Digital Frankenstein Pilot Issue

Volume 0.1 The Big Experiment

Periodical dreamed up and hastily assembled by the Digital Frankenstein Publishing Group 140 Ferrini Rd. San Luis Obispo CA 93405 USA

℮ 40 pg. 0.0 oz

%-fafaja-edacf-igehj-nmu Made in USA

Digital Frankenstein Magazine Volume 0.1: The Big Experiment Contents: Humble Bumble Bee Co., Street Heat Dance Studio, Flying Lady Sound Collective, DayOne Response Inc. Waterbag™, Cal Poly Tech Park, SLO Hot House, Innovation Quest

Cheers!

Welcometo the

pilot issue.This is as much a new experience for you as it is for us. So look around, take note of what you like and what you’re not crazy about, and

tell us all about it in our survey.

Digital Frankenstein2

Volume 0.1 3

About the ProjectLast year, Kelly Cooper was eaves-dropping on a conversation between Brendan Lee and Professor Brian Lawler about some sort of student-run publication. After a brief intro-duction, the two crowned themselves the Mad Scientists and almost im-mediately started brainstorming the start of something big—a student-run digital magazine.

So why Digital Frankenstein? Why not Digital Werewolf? Digital Dracu-la? While those are both fine names (Digital Dracula has a ring to it, don’t you think?), Digital Frankenstein represents the resurrection of Poly-Script Magazine, a student-run print-ed magazine that unfortunately went under a few years back. Thus, Frankie (as we like to call it) is a reincarnation of the essence of PolyScript—a way for students to get hands-on experi-ence in a publication that they create. Oh yeah, and it’s 100% digital.

Over the past year, The Mad Scien-tists have been formulating a master plan to make this digital magazine a creative and cohesive reality. And this first issue—The Big Experiment—is the first step.

In this premiere issue, we are featur-ing Cal Poly students and alumni who have also run their own big experi-ments, and succeeded in ways they had never imagined. We ask you, readers, to reflect on your own big experiment that you’ve accomplished or plan to pursue. We hope you find inspiration, purpose or at least some-thing new to read about.

We also ask you to please take our survey after giving the magazine a shot. Your feedback will directly shape the future of Digital Franken-stein.

Kelly and Brendan,the Mad Scientists

senior

Digital Frankenstein

Kelly Cooper Editor-in-ChiefKelly Cooper has been writing herself in and out of many situations since the 4th grade. It was then that she wrote a screenplay that had some-thing to do with ghosts. Kelly is the cofounder and editor-in-chief of Digital Frankenstein, and hopes to find herself working in publications until the Apocalypse, or the Rapture. Whichever happens first. (Wrote: Sometimes the Sweet Stuff Stings; Jack of All Trades, Master of Few; Collect, Treat, Transport, Store, Save)

Brendan Lee Creative DirectorBrendan Lee is: special / a designer / a proud Freckled-American / the cofounder of Digital Frankenstein / a cyclist / a rebel / a neat and orderly individual / a maker / often called Brandon by mistake / a fan of ob-scure words / an obsessive Arsenal FC fan / an out-of-practice soccer player / an unpaid intern / a size medium, usually / mildly addicted to Pinterest / an advocate of the Oxford comma / not actually a rebel / disease free / creative...maybe.(Designed: Covers; Staff; Contents; Collect, Treat, Transport, Store, Save)

Leticia Rodriguez WriterLeticia Rodriguez is a former Mustang Daily reporter, arts editor and editor-in-chief. Her life motto is “Don’t get caught” and she lives it to the fullest. She enjoys writing, people watch-ing, reading, watching cheesy mov-ies and boybands. When not doing those things, she can usually be found bullshitting her way out of situations or sassily fighting her way into them.(Wrote: Hip-hop Dreams)

Brian De Los Santos WriterBrian De Los Santos is a writer that’s obsessed with sports, period. He was the sports editor of the Mustang Daily for two years, and has been at the sports desk of The Tribune in San Luis Obispo for two years as well. He’s also been published in the likes of ESPN Los Angeles, and was a columnist for the CollegeFanz Sports Network as a freshman at Cal Poly. Out of the office, he has three sepa-rate personalities — Brian, B-Love and The Love — and they are all a tad bit ridiculous.(Wrote: What ar SLO Hot House & Innovation Quest?; A Brief Guide to the Tech Park)

