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Explore the world of business and entrepreneurship in Wichita. Learn from local business owners from a variety of industries as they share their experiences with hosts and Evergy leaders, Don Sherman and Ebony Clemons-Ajibolade, who are also small business owners. You’ll learn how they have built and grown their companies and the challenges and opportunities they encountered along the way. This podcast is brought to you by the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce and is powered by Evergy.
Ep149_AndreaHattan
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Don and Ebony: [00:00:00] Welcome to another exciting addition at the WCBA Powered, of course by Evergy for a thank you for listen. Don't forget to like us. Love us. Share us. Follow us. We truly appreciate you checking us out in the house. The Hive. E that's what's up. We have did that Beyonce's and that her follower's, The hive.
Well, I mean it's similar. It's, you know, the Wichita, Hive. Ah, got it. Okay. School. School. Me. Yeah. . So with that, let's, let's tell 'em who you are and what you do.
Andrea Hattan: Sure, so my name's Andrea Hatton. I'm the founder of The Hive. I'm, actually found out recently, I'm a fifth generation entrepreneur, so that's kind of fun to say. My background was as an educator.
I was a fourth through eighth grade English teacher, Taught creative writing, had a background in marketing as well, website design development, things like that. And then I started working fully remotely from home and started feeling isolated. Lonely, depressed,
Don and Ebony: Mm-hmm.
Andrea Hattan: And I joined a coworking space at the time here in the community and it was all men in the tech industry.
Don and Ebony: Interesting.
Andrea Hattan: And so I thought, gosh, wouldn't it be great
Don and Ebony: Wouldn't it be great?
Andrea Hattan: That was women focused and was a space that people could get together and do authentic networking, not just business card pushy, but really get to know each other on a deeper level. Grow their businesses, have support and encouragement and a beautiful space to work downtown.
Don and Ebony: Yeah. It, it's, you know, it, it does feel quite different, when you're in a space that's, other women are in and you feel like you can create those authentic networks. I really like that. So tell us where the Hive is, where's it located?
Andrea Hattan: So, we're located in the, on the first floor of the Historic Orpheum Building Off First and Broadway. Mm-hmm.
Don and Ebony: So now how does, do you have space available at the.
Andrea Hattan: We always have space available. We are kind of a, it's kind of a coffee shop model, right? So a lot of people take client meetings at coffee shops, but they can't find a place to plug in their laptop or know if they're gonna be able to get a table or even be able to recognize who they're meeting and have the awkward, should I buy them coffee moment?
And so people kind of drop in. a lot of our members work. They either work remotely for someone else or they own their own business. And whether. They work remotely in their business or they have at brick and mortar. It's just nice, even the people who have brick and mortars to get away from the employees and customers so that they can actually focus on what they wanna do.
So because people drop in whenever we, we really could continue growing with that type of membership. And then we also have private offices, which are currently full. Our private offices are full, but we always take a wait. It's a nice option for people as they're just getting started, maybe when they're like a solopreneur before they've brought on a team, or if they have a really small team and don't wanna have the overhead of a big office space.
But, but I've spent the majority of the last four, almost five years trying to educate people that were not just a co-working space. Cuz the number one thing I get is, Oh, well I already, I love what you guys do. I'm a huge fan, but I already have an office. Or I love my home office and I say, A lot of our members, the majority in fact, don't actually co-work.
They're, they're there for the community.
Don and Ebony: And that's what that was. My next question.
Andrea Hattan: Mm-hmm.
Don and Ebony: to, to describe that, because I think you're right, most people do think that you're just going there to collate, co-locate, right? But there's so much more that happens in that space. Can you kind of describe to, listeners what it's like when you walk into there?
What is that? What does the culture feel like and, and what's in the room?
Andrea Hattan: Yeah. So you walk in and over the years people have always said that they always feel very welcome. It feels very safe. They feel safe to be vulnerable, and they're able to really show up authentically as themselves. I even have guys that come in, they're just like, Oh, it feels so homey here, so cozy. I feel like I can really focus in, A lot of people say it's kind of a little bit of a spa vibe.
We've got a background noise happening that, allows people to really focus in. They get a lot more work done there. But also it's just a place where hundreds, almost a thousand women now have like ideated, you know, created an idea for a business or a strategy or. Thing they're gonna do. We have a [00:05:00] mastermind group that meets, We have lunch and learns, we do content.
We have an accountability group, we have business coaching, mindset coaching, all of that at a really affordable level for people that are just getting going or need the residual ongoing support. So there's a lot of programs which has so many amazing programs. For entrepreneurs. We don't try to compete with that.
