I Am You 360 – Jessica Kaiser on Nurturing Startups and Community
In today’s episode, we journey into the life and legacy of Jessica Kaiser, the dynamic force behind JKaiser Workspaces. What began as a dream on the floors of Tucson’s humble spaces has evolved into a nationwide phenomenon. But beyond her business achievements, Jessica’s story is woven with threads of community spirit, philanthropy, and an undying passion for uplifting those around her.
Episode Highlights:
- Jessica’s entrepreneurial beginnings in the challenging terrains of Tucson.
- The evolution of JKaiser Workspaces: From an 8×10 foot cubicle to a thriving business.
- The essence and impact of Tucson’s community spirit on Jessica’s journey.
- Deep dive into IMU 360: A transformative non-profit and Jessica’s heartfelt connection with it.
- The spirit of collaboration, growth, and resilience that defines Tucson and its residents.
Listen to the Episode:
Embark on this inspiring journey with Jessica Kaiser and discover the soul of Tucson through her experiences, dreams, and vision for the future.
Life Along The Streetcar strives to bring you enriching stories that resonate with the heart and soul of Tucson. We appreciate your continued support and encourage you to immerse yourself in the tales of the people that make our community so vibrant. If you enjoyed this episode, don’t forget to share it with your friends and family. Until next time!
Transcript (Unedited)
Tom Heath
Thank you for spending a part of your brunch hour with us on your downtown Tucson community sponsored all volunteer powered rock and roll radio station. This week, we’re going to speak with Jessica Kaiser, a Tucson entrepreneur who has literally taken her business from dirt floors to one of the fastest scaling businesses in the country. But today we’re going to focus on her role as chair of a very special prom. Today is August 20, 2023. My name is Tom Heath and you’re listening to life along the streetcar. Each and every Sunday, our focus on social, cultural, and economic impacts in Tucson’s urban core. And we shed light on hidden gems everyone should know about, from a mountain to the University of Arizona and all stops in between. You get the inside track right here on 99.1 FM, streaming on downtownradio.org, also available on your iPhone or Android when you get our very own Downtown Radio Tucson app. And of course, if you want to connect with us here on the show, you can do that in a
Tom Heath
lot of ways. We’ve got Facebook and Instagram life along the streetcars. Our hashtag over there. And we also on our website, lifelongthstreetcar.org. You can get more information about us, our show, the book we’ve written, also past episodes, and there’s even a contact button on there in case you want to get a hold of us. And what else? What else? The podcast. Check it out on Spotify iHeartRadio itunes. Sometimes if you tell Siri or your smart device to play the Life Along the Streetcar podcast, it pops up sometimes. It know it’s kind of an adventure. I think if it pops up, you’re meant to listen. If not, that’s maybe not the right time for you to absorb this information about our urban core. It’s August. It’s hot. Seems to be getting hotter. Thought it was going to get cooler. And to counter that, just want to make you aware of Water Wednesdays. It’s happening in August Wednesdays from eleven to noon at the Children’s Museum in their courtyard. They host different water activities with
Tom Heath
water balloons, squirt toys, and just trying to keep everyone cool. It’s from eleven to noon. It’s included with their regular admission. If you want details on their admission or anything else that they’re doing down there on 6th Avenue at the Children’s Museum, head over to their page. Children’s Museum’s website. We’ll also link to that from our Facebook page. If you want to know more about kind of the organization in general, you can put Children’s Museum in the search bar on our website and you’ll find the interview we did with them not too long ago about some of the activities that they’ve got going on and some big plans in the works. And speaking of plans in the works, we’ve got Jessica Kaiser who plans where you work. See what he did there? That’s a good segue. She owns a company called JKaiser Workspaces and she has been outfitting Tucson offices large and small for some time and built really a great reputation in our community. She’s got a beautiful storefront on Congress in
Tom Heath
the City Park building right next to the Monica and we had a chance to catch up with her and chat about not just what she’s doing in her career but also how she is supporting a local nonprofit called IMU 360. They have a huge event coming up that Jessica is chairing and we wanted to find out more about her, the organization, the event, all kinds of great things happening here in Tucson. So our guest today is Jessica Kaiser and if you are downtown and you are walking around, you can’t miss her name because it is boldly listed there on her shop at the City Park building JKeiser Workspaces. Jessica, welcome into the show.
Jessica Kaiser
Thank you so much for having me.