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Ashlyn Aiu DesignerThose who have known Ashlyn Aiu for years know her as the film edit-ing guru. Editing hundreds of hours of video for personal, non-profit, and freelance jobs, nobody would have guessed that she actually just wants to take long walks on the beach with typography. After taking a Photoshop class with her mom in 7th grade, designing has always been her main source of procrastinating on homework.(Designed: What are SLO Hot House & Innovation Quest?; A Brief Guide to the Tech Park)

Eli McNutt DesignerEli McNutt is a designer, backwoods explorer, volleyball enthusiast and occa-sional student. He enjoys doing pretty much anything as long he can be cre-ative and sleep in. When not stressing about deadlines, Eli can be found curled up on his couch with a bowl of cereal, watching cartoons and wishing he was a kid again.(Designed: Jack of All Trades, Master of Few)

Erika Lehmkuhl DesignerErika once sailed the length of San Luis Obispo Creek in a hand-made raft constructed of found vines and scrap pallet wood. It was a three-day

5

expedition. Many say she’s never been the same since, however few experts disagree. (Designed: Sometimes the Sweet Stuff Stings)

Kylee Staughton DesignerKylee is one of the most athletic peo-ple who hath walked this earth. She is set to release a series of jazzercise and instructional raquetball videos. In her free time, she runs the local league of amateur squirrel water ski racing. She has three pet squirrels — Topher, Jebediah and Cynthia.(Designed: Hip-hop Dreams)

Kiefer Hackney PhotographerKiefer is a photographer for Digital Frankenstein, organizationally chal-lenged, a supporter of the truth, and a closet Ricky Martin fan. She is also a part-time volunteer at Woods Humane Society, a Mexican food enthusiast, a dreamer, a wanna-be guitar player and an occasional hiker. She prefers animals to humans, and loves all things blue. In her free time she is the star-player on her Division 2 intramural softball team...not. She frequently quotes Zoolander and loves arts and crafts.(Photographed: Sometimes the Sweet Stuff Stings)


pg.32Street Heat

Dance Studio

Collect, Treat, Transport, Store, Save

pg.8

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Jack of All Trades, Master of Fewpg.16

what are slo hot house & innovation quest?

pg.14What are SLO Hot House & Innovation Quest?

pg.22A Brief Guide to the Tech Park

Sometimes the Sweet Things Stingpg.16


collect treat transport store

how tricia compas-

markman is going to save

millions of lives, one

drink at a time

by kelly cooper

, , ,

save

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To be recognized by the Unreasonable Institute (an entrepre-neurial investment organization), the Clinton Global Initiative (President Clinton’s community of humanitarian global lead-ers) and the Creativity Foundation (which aims to highlight creative minds in public service) within four years is a presti-gious accomplishment for any entrepreneur. But after dedicat-ing thousands of hours of work along with her master’s thesis to the development of the DayOne Waterbag™ — a 10-liter water-filtering backpack designed to bring clean drinking water to disaster-prone areas — Tricia Compas-Markman de-serves the credit.

Photo credit: C. Reese, 2010

9


Compas-Markman, alongside a team of engineering stu-dents under the advising of Associate Professor Tryg Lundquist, designed the blueprint for the waterbag from 2007-2009. She tags the process, “Collect, treat, transport and store.”

“We designed it so it’s an all-in-one solution. You can col-lect water in a nearby stream or creek, you can transport it (it has backpack straps) and you can treat it,” she said.

But the past five years of Compas-Markman’s life could have gone in a different direction if it wasn’t for her run-in with Lundquist. Compas-Markman said after she finished her undergrad at Cal Poly in 2007, she was looking into master’s programs at other schools to pursue a thesis in water treat-ment in developing countries.

“I knew of a professor in the Environmental Engineering Department—Dr. Tryg Lundquist, but I didn’t know him too well,” she said. “He contacted me and said, ‘I have a project for you that would be right up your ally, and it can be a master’s. Let’s talk.’”

Lundquist provided the conceptual idea for the product, which Compas-Markman carried out for her dissertation.

“It was his idea combined with my interest and passion,” she said.