We're not a program. We're an ongoing support system. And there's also lots of places in Wichita where you can go to network to meet people, to be a client or a customer. That's not really our focus. Like if you're becoming a Hive member, you're becoming a Hive member because. This is now your support system.
Like you, you will get customers and clients from other Hive members, but that's not the goal or the focus. It's this is, you know, in a way a sisterhood of women in business, whether they're business owners or they kind of wanna be one day, but they don't know what it is yet. We get a lot of people that they'll say, Oh, I followed you for years and now I'm ready to do my own thing.
And I knew you were the first place I had to go.
Don and Ebony: That's awesome. Isn't that a great feeling?
Andrea Hattan: Yeah, it's cool.
Don and Ebony: So let's talk about the name, The Hive. Mm-hmm. . Where did this come
Andrea Hattan: So really the idea. You know, bees being collaborative and they're, they're always have this mindset of, working together towards a common goal. A lot of people like to call me the queen bee.
I don't like that. I always say . I always say like, we're all the queen bee, you know, of our own businesses, right? And then this is the place where all the queen bees come together.
I like collaborate and not compete with each other, right? Because we all have our own hive, and I want everyone to grow their hive of whatever that is.
You know, you all have a community around what you do. and so this is a place to kind of bounce ideas off of one another. And I love, I, I always kind of say like, Every animal on earth is important, but if you, if you're a wasp and you find your way into a beehive, you can either do business as a bee, right?
You can be collaborative, and you can take part in what we're doing, or you can realize. I'm a wasp and maybe this isn't the place for me and there's nothing wrong with was like, you know, every animal has its own purpose and way to be in the world, but we are like specifically for the people who like that collaboration and over competition who like that.
Showing up authentically being vulnerable. That's not for everybody, you know, not everybody wants to come to a mindset coaching and like cry , you know, But you're gonna dig deeper and, and, and work through things. I think faster sometimes if you're able to show up that way. But it's not for everybody. And that's okay.
Don and Ebony: Thank you for, for sharing that and that analogy as well. Right? Yeah, that's very good. That that was awesome. I, and this is my last question then I'm gonna, you know, I guess let Don ask you a few So always some shade. Well, no. Okay, so now we have the name. We know that we can come.
How do we become a member of the Hive?
Andrea Hattan: Yeah, so we actually have a really, I think, easy, streamlined, intuitive way of doing it. So you can either just go straight to our website, the hive Wichita dot com, sign up online, you'll get an email with all the instructions to download the door app, the door access app.
If you signed up at 2:00 AM you could get, you could go. And you have your own office and you can be down there, right? Or you can do it the old fashioned way and you can book a tour with me and we can walk through it and I can hand hold you through the process. And I like doing that cause I like to meet people and get to know them in their stories.
Often it's kind of like a little mini session where people get to tell me what they're working on, how they're excited about it. I get to plug them in personally, connect them to different people in our community who can help them. And so I like that method. But we do have a lot more people nowadays just sign up online.
Especially the people who are just kind of wanting the co-working. if they just need a space to work, that's easy for them to do. If they're wanting to get plugged into the community, usually they wanna meet with me and get personally plugged in.
Don and Ebony: Yeah. I love that. Thank you. Mm-hmm. , let me make sure I got your story right.
You were a teacher. Yes. And then Covid hit and then you started thinking, I need to do something different.
Andrea Hattan: Not quite. Not quite. actually,
Don and Ebony: know it had, I had it wrong.
Andrea Hattan: Well, so I was a teacher. I taught in Lexington, Kentucky at a school for Creative and performing Arts. And then when I, moved closer to mid West after my daughter was born in 2015, and we moved back to Kansas, I didn't wanna get my teaching certificate in a third state because the common core was kind of following me around and stifling my creativity.
And so I went back to my roots of writing, got a job at a marketing company, and that's when I transitioned, full time to working remotely. And that was actually in 20. 16, 2017 and that's when I had the idea for the hive. And so we actually opened doors in April, 2018, so Wow. Yeah. So when the pandemic happened, it was scary because I was a coworking space and a pandemic.
I mean, that's scary. And so we had actually, I had purchased the first floor of the Orpheum in January, 2020,
Don and Ebony: Oh, wow.
Andrea Hattan: We finished renovations on it [00:10:00] in March of 2020, and the bill came due, and I was worried about cash flow, but it actually ended up being a blessing in disguise because everybody wanted a private office outside of their home, away from the kids that were all on Zoom, and the partner that was on Zoom and everybody being loud.