Tom Heath
It is a pleasure. I’ve followed you on Facebook for some time and I’ve seen all these amazing awards that you get and it’s nice to chat with you.
Jessica Kaiser
Thank you so much. I mean, that’s a true testament to our community of Tucson and how they just do such a good job of embracing startups and new business, in my opinion.
Tom Heath
Let me ask about that. How did they embrace you? How did you get this mega workspace project going?
Jessica Kaiser
Yeah, so I started in my career in commercial furnishings in 2007, which was not a great time to be doing that, but I slowly kind of made my way through and really grew to love the industry, commercial furnishings and interior design. I really took to it and I worked for a small firm for about six years and kind of came to this crossroads where I realized that there was a lot more that I wanted to accomplish. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit but I realized I really needed to go out on my own in order to fully explore that and so I took little organic steps of growth along the way and Tucson was there to meet me every step of the way. I had some really great clients that gave me a shot on some huge, huge projects early on when I was still a tenant at Connect Co. Working in my little ice box. It was eight by ten foot square, just tiny. And because that faith the community had in me, we were able to really be profitable from day one, which I think is pretty remarkable for a brand
Jessica Kaiser
new startup and we were able to continue to grow and build a reputation and network in this community. And Tucson is so relationship focused know, once you embrace that you can really make a mark for yourself here.
Tom Heath
Wow. And I didn’t realize you started in a little cubicle.
Jessica Kaiser
So we started out at Connect Co working and I was there for two years and they were so sweet because we’re very product based. And so my little office could only hold so much. So pretty soon, I was filling out into the halls with all my chairs and my samples, and they were very kind to let me blur some lines there. But in 2014, I saw that Bourne companies had a space release in the building that they occupy at 20 East Congress. And I thought, wow, what a great synergy opportunity. If I were to collaborate with Bourne as a tenant, we could really do some great work together. And that’s exactly what happened. So I signed a three year lease in their stinky, dirty, yucky basement. We worked together to build out a beautiful showroom that has a lot of shared space. So we would share break room space and conference room space. And we developed this amazing synergy where Geico and Hexagon and JTE would have their meetings with Bourne, and then we would get introduced, and we would end up working
Jessica Kaiser
together. And so we really did some great projects there. And then when 2020 hit, things changed a little bit, as we all know. So we went on to our new phase, which is our very own private showroom at 40 East Congress.
Tom Heath
Yeah. I will tell you the difference. At the Bourne Building, it was your name on the door, and now it is just your products on display. It’s just a beautiful storefront as you’re walking by.
Jessica Kaiser
Thank you so much. Yes, I’m very pleased with this space. And this was also a gray shell when we first started. If you kind of watched the history of City Park, hexagon occupied the third, fourth, and fifth floors of this building for quite some time. While the ground floor stayed dirt, it was not built out, and even their entry lobby was dirt for quite some time. And so when the idea was proposed to me that perhaps we wanted to take a wing of this building, it just made so much sense. I mean, we’ve furnished everything in this space now except for the Monica, so we have a five story showroom. And so while this is not especially affordable real estate, I really got to put my mark on it and design it exactly the way I wanted it. From dirt to what you see now. And I love this space. I love working here. My clients love this space. And it’s doing the job. And even more than just doing the job of showcasing what we do. It gives us a place for our community to come together. We love hosting
Jessica Kaiser
parties and events here.
Tom Heath
Wow. So you went from dirt floors to listed as, like, one of the country’s fastest scaling businesses. Not a bad jump there. Get national recognition. What magazine was that in?
Jessica Kaiser
So ink 5000. We made the Ink 5000 list a few times. I’m very proud of that. In 2019, we ranked at 59% business growth. And the way that the Ink 5000 works is they look at your last three years of revenue growth and they don’t look into your staff, which is I always appreciate that because there’s local awards I don’t qualify for because even as my revenue has grown, my staff stays small. And that’s been intentional in some ways. I like efficiency. I’ve seen some problems where companies get too big and the client experience suffers. So I’ve always wanted to operate very small and still as the CEO and owner, have a hands on approach with all my clients and projects. In 2019, we had 59% business growth and then in 2020, we were Tucson’s fastest growing business on the Ink 5000 at 274% Growth and we were number 22 in the state. So that was really amazing, especially as we’re all office at home.
Tom Heath
Yeah, I was going to say you’re growing at a time when it’s very tough in the business world. So that’s just tremendous.
Jessica Kaiser
Thank you.