And after Lundquist and his initial team of students won first place in the 2007 Innovation Quest competition, the project had enough fuel to get started.

During her master’s, Compas-Markman and her team de-signed prototype after prototype, testing the filtering system, chemicals and water quality. Compas-Markman attributes the large scale of the project to Cal Poly’s wealth in resources.

“It was a big effort. I had a lot of other students and professors that were assisting in all aspects of it,” Compas-Markman said. “In addition to design, we really had to be thinking ahead to what it was going to entail and encompass.”

One such student assisting on the filter design was alum-nus Adam Wegener. Wegener said he enjoyed bringing his

Photo credit: T. Compas- Markman, 2011

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specific skill set to the table, which was experience in working with SolidWorks — a 3D CAD program.

“It was cool to have the exact skill that they needed, and there were other people who were doing what they were good at. Each person did their job and Tricia made sure it all fit to-gether,” Wegener said.

Compas-Markman also had the opportunity to travel alongside Engineers Without Borders (she cofounded Cal Poly’s chapter) to Nicaragua where she worked with commu-nity members to test quality and ease of use. The team also worked on a patent, which was approved in 2009.

Even after two years of working on the waterbag, Compas-Markman admits she still retained the typical path of an engineer—moving to a city and doing consulting work. But after a job offer didn’t work out, which was simultaneous with the bad economy, Compas-Markman called herself an entrepreneur.

“I had a lot of mentors and advisors who were pushing me and saying this was a good time and you should do it. So com-ing from the engineering side, I didn’t necessarily consider myself an entrepreneur. It was a little scary to say, ‘Let’s start a business.’”

Another challenge: convincing others that this was her real job.

“I had a lot of questions like, ‘You started a company…When are you going to find a real job?’” Compas-Markman said. “That was a tough tipping point to go over.”

Starting a business wasn’t easy, either. Compas-Markman worked out of her apartment in San Francisco for two years before winning a competition that gave new companies a generous one-year lease on office space in Union Square in San Francisco (kitty-corner to Macy’s) for $10. That’s where she’s been going to work since February.

Even after relocating, her connections with Cal Poly are still linked. Shasta Billings is the third person to pursue

11

in addition to design we really had to be thinking ahead to what it was going to entail and encompass.

,

''

''


the waterbag development for her thesis, following Maggie Herzog. Billings, who is designing a filter to remove protozoan cysts — a cause of dysentery — said working on the waterbag has been an eye-opening experience.

“Everybody knows that there are natural disasters in developing countries. You probably don’t think about them as much or don’t understand how much it affects those people in those countries,” she said. “You really have to be a caring person to take on what Tricia has taken on and want to help these people.”

The company, now named DayOne Response Inc., is com-prised of Compas-Markman and her business partner Amy Kagle as well as the supportive network of Cal Poly students and faculty. As far as the DayOne Waterbag™, the product has since been tested with the U.S. and Thai Marine Corps, and has been evaluated in Haiti, the Philippines, Pakistan and Panama.

Compas-Markman said the goal for the company is to have the bag implemented in disaster-prone countries and that DayOne Response Inc. is currently working with locally-based relief organizations.

“We’re working with them to see how we can work through their program,” she said.

i had a lot of questions like you started a company...when are you going to find a real job ... that was a tough tipping point to go over.

,

''

''

?

'

'

''

''

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14 Digital Frankenstein

what are slo hot house & innovation quest?

˲ SLO Hot House is a program that provides current Cal Poly students with office space and funding to launch companies.

˲ Each student-run start-up company is paired with mentors that serve as the group’s primary source for advice and strategy.

˲ Students that have a well-detailed business model built around a unique idea should apply.

˲ Company is required to have one Cal Poly student or a recent graduate.

˲ The program provides $7,500 in seed funding.

˲ It is a summer-long program.

˲ According to the organization’s website, its mission is to “Provide the mentorship, support and infrastructure to help Cal Poly talent launch innovation-driven student companies in San Luis Obispo.”

by

Brian De Los Santos

SLO Hot House

19

˲ Innovation Quest is a Cal Poly-based contest driven to spur innovation, where prizes are awarded to innovators with the most original, well thought out business idea.