So it was still a really safe space. We were real estate, so we were a, what do they call, essential industry so I didn't have to shut our doors. We stopped having in person events, of course, but all the people who had private offices, that's their office. They still had a right to come to it throughout the pandemic.
So that was actually kind of nice cuz it allowed them that, that faith but private space.
Don and Ebony: And it allowed you to continue to have some revenue
Andrea Hattan: Absolutely. And I actually, we didn't have a single member cancel in in March or April of 2020, which was, I think a testament to Wichita supporting small business and you know, women supporting women and all of that.
Of course, as it lingered on, People had different financial situations and needs and things like that. So we did, you know, lose some membership and, and we've kind of oscillated back and forth trying to regain where we were pre pandemic. But I think people understand what we do in a different way now.
People understand isolation, they understand the importance of community and connection, and they understand that dishes and laundry are distracting. And, you know, I love, I always tell people I own a coworking space. That doesn't mean I don't also love to work from home. I still work from home. I just don't like doing it every single day and never seeing anyone.
I like to get outta my house a few days a week. some of our members come once a week, but it's just a different atmosphere and they don't have to sit at a coffee shop and worry about, Oh gosh, I've been here two hours. I should buy something else. Right. When they don't need anything else to eat or drink, you know, And just so it alleviates a lot of those negative things.
People, meeting people at coffee shops. Like I said, like if you don't know who you're meeting, a lot of times you're meeting someone you've never met before. You're like, Is that that person? Well now you know, if the doorbell rings at this time, I can greet my guests and say, Hi, welcome to my office. Would you like a latte?
And then you get 'em settled. And it's a very professional, refined experience for your guests. And if people hosting events, I mean, it's expensive to rent out a restaurant, a room at a restaurant, coordinate all of that. We have the space for people to. For events and workshops and things like that. So it works well.
Don and Ebony: Excellent. So let's dig into your entrepreneurship. Did you start with a business plan or how did you conceive that idea? Well, you told us how you conceived it. How did you execute it?
Andrea Hattan: it? Yeah, so the first thing I did, I was actually a part of a group of women called Lean In. It was a circle of women in leadership and. I told them, you know, wouldn't it be great if that kind of, there was a space?
And so they all got really excited with me. several of them are actually still members. They've been members since the very beginning, so that's really cool. and they, they, they really got behind me and were cheering me on. I went home that night, created all the branding, did a Facebook group cuz I'm.
I have ADHD and I
Don and Ebony: You did it all that night.
Andrea Hattan: I did it
Don and Ebony: Oh my gosh.
Andrea Hattan: it's either all or nothing. And so I did, and I came back to them at the next meeting. I had a hundred women in this Facebook group that were wanting me to start this, and they're all like, You just did it. You just went home and did it.
And I was like, Yeah. So I think they got really inspired by that journey and a lot of these women followed me along the way as I did these like big girl things, right? I went and got a business loan and I got a real estate agent and found a space and started doing renovations and they all came and painted and helped me put together chairs.
And they were really a part of that journey. And I think it was this like, Wow, if she can do it, I can do it kind of moment. And they were all cheering me on. And even women in the Wichita community who who have never been Hive members, I think really do still cheer me on. I hear them always say like, Wow, I've been following your story and it's so inspiring and I love what you did.
and I have women like that, that I admire too, that I've followed their journeys and we were kind of like along the same, you know, growth path in leadership in business. So yeah, that's kind of, It was a whirlwind, it was four months for my idea to like opening doors.
Don and Ebony: Wow. That's, that's a fast turn. Yes.
Andrea Hattan: And I also personally, I also, I had quit my job the same month. I had the idea.
I asked for a divorce the same month. I had the idea
Don and Ebony: a lot happening,
Andrea Hattan: and my daughter and I, we sold our house and moved into like a tiny home camper that we renovated. So it was like all the things at once. It just burned it all to the ground and like rebuilt
Don and Ebony: So when you make a, when you make your mind up, it's like made
Andrea Hattan: Yeah. We're gonna get rid of everything toxic and we're gonna start fresh.
Don and Ebony: That's cool. E I love that. Well, friends, it's time to hear a word from our sponsor. We'll come back in a moment to hear more from the hive. [00:15:00] Welcome back friends who were here with the Hive. We're hearing some powerful stories being told today. Mm-hmm. , so, Okay. Like many of us, we go away for a little while to see what's out in the in the world and then we come back to our home. That was kind of the same for you as well, wasn't it? You left and then you decided to come back.