Tom Heath
We’ll be back to the second part of our conversation with Jessica Kaiser and dig into the nonprofit IMU 360, as well as the upcoming fundraiser that’s happening. But first, I want to remind you that you are listening to life along the Streetcar on Downtown Radio, 99.1 FM and streaming on downtownradio.org.
Tom Heath
And if you head down to the Tucson Gallery just a couple of blocks away, you’ll run into the Jay Kaiser Workspaces, which is Jessica Kaiser, who we’re featuring today. First part of the show, we’re able to get a history of her from the entrepreneurial side and how she built her business. And now we want to kind of switch gears a little bit. We’re going to get into organization called IMU 360, doing really incredible things here in our community with a big fundraiser coming up and Jessica is chairing that fundraiser. So kind of made sense to bring that into the conversation as well. What caught my attention, especially for this show, was that you are now partnering with another organization here in Tucson that in a different way, sort of has that same startup that came from very little and is now doing amazing things in our community. The group is called IMU 360 and if you’ve been watching the news, they’re getting a lot of positive press. But can you tell me a little bit, like how you got
Tom Heath
involved and what you in the organization?
Jessica Kaiser
Yeah, I got to tell you, I’m super excited to be the committee chair for this event that we’re hosting in September for Me 360. But I’ve known the founder desiree cook for a few years now. And this is one of the reasons I just love Tucson. So one of my best and oldest clients, his wife, became my Realtor, and she introduced me to Desiree at a client appreciation event at her home. And so I got to hear Desiree’s story on this very personal note, and I was just so inspired by what she’s done, where she experienced trauma and got off on the wrong track herself and got into drug use and lost her children and went to prison and then used that time to really heal and improve herself. She did the work and she came out and she was inspired to start this nonprofit that is now doing such an incredible service. She’s building tiny homes for children that are aging out of the foster care system. And I cannot think of a more vulnerable segment, right? So the poor children didn’t get adopted as foster
Jessica Kaiser
kids. They’ve just gone through trauma for 18 years that they did. And they know they’re about to enter the adult world completely unprepared. They don’t have a support system. They don’t have a network. They don’t have the skills. They don’t trust the people around them. And her story really resonated with me. I myself was not in the foster care system. But you know what, Tom? I probably should have been. I went through a lot as a child. I’ve experienced all the levels of abuse and neglect and abandonment. And if it wasn’t for the people around me that lifted me up and supported me through those really critical, pivotal moments in my youth, I’d be on hard drugs and homeless myself. I know that I would. But it’s the people that came around me when I needed it most. Let’s give them credit, right? Where would I be otherwise? So when she told me her story about what she’s doing, I was really inspired. And so I’ve donated to the organization. She’s doing so many great things. She’s building
Jessica Kaiser
these homes. She also has it’s called a hygiene pantry where she’s collecting shampoos and conditioners and various hygiene project products, and she’s doing backpack drives. And it’s an incredible amount of effort that goes into this. And so when she came to me and know, Jess, how can we collaborate further? What can we do here? The first thing that came to mind is we need to have an event. We need to show the community, first of all, what you’ve been doing, and second of all, what we’re capable of when we come together. And I don’t know if you’ve been to any of my parties, Tom, but they’re off the hook.
Tom Heath
I’ve not yet had that pleasure, but I think I’ll have to attend this one with Desiree. So she focused on foster care. And you had mentioned I just want to clarify that when she went into prison, she’d lost her children, but they went into the foster care system and did she reunite with them after prison, do you know, or did they age out?
Jessica Kaiser
Yes. No, she was able to reunite with them, and I don’t know what ages they were. Okay. But she is remarried and she’s rebuilt her family and she’s been reconnected with her children, which is wonderful.
Tom Heath
Yeah. And I’ve met her on a couple of occasions just in passing at events where she’s being honored or recognized. And she’s just powerful. Desiree is just so dynamic.
Jessica Kaiser
Yeah, she’s very dynamic and she’s tireless. I mean, she’s been working on this organization since, oh, gosh, the last seven years. And between you and me, she doesn’t take a paycheck. She does this entirely for the good of these children that would otherwise just be thrown back into the system. There’s a pattern of foster children with a path right to incarceration. It’s a model. If we don’t take them in our arms now, they’re going to end up homeless and couch surfing and eventually on drugs and eventually back to prison.