˲ Founded as a non-profit corporation by Cal Poly alumni and businesses to fund students’ senior projects and/or master’s theses.

˲ $15,000 is awarded to first place, $10,000 is awarded to second place, $5,000 is awarded to third place, $2,500 is awarded for the QL+ Award, and $100 is rewarded to all finalists.

˲ Judges are looking for projects that are original, extremely marketable and creative and ones that can provide fun-damental changes to new markets.

˲ According to the organization’s website, its vision is to “foster innovation and entrepreneurship” and “create companies and jobs.”

˲ It is open to all students.

Contact: [email protected]

˲ The program is put on by the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and is aided by the Cal Poly Small Business Development Center for Innovation.

˲ Graduates will still receive support from the Cal Poly Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship upon com-pleting the program, and will have the option of renting an office within the organization’s headquarters.

Contact: [email protected]; (805) 756-5171

Innovation Quest

Volume 1.1

16 Digital Frankenstein

Volume 0.1 17

ALL

FEW

JACKTRADES,

MASTER OF

OF

by Kelly Cooper


The 25-year-old architecture alumnus has been a builder, an environmentalist, musician, rancher and, most recently, a music producer. Somehow, his slew of skills and makeshift personal-ity have led him to the construction of the Flying Lady Sound Collective, a non-profit music studio. Cimo has been fine-tuning the project since 2010. Now, it’s just about ready.

Tucked away somewhere in the Santa Margarita boonies, the studio looks like something out of a John Steinbeck novel. In the middle of a 40-acre ranch, two tiny bungalows, a circular adobe hut (topped with a straw roof) and a brick oven surround a swimming pool. To the right of the pool, you’ll find an out-house, and behind one of the shacks, a shower, sink and toilet are built into a tree.

To an outsider, the Flying Lady may seem bizarre. But any recording artist knows that a cost-free studio is an oasis.

Taking money out of the equation has been Cimo’s plan since the beginning of the construction.

“Money is inherently something that is not really compat-ible with musical expression. It just doesn’t really add up,” he said.

What does add up, Cimo said, is giving struggling artists a way to get started without shelling out thousands of dollars for a professional experience.

“Your average commercial recording studio is a frightening place. You go in there and it’s super professional and you can hear every little detail and you’re being charged a lot of money,

does for a living—

It’s hard to define just what Vince Cimo

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and rightly so because it costs a lot of money to run a studio,” he said. “It’s not a very creative place.”

The only money involved is a percentage of the digital rights which the studio and artist split. Otherwise, artists come in, record a few of their best numbers, and walk out with a hard copy, free of charge. There is a small catch — Cimo has the right to upload the songs to a blog where users can down-load the songs for free. But that doesn’t seem to bother any artists so far.

Money is inherently something that is not really compatible with musical expression

19


The futureof many things, especially arts like music, is really reliant on collaboration and creativity.

Residing on the ranch presently are Lee Obernberger and Dylan O’Harra who make up Divine Alkaline. The two have been a duet folk band for about a year-and-a-half, traveling up and down the West Coast. To them, the Flying Lady’s mission is compatible with their careers.

“That’s the idea — if you want to get [your music] out there into the world, you have to give it away,” Obernberger said.

O’Harra agrees, noting that the music industry is moving rapidly into a more collaborative environment.

“The future of many things, especially arts like music, is really reliant on collaboration and creativity. And the model of a successful musician, which we’re used to, like getting signed or getting big, is not really realistic or desirable anymore to many musicians,” he said. “So a place where we can record in a mutu-ally beneficial and collaborative way is, in itself, success.”

Surprisingly, reinventing the wheel has been reasonably manageable for Cimo.

Over his college career, Cimo garnered an impressive portfolio of knowledge, beginning with his experience in recording arts. In 2009, Cimo traveled to Thailand to study abroad for a few months. But a few months turned into a year of residence while he helped a friend with the sound treat-ment and mechanics of Flower Monkey studio. Like Flying Lady, the studio wasn’t exactly professional. But for a tropical island, it worked.

“At the time it wasn’t really much. He just had some mi-crophones and a laptop and some software. I knew a decent amount of studio stuff at the time and I showed him a couple things and helped him with some basic stuff,” he said.

