY dream, and everything in between! I also live at UNRULY and rent rooms to 5 artists, who are from down the block and across the globe.
While it is definitely a non-traditional path to choose to invest in a physical space for a business versus the actual business, I encourage entrepreneurs to examine this path for themselves, as it provides a level of security and opportunity that we are not often afforded when we invest every last dollar into our initial dream. And most importantly, do not let the fear of not having enough or not understanding real estate stand in your way — the resources are out there, especially for women and first time buyers.
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