Fourteen & East

Alright, so could you tell me a little bit about yourself and your business? Certainly can. I'm Joanne Zerny and I'm the owner of Forteen East. Forteen East is a contemporary cafe gallery. We do custom or handmade copies and specialty drinks and we have art shows that change monthly and we have interesting accessories that we have available that are on the contemporary side. My background is interior design. I was an interior designer for about 150 years I think. And then when the economic downturn came around I thought maybe it was time to look for something else to do that would be kind of fun and interesting and hard work of course. But this was interesting kind of a combination of all the things I So that's how we got started here. Okay, alright. So when did you start and where did you begin? Well I began in about 2010 doing some market research and so forth. One of my clients in my previous life was Tech Town. And so with Tech Town I became familiar with the business incubators and with networking opportunities in the city. So I started to attend those and got some ideas together and then I took a class through Tech Town and then really started doing research. And the idea changed from its initial state to what it is now by taking that class. And then I started looking around for where I might want to be. I thought I was going to be downtown because that's where I had worked previously. But I kind of fell in love with Midtown. So you were talking about your connection with Tech Town and that class you took. Was that the SWAT class? No, it was called Smart Start. I don't believe that they offered that any longer. But back in 2010 that was one of their. . . Was it a big help when you were starting out? Oh absolutely. It absolutely made a person focus on where they were going with their business idea before they dove into it. So that was very, very useful. Alright. Why did you choose Detroit? And you kind of touched on how you really fell in love with Midtown. But what made you want to start a business here to begin with? Well, again as I said I was working downtown before the economic downturn. And the company I worked with closed when we lost some of our large clients due to bankruptcies of the large clients. So I thought I really I had worked in suburbs before of course and even with a large corporation. But you're kind of in your own building and that's it. That's all And when you're in the city you're out on foot or you're involved in other activities and it's more of a neighborhood or a warm feeling of people that Okay. So that's kind of how I got to this area. Alright. So how would you say if it all has the Detroit name or brand affected your business? I think it's been, well of course it's been very positive. When I first started saying in 2010 that I was going to open a business in the city of Detroit What are you thinking? And then as I continuously tell them how wonderful it is, my friends have all come around to understanding that it's very exciting down here in both Midtown and Downtown and that it's And the others, the other people who are already Detroiters are a great resource. I've made lots of new friends here. I kind of, we have kind of a cheers atmosphere here so we have a lot of people that come in as regulars and they're now friends of mine so it's been a very positive experience. Okay. Alright. So has the small business community positively affected your business? I mean is it a close knit community? Do people help each other? Absolutely. Midtown is very close knit. I know most of the small business owners. Now there are 23 new businesses opened in 2013 so I don't know all of those people but I do know a majority of them. Midtown, Inc. has a quarterly meeting that all small business owners in Midtown are invited to. So we mingle and meet each other and share ideas and then there are lots of small workshops that if you choose to attend, which I usually do because again I get to meet my neighbors even though they're So yes it is close knit. It's very helpful and very supportive. Okay. What challenges have you faced I don'think the challenges are unique to opening a business in the city. I just think they're unique to opening a small business. So I don'think the city has offered me any particular challenges. Again there'so much support in Midtown that if you have a problem you can go to the Midtown, Inc. and they'll help you figure it out. So we're kind of spoiled in that case. I don't know that would apply in other areas but I think that's true. The Livernois area that's growing and the East Jefferson area that's growing and of course Southwest Detroit, they all have groups and networking to support them. So I think we're fortunate maybe more so than suburban areas at this point. Okay. And if you were to say one thing to another small business owner or entrepreneur thinking about I would say find your networking group in your area. One of my artists just opened up on Livernois and she's very involved with that networking group and that has been really supportive to her and I lost her as an artist because she has her own place now but that is what she found and that's what we all feel is what's going to get you there, what will help you. Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, I appreciate the time and thank you for talking to me. Thank you. All right.