Cimo said he learned more in that year than he ever learned in college, including Web design, which he does now to support himself and the perpetual construction of the studio.

“I don’t remember anything I learned studying abroad. I do remember how to build websites, which is what I do now for a living. It’s just funny how that worked out,” he said.

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When asked if he considers himself an entrepreneur, Cimo said he really just wants to do what he loves and work with good people.

“I guess I’m more of just someone who doesn’t like the gov-ernment or doing things traditionally, and this just feels more natural. I’ve done the 9 to 5 corporate job and it felt really bad and unnatural. It just felt like a big lie,” he said.

He argues that although his job is unconventional, he pre-fers it to getting stuck in a career he doesn’t love.

“I know if this totally fails, it’s an interesting story and I can always get a job doing Web design some place, and that’s fine,” he said. “At the core of the mission of this place is to do good, and people seem to believe in it. And I think that will succeed in the end if I really keep at it.”

Your average commercial recording studio is a frightening place.

Photographs by Kelly Cooper

19


A Brief Guide to the Tech ParkTen innovative companies right around the cornerInformation courtesy http://www.c3rp.com/

Compiled by Kelly Cooper

First FloorWho: Red Staple What: Enables musicians and film-makers to package creative content for digital platforms What else: Books, iBooks, ePubs and iTunes Where: 1A-101 Site: http://www.red-staple.com Hiring: No

Who: The Cal Poly Business Development Center for Innovation (SBDC) and University Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (UCIE) What: SBDC — A campus-communi-ty partnership between Cal Poly and the surrounding technology commu-nity & UCIE — opens entrepreneur-ial opportunities to Cal Poly students and faculty and promotes entrepre-neurial activity What else: Home of Innovation Quest and Ray Scherr Elevator Pitch Competition Where: 1A-202 Site: http://cie.calpoly.edu/

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Site: http://www.platinumperfor-mance.com/ Hiring: Yes

Who: V Laboratories What: Innovative and sustainable package design and development What else: Three areas of service: testing and monitoring for safety, validating and monitoring claims of post-consumer recycled content and sustainable design Where: 1C-2 Site: http://www.vlaboratories.com Hiring: No

Second FloorWho: Applied Biotechnology Institute What: A research company that develops new product concepts and

Who: Horsepower What: An online platform for small farmers to connect with buyers What else: Like iTunes or eBay but for agriculture Where: 1A-103 Site: http://horsepower.com/ Hiring: Yes

Who: Seven Pinnacles and Perceptive Development What: Seven Pinnacles — provides design for embedded and mobile platforms & Perceptive Development — develops complete mobile solu-tions for mobilizing businesses What else: Provide eBook publishing and medical device integration Where: 1A-105 Site: http://www.perceptdev.com/ Hiring: NoWho: Platinum Performance What: Manufacturer of supplements for humans, horses and pets What else: Supplements are devel-oped through research and clinical experience Where: 1C-1

Volume 0.1 23


early development using recombi-nant proteins What else: Developing a high-intensi-ty natural sweetener, brazzein Where: 1D Site: http://www.appliedbiotech.org/Hiring: Looking for collaborations

Who: Exploration Sciences What: Colorado-based non-profit ap-plying technology to advance scien-tific exploration of earth, oceans and space What else: Want to help students, graduates and young professionals gain hands-on experience in reserach Where: 1E Site: http://www.exsci.org/ Hiring: Yes

Who: Applied Technologies Associates (ATA) What: Designs, builds and manufac-tures oil industry technology prod-ucts What else: Sister company Scientific Drilling (SDI) implements ATA

24

technology in oil industry Where: 2A & 2C Site: www.ata-sd.com Hiring: Yes

Who: Couto Solutions What: A design & development company specializing in software solutions for social networks using Telligent solutions What else: Voted one of the region’s fastest growing companies in 2011 Where: 2B Contact: www.coutosolutions.co Hiring: Yes

Your ad could be placed

Contact digital.frankenstein

@gmail.com to inquire

here

along with a cool link or QR code

that could bring TONS of readers directly to your

business.


Sometimes,

the SweeT

Stuff StingsBy Kelly Cooper

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Volume 0.1 27

he's got, i don't know how many stings he's got, but he got stung hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of times.”

the grandiose getup fit for a 1940s deep-sea diver when you’ve got a sturdy layer of skin between you and the bees?