Why Wichita?
Andrea Hattan: Yeah. So I'm a boomerang. I did, I moved away and came back.
Obviously everyone. Says, and we're tired of hearing it. That Wichita's a great place to raise a family. when I had my daughter, I realized how hard it is to be away from grandparents and free babysitting and so that was the main driver of us moving back to the Midwest. We actually moved back from Lexington, Kentucky to Dallas.
What I loved about Wichita at the time, I had several friends that were telling me, you know wichita's cool now. And I was like, What are you talking about? No, I went to college in Austin, Texas. Right.
Don and Ebony: right. Yeah.
and so I had a friend telling me she was actually a doctor and she said that Wichita had. Really developed like food trucks.
Andrea Hattan: And I was like, food trucks really? Cuz that was an Austin thing for sure. And we have street art. I was like, okay. And then she said, we have some breweries. Okay.
Don and Ebony: when you
Andrea Hattan: signs. Well, I actually don't like beer, but breweries are a sign that a city is getting cool. It's, it's true. And then I also heard that they were doing cool things like Wich talks, which, they brought back recently.
Not sure if they're gonna continue it, but it's kind of like TED Talk style. people get up and talk about something they're passionate about and just some cool, like programming live music and things like that. When I had left Wichita in 2007, I really looked for there to, for cool things to do in Wichita, and I just couldn't find anything that was accessible for people in the age range of pretty much 13 to 20.
There were some cool things for people to do when they were over 21, and there were lots of family friendly things for kids, but the age range of people that we're trying to keep in Wichita is those graduating high school and in college, right, and going to college. And so I really didn't find a reason to stay here when I graduated, but I was brought back by.
The changes that had happened in Wichita, and I did know that Wichita has always been an entrepreneurial city, and so starting a business here felt really accessible compared to other places. When I lived in Dallas and Austin, it would've been, I don't know if it would've been as possible for someone. In their late twenties, early thirties to be in the type of leadership roles that I've been able to be in.
In Wichita, you're in a big city, you're still a kid until you're, you know, 40 pretty much in their eyes. And so in Wichita, they're really excited about young people being a part of decision making conversations. And so I've been able to sit on boards and be committees and be involved in ways, you know, to personally let know people on the county commission.
We have several hive members in the county commission. To personally know the mayor to like be in contact with people in decision making, positions is something that really you can't find in bigger cities. I think
Don and Ebony: Yeah. Go Wichita. Yeah. Yeah. Well, welcome back. We're so glad to have you and, you know, you bring great value to our community and our state, so we, we really appreciate that.
And we know that you won an award, did you not at Honors Night?
Andrea Hattan: Yeah. So actually got the Exceptional Young Leader Award, which was really cool to be able to have my, my family there to, to see that my grandmother, she's 92, and so it was really special and meaningful to be able to have her there for that and to, to have, you know, your family here is about the behind the scenes stuff that you're doing, but I don't know. about the listeners, but my family has not been super involved in like, Wichita and you know, I don't think they know when you're kind of Wichita famous. Right? Like, they don't know. Cause they're not like involved. They're like, we have a flag. Oh, cool. You know, . and so to see them see a room full of. You know, six or 700 people who a lot of them know, already know me and know what I do.
and be honored in that way was, it was like a very tangible way to see that success rather than just hearing me talk about, Oh, I did this podcast or I was on this such and such. It's, it doesn't mean much to them. They're boomers,
Don and Ebony: Yeah.
Andrea Hattan: They're like technology. I don't
Don and Ebony: Uhhuh. Well, I expect, you know, you to have your grandma listen to this podcast. Yeah.
Andrea Hattan: We'll do our best. We'll do our
Don and Ebony: your homework assignment. So last question, for me before I turn it over is, , I saw that you guys did something really cool this summer. You began offering a course of some sort to business owners.
Andrea Hattan: Yeah. So [00:20:00] we have had, like I said, hundreds of women come through our door and say, I'm ready to start my business.
Like, what's next? And while we're not, you know, an advisory, Free resource, like we have so many of those in Wichita, like great places to turn to start your business. we are a super accessible, friendly girlfriend chat over coffee kind of place to just say like, What am I supposed to do? It's all overwhelming, like, where do I start?
And so after getting the same questions over and over and over for four, almost five years at all of our events, and to me personally, We decided to package it all together and there's 12 lessons and one bonus lesson that are all local women that are content area experts in different areas. And they've walked through like a 15 to 30 minute lesson with like three actionable homework pieces that follow.