Tom Heath
The support, as you mentioned, the hygiene, it started with something very simple, things that as a young adult, you need in your life. And in January, I remember reading an article before I knew about any of this, just about how her organization was building tiny homes and had worked to provide shelter. And with that very specific age group in mind, it’s like 18 to 22.
Jessica Kaiser
Yeah, that’s correct. And you know what I love so much about this model is it’s not a handout. So all you have to do the kids apply. These young adults apply for the program. They need to be sober within the ages of 18 to 22, and they have to just show up and do the program. And so once a month, they’re taking life skills classes. They’re learning about budgeting, they’re learning about real things that are going to help them get through their early entry into adulthood. And not only are they taking these courses and really bettering themselves, they’re paying one dollars per square foot for rent. So these tiny homes are 450. What happens is half of that $450 a month that they pay goes into an escrow account, and then that is used towards a down payment on their home. So she’s really creating. It’s not just a handout. It is an actual tool that is going to help solve our very real, very downtown problem of homelessness.
Tom Heath
That is just amazing. I knew about the education and the training, but I didn’t know about the savings plan and how you contribute to live there. And then you do the work and you get that back towards your future. That is absolutely fantastic.
Jessica Kaiser
Isn’t it phenomenal? It’s so great.
Tom Heath
Are you familiar at all with an organization called Earn to Learn?
Jessica Kaiser
I’ve heard of it, but I don’t.
Tom Heath
Know much about I need to connect all of this together because they do something very similar with they help students get financial aid for college by putting them through a fairly rigorous training program. And the money that they earn, they get to use towards their college tuition. And it’s just getting national recognition and long story, I don’t want to cut too much into this interview, but I need to connect you and Desiree with Kate Hoffman. There’s a lot of similarities of this sense of we have to provide the let’s. Let’s not give them the fish, let’s teach them how to fish.
Jessica Kaiser
Exactly. And poverty is so hard to overcome, especially now in our current climate where housing is out of control, expensive income is way too low when you’re just starting out. And it’s just how do you get past that barrier? We have to work together to help overcome these very real hurdles.
Tom Heath
So now let’s talk about something fun. You’ve got a tireless leader, someone who has gone through tremendous struggles and turned them into opportunities in our community. Someone who has got a brilliant smile and a tremendous amount of energy. And she has partnered with someone who I hear throws parties that are off the hook. We’ve got something coming up here in a few weeks in September, a fundraiser that ties into this whole theme. It’s kind of like a prom, right?
Jessica Kaiser
Yes. Oh, man, we are so excited. I couldn’t think of a better theme than a throwback prom, right? Just to remember what it was like to be our teenage selves. We are going to have a prom court. We are crowning a Tucson king and queen. We are going to have a party bus. We have an Led light up dance floor. It’s going to be so much fun for a really great cause. When Desiree came to me and was like, what should we do? And I’m like, yeah, let’s talk about that. My very good friend Shay Wilson, who essentially co works with me, he subleases a desk in my showroom and does a lot of photography work for us. He has this beautiful venue on Park Avenue that he has offered up for the event. So it’s a very romantic vibe. It’s going to be all decked out in Havana nights. It’s going to be such a fun tropical time for a great, great cause. And we cannot wait to have you all there. That’s September 16. It’ll be from 06:00 p.m. To 11:00 p.m.. Yeah. I cannot express enough how much FOMO you’re going to have
Jessica Kaiser
if you’re not there.
Tom Heath
For us old people. What are we going to have? FOMO.
Jessica Kaiser
FOMO fear missing out.
Tom Heath
Oh, see, I have to learn. And since it’s a prom so can I bring my mom like I did for my first prom? Is that
Tom Heath
how do people find out more? What’s, like the website, the social media tickets, all that good stuff?
Jessica Kaiser
Yes. You can find us on Facebook. The event is posted on IMU 360s Facebook page. It’s also posted on Jakehiser Workspace’s Facebook page. You can go to IMU 360. Org. And there’ll be an event link. You can also email me directly at [email protected] and I’ll be happy to send you all the info. Tickets are available on eventbrite. They’re $125 a ticket, so super reasonable for an event like this. We’re going to have a full sit down dinner. We’re really hoping to get Mojo on board. We need some of that Cuban yumminess. So that’s next up. We will have live music and then we’ll also have a DJ with dancing. So it’s going to be a very full night, lots and lots of fun. And yeah, we hope to see you all there.
Tom Heath
Will there be alumni of the program to talk to?