Well, it depends how thick your skin is.On the day Ross Berger and his former business partner

Isaac Miller decided to forgo the suits, they were attempting to disengage a hive of angry bees nested in a dainty box 40 feet up in a tree.

“I looked up and there’s bees hanging off — basketball size — on both sides of the box. It was too big. It was about to swarm. And [the customer] wanted it out right there, so we were like, ‘Alright, we’ll do it! That’ll be easy!’”

So the two ascended, sans-suit.“I didn’t think it was going to be that bad,” Berger said. “But

I’m not wearing gloves and Isaac is under the hive holding it up, and [the bees] just started getting really riled up and we were like, ‘Uh oh. This is not going to be good.’”

Berger clipped the wires attaching the box to the tree with only a veil separating his face from a swarm of potentially Africanized bees (i.e. killer bees).

“I didn’t realize there was one wire still attached that I couldn’t see, so I’m like, ‘Alright! Just start bringing it down!’

Sometimes,

the SweeT

Stuff Stings

Does beehive removal really demand a bee suit? Who needs


after drawing the line between local beekeepers and honey sales, berger decided to stick to selling the sweet stuff. ”no bee suit required.


And the bees hanging all fall on Isaac. He’s got, I don’t know how many stings he’s got, but he got stung hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of times,” Berger said, now appearing as though he doesn’t believe his own story. “And the other bees started pouring out of the box and they just flew up my shirt and all the way up my pants and up my veil, and I was getting stung on the face 40 feet up in this tree. And you can’t jump. You can’t do anything. You just get stung.”

Maybe that’s why he sticks to selling honey.

But before he sold honey, he made honey. And before he made honey, he removed beehives. That’s where Berger’s legacy begins — two years ago in the Cal Poly bee yard with Miller.

“We hung out there a bunch. It was really kind of surreal. It’s on Cal Poly but you go down this riverbed and cross a creek and you’re secluded and there’s nothing nearby,” he said.

Berger, a current Graphic Communication senior and DJ at KCPR (alias: Mann Coon), said the two would spend days out in the yard with Cal Poly’s resident beekeeper, talking bees and whatever else came up. Soon enough, Berger and Miller were being contacted to do beehive

removals all over the county. The jobs piled up quickly, but the money didn’t.

“We just kept getting these jobs and we never charged. Then we real-ized like, what the hell are we doing? I can’t afford to do this. We’re making like, nothing. We’re losing money.”

Naturally, they started charging hundreds of dollars less than compet-itors in the area — a reflection of their juvenile skill set and lack of busi-ness knowledge. But there you have it: the roots of Berger’s startup, pre-honey sales.

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The Humble Bumble (other names suggested: Bee Pros, which Berger calls “the worst f*#$%&* name” and Dracula’s Bee Removal: Our Beezness is your Beezness) was taking shape.

After legally legitimizing the business and perfecting the pro-cess (Berger can remove three to four hives in one day), the Humble Bumble hit a crossroads — the jobs outweighed their abilities and time, while the demand for honey came a-knocking. Well, a-calling.

“One day some guy cold called us from the store The Pantry in Nipomo and just wanted a ton of local honey,” Berger said. “We did that and we got a spark. We just started selling.”

Over the months of removals, Berger noted beekeeping practices he admired and supported all the while gaining a network of beekeepers. After drawing the line between local bee-keepers and honey sales, Berger de-cided to stick to selling the sweet stuff, no bee suit required.

But The Humble Bumble honey won’t be found at the community farmers’ market. In fact, that’s not the purpose of the business at all. Berger likes to think of himself as the middleman.

no bee su i t requ ired .

-Africanized bees can kill you if you’re dumb. Or allergic.

-Don’t swat at bees if they’re flying around you or checking you out.

-If you see a bee swarm, don’t freak out. They’re totally euphoric because

they’re just drunk on honey.

-Bees don’t like smoke.

-You don’t really need a bee suit. Wear a veil.

r o s s ' s b e e t i p s


“Some [beekeepers’] niche is to be the ‘farmers’ market’ people. But our niche is to bring the farmers’ market to the grocery store where there’s more foot traffic. I know peo-ple like the sense of farmers’ market and feel like, ‘This is from our town.’ But realistically, the bees are making the honey from the same place.”

And the producers come from the same place, too. Berger’s collec-tive of honey producers are spread all over the county, each area exhib-iting a slightly different taste than the next. Thus, The Humble Bumble has developed a unique business model, acting as a liaison between local honey producers and everyday grocery shoppers. And he’s hoping to take his model to other cities, begin-ning with Portland this summer.

Africanized bees can kill you if you’re dumb. Or allergic.

''it's people that run a few hundred hives and want to be a part of our collective.''”

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“It’s about finding those produc-ers and making the connection to retail. But it’s a smaller scale — we’re getting people that might not have 50,000 hives. It’s people that run a few hundred hives and want to be part of our collective.”

When asked if he ever imag-ined starting his own business, Berger says the idea has always ap-pealed to him, but not like this. Having been both an employee (cur-rently he’s the Prepress Manager at University Graphic Systems) and a boss, he’s found the latter to be more demanding.

“I was like, ‘Aw yeah, starting my own business would be so easy and rad; I’ll never have a boss!’ You should never think, ‘I’ll do it cause I’ll never have a boss.’ I’m way more stressed out than I would be if I had a boss.”

But he reconciles this challenge with the outlook of the company, and the amount of growth it’s already endured.

“I really like being able to have the concept of growing something of your own idea. I can be like, ‘We’re not a bee removal company anymore. We’re a honey company. That’s what we are.’”

But he hasn’t retired the bee suit just yet.

31Volume 0.1


Graffiti in blue, black, green and red adorns the walls, spelling out the names of dancers wanting to leave their mark on the dance studio. Loud music blares from the speakers, 20 college-aged students and older stand in rows, and leading the charge at the front and center of it all is Heidi Asefvaziri, a 22-year-old Cal Poly business senior.

Hip

By Leticia Rodriguez

32

How One Student Turned a Hobby Into a Business

Dreams-hop

Volume 0.1

As the owner of Street Heat Dance Company, the only strictly hip-hop dance studio in San Luis Obispo, Asefvaziri teaches dance classes seven days a week in addition to working two jobs and taking 20 units. The business, open since Nov. 11, 2009, came about as a need for Asefvaziri to expel energy and find a hobby. After taking a few hip-hop dance classes at the Academy of Dance in San Luis Obispo, Asefvaziri said she would go home and create her own choreography to the same song she had just learned in class.

33

Dreams


After approximately 10 classes, Asefvaziri was teaching others.

“I just decided that there was so much stuff that was going on in my head that I needed to unload on someone so I started going and teaching in a garage to one of the best dancers that was in the class,” she said. “I would just go there and start teach-ing her choreography and just unloading a minute and a half of choreo on her in like a half an hour.”

Bypass a small three-week teaching stint at the Academy of Dance, and Asefvaziri was opening up her own dance studio in San Luis Obispo. She said she got tired of students not being able to take her class because they couldn’t afford it.

“I decided that it would be more cost effective and smarter, being a business major, to open my own, charge less where more people could come and afford it,” she said. “You know, just take street dancers and put them in a studio and teach them what I love.”

Since she’s done that, her business has continued to grow and she has continued to inspire.

Her studio draws a number of dancers with a variety of different backgrounds — some with years of professional dance training and some who just love to dance. One such dancer is

. . . just take street dancers and put them in a studio and teach them what I love.

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Anthea Marette, who has been dancing for approximately six years and doing hip-hop for one year. She said something that sets Street Heat and Asefvaziri apart from other dance studios is her ability to be diverse with her choreography and the non-competitive environment she creates.

“Heidi isn’t one of those teachers or choreographers that shows off her skills. She’s more about teaching you and improv-ing your dance,” Marette said. “She can do the swag and the dance hall and the ticking and I know I can learn so many differ-ent dance styles. Heidi’s very, very welcoming and it rubs off on the students too. We’re not competing against each other like other dance studios are. It’s very welcoming and fun.”

Other students agree. When Alex Phoenix moved to the area she said she had been looking for a dance studio like the one she had back home. Phoenix, who has been dancing for ap-proximately 15 years, said the welcoming environment was defi-nitely something that drew her to Asefvaziri and Street Heat.