Jessica Kaiser
Absolutely. So we’ve got ten homes constructed already, one of which is a community center. So those residents will absolutely be here. They’re going to tell a little bit about their story and how beneficial the program has been to them and where they would be if they hadn’t got involved. So, yes, there will be an opportunity to meet them as well.
Tom Heath
The program is called IMU 360. It was started by a woman named Desiree Cook, whose story, if you don’t know it, is a Tucson success story that I think even though it’s been ten plus years, it’s just starting to come to light because she’s really having an impact in our community. And our guest today is Jessica Kaiser, who took a business from literally dirt floors to one of the fastest growing in the country and houses downtown with Jay Kaiser workspaces and makes everything when we go to work beautiful and relaxing and apparently throws off the hook parties. So you got to attend this.
Jessica Kaiser
You got it. Absolutely.
Tom Heath
And it’s the Havana Nights prom. It is on September 16. We’ll link to that, of course from our Facebook page and just love to kind of connect you with Kate Hoffman of Earn to learn and then just get a chance maybe to chat with Desiree at some point down. The road after you get through this event and just see what else we can do to help promote the great work she’s doing in the community.
Jessica Kaiser
Thank you, Tom. I really appreciate that so much. Our goal for this event is to raise $144,000 so we can finish the next phase of ten tiny homes. They’re about 90% complete. We just need to get the roofs on, get some plumbing done, get some electrical done, and then we have a whole new community where we can embrace ten more residents and get them into this really fantastic program.
Tom Heath
Although I don’t know why they need roofs. If you’re throwing the party right, you’re just going to go through the roof, right?
Tom Heath
Jessica, thanks so much.
Jessica Kaiser
Thank you.
Tom Heath
Jessica Kaiser of Jay Kaiser workspaces as well as the prom committee chair for Havana Knights, the prom for IMU 360. Once again, it’s going to be Saturday, September 16. Tickets, information, details. Probably just best to head over to their website, IMU 360. That’s the number 360. IMU 360. Org. And click the event details there to get more information. My name is Tom Heath. You are listening to Life Along the Streetcar on downtown Radio, 99.1 FM and streaming on downtownradio.org.
Tom Heath
We say it often, but we probably don’t say it enough. You got to check out downtownradio.org for all of these amazing shows. Radio club crawl is one of them. Arizona four one one. We can’t forget about Buck and Honey on Friday nights. These are just volunteer DJs doing amazing shows. And for years, I think Buck and Honey were here when this station started. And every Friday, they put together a fabulous playlist and some witty banter. So check them out. On Fridays, you can check out Club Crawl or Arizona Four one one or the roadside rest stop. On Mondays. Or you can tune in before us here on Sundays and listen to the art of easing with DJ Bank, the Musical Bomb, or he’s, preceded by Mr. Nature. Just all kinds of great stuff happening downtownradio.org. And get all those details coming up in just a few minutes. We’ve got Ted Praselski with words and work as he talks to local writers and members of the labor movement here in Tucson. And coming up on future shows for Life Along the Streetcar,
Tom Heath
a couple of fun interviews of some, I think, cool projects. Imagine getting married and deciding that the wedding gift that you want most is a mural on your back wall, celebrating your love and celebrating the things that you share together. And then imagine you get someone like Ignacio Garcia, who is a really well known Tucson muralist, to paint that mural for you. Well, that happened. And we’re going to talk with Michael and Aaron, who made that happen on their wall. And we’re also scheduled to talk with Jeffrey Anthony. He’s been on before when he worked for the city, had an innovative approach to supporting local businesses. He is now over at the University of Arizona, and there’s a podcast that he’s putting together called the Inquiry Oasis. And it’s a podcast about the faculty and some of the research that they’re doing here to make impact in our world. And it’s happening over at the university, so looking forward to those. And of course, if there’s something you want us to cover,
Tom Heath
a hidden gem or story that needs to be told, hit us up on instagram, facebook, send us a [email protected] email and we will do our best to research and get that out there. Again, thank you to Jessica Kaiser of J kaiser workspaces and the prom committee chair for the upcoming fundraiser of IMU 360. In honor of that, we want to leave you with some prom music. Want to thank Ryan hood again for allowing us to use their song at the beginning of the show. And we’re going to leave you with something from the 2018 musical called the prom. And you are listening to barry is going to the prom. I hope you have a great week and tune in next Sunday for more life along the streetcar.