“I didn’t know anyone and right when I walked in here they were really welcoming,” she said. “Everyone just wants to dance, there’s no bullshit. [At other studios, the dancers] are shady, they’re not genuine. Here it’s so inspirational, everyone wants you to get better. She’s so welcoming, nice, inspirational. The fact that she had a dream and pursued it is amazing and made it happen.”

Asefvaziri’s drive and ambition is what also draws students.Alpha O’Neal, a professionally trained dancer from New

York, grew up attending prestigious dance academies. She said when she came to the Central Coast she spent time looking at different hip-hop studios but nothing clicked until she saw a YouTube video of Street Heat. After seeing the tail end of a class, she knew she had to join.

“Heidi is that rare, rare early 20-something that has the passion, the drive, the business sense to do something like this and I really respect that,” O’Neal said. “Heidi’s personality, pro-fessionalism and choreography made me stay here and be loyal.”

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Photos courtesy of Heidi Asefvaziri and streetheatdance.com


But even with her strong students’ loyalty, Asefvaziri said it hasn’t been easy. In the beginning, Asefvaziri said she remem-bers sitting in an empty studio during business hours or having days where only one person would come in.

“I was sitting in a studio with no one in there because that’s how it starts, you’re going to have rough times,” she said. “The first couple years are rough and just because you don’t have a student that walks in or a customer that comes through the door does not mean that your business is not going to be suc-cessful so you just gotta keep pushing through it and stick with your plan.”

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Heidi is that rare, rare early 20-something that has the passion, the drive. The business sense to do something l ike this and I really respect that.

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Between working two jobs and attending school full-time she said it’s hard to find enough time in the day to expand and put as much focus as she’d like on her business. Until she gradu-ates in June, all Asefvaziri can do is plan.

“We hope to get a bigger studio with more rooms, more opportunities to teach several classes at the same time, holds rehearsals at the same time ... hiring more teachers, making it more diverse,” she said. “Right now I’m trying to teach other students to be choreographers, maybe open up a second loca-tion in a place where there’s not enough street hip-hop. I want to try and expand it and make it big enough because right now our class is kind of full. I hope to make the studio bigger and provide a bigger home for any dancer that wants to come in, [so we can] become more diverse than we already are.”

But until then, Asefvaziri and the rest of the dancers at Street Heat will continue their preparations for their upcoming performance show at Spanos Theatre on May 19. Asefvaziri said attendees can expect diversity and to be entertained.

“If you’ve gone to a show in San Luis Obispo that was dancing from a studio and fell asleep in it, it’s not going to happen here because every single routine is a different style of dance,” she said. “You don’t have ballet twice, you don’t have pointe twice, you don’t have the same form of hip-hop twice. There is everything and there’s acting incorporated, there is making fun of me incorporated, which is awesome. There’s the use of video so we have different kind of elements of prop that will keep an audience excited. We’re getting the audience involved. We’re kind of just throwing it all out there in an hour and 45.”

But for someone who received dozens of emails and en-countered many people who told her she wasn’t good enough or experienced enough to open her own business, she believes enough in herself and her dancers to pull it all off. She loves what she does and encourages other student entrepreneurs to feel the same about their passions — whatever that may be.

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Heidi is that rare, rare early 20-something that has the passion, the drive. The business sense to do something l ike this and I really respect that.


“As hard as it’s going to be, if you love something and you believe in it being successful, do it and don’t think twice about it,” Asefvaziri said. “Don’t listen to anybody that tells you that you’re too young or that you’re not experienced enough or that you’re not ready. Just go out there and chase what you want to do and if you want to be a business owner, do it and don’t let anything stop you and hold you back.”

STREETHEATDANCE.COMStreet Heat offers different hip-hop dance styles:Kids/teens (12-17), adults (18+), Epidemic Dance Company (audition only)

Dance styles:Urban (street), Jazz funk (girly), Lyrical (r&b), Dance Hall, Contemporary

Located: 223 Granada Drive Unit A

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Make Sure to Check Out: Street HEAT PresentEPiDEMIC! Dance ShowSaturday, May 196:30-9:30 at Spanos Theatre

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