And if someone goes through this entire course, they can submit to, get a certification, that. A really pretty, certificate and a logo for their website that says they're a hive certified business. And what that means is that we have pretty much gone through their homework and agreed that they're, they've done the steps necessary to do business really professionally.
Like they have their LLC and they have insurance and they have, you know, the, automations in place to make sure that they're following up with their clients or customers. They have professional way to take payment. They have an account, you know, they're accounting and bookkeeping in place. They are, they have the right mindset.
There's a difference between like an employee mindset versus an an entrepreneur mindset. and that they're doing, they're networking authentically. They're not, business card pushy and overly salesy in the way that they do it. So we just kind of have like a value system that we walk people through in that course.
And they're also checking all the boxes, crossing the t's, dotting the i's on, did I do all the things that I quote am supposed to do. Women have this like perfectionistic tendency to say like, I don't know if I'm a real business. They always say, Oh, I've just. Just my side little thing, and I want them to take it seriously as a, as a real business.
And sometimes the only way to help them do that is to help them cross the t's and dot the i's so that they feel that confidence that they could have had, even if they didn't do all that. But it gives them that confidence.
Don and Ebony: I love that. Well, kudos and congratulations. When, when is the next course going to be offered so that people can sign
Andrea Hattan: Yeah, so, you can actually sign up anytime.
We just do every, every 12 weeks, we'll do kind of a graduation ceremony where anybody that graduates finishes the course and submits their homework before that deadline can participate in the graduation ceremony. So, if you go to, I think it's the high Wichita dot com. Slash Hive certified, but I can give you guys the link to post under this as well if people wanna check it out.
It is a paid course, but it does include three months of Hive membership. So it's basically, it's free if you're a Hive member. You know, it's kind of like the, It's the same translation.
Don and Ebony: that's good. Thank you so much. Understood.
Did you said you went to college in Austin?
Andrea Hattan: Yeah, I went to undergrad at UT Austin and grad school at Murray State in Kentucky.
Don and Ebony: Okay. Where'd you go to high school? That's okay.
Andrea Hattan: My daughter goes to Maize. That's
Don and Ebony: too.
Andrea Hattan: You're an east, you're you sider.
Don and Ebony: No, he went to Northwest. My
Andrea Hattan: Ah, okay. Right.
Don and Ebony: Yeah. All good. what's next for you? A Hive Two somewhere, or what?
Andrea Hattan: That sounds exhausting.
Don and Ebony: Yeah.
Andrea Hattan: For me. I would love to get someone kind of running the day-to-day operations of the hive so that I can focus more on consulting and coaching, some online courses and building more of that. I'd like to do some retreats, women in business and different things, and I've, I've still been very much in the day to day of things and so I, I've hired part-time employees, but I've never hired somebody full-time and I think it's really time that I kinda pass that torch. I'm still planning to be on at all of the events and, you know, very much involved in the community, but just the literal space management piece.
Don and Ebony: Mm-hmm.
Andrea Hattan: Is is something that, it's hard because I, I'm over here doing things like this and no one's at the hive of if the printer stops working, know, I probably, I'll get a text message and I'll have to run over there and fix it. So it's just, needing help in that way.
All right. We're gonna finish this up so you can handle that copier or printer or whatever.
one more step where you see the hive in five years.
Andrea Hattan: I see it continuing to help women in, in business that our membership has grown and that they're supporting one another. in bigger ways. I think we have a lot of members who love to do mentorship and help. Early, earlier stage entrepreneurs. We actually recently got our, fiduciary sponsor so that we can start applying for grants.
Don and Ebony: Oh, wow.
Andrea Hattan: Something I'm really passionate about is having, women in [00:25:00] Wichita get paid to speak. and so I'd really love to, I'm sure there's some sort of grant opportunity out there where we could start some programming towards that and, and have some funding to help women get paid to speak even if the organization they're speaking for isn't going to pay them.
I wanna pay them so,
Don and Ebony: Awesome. Gotcha. Excellent. E Anything else? No, I think this is really fascinating. I'm, I'm super excited about your, your future and the growth and all of the wonderful women you are helping throughout the community. Yeah. One of these days you're not gonna be talking to us anymore.
Yeah. It's gonna be too big time, too busy, you know, Not be like, I remember, when do you have an appointment to call me? That's what she's gonna, that's what she's gonna be doing. But that's be, that would be cool. Gonna have some fun. You've dealt with e. Long enough and she's had the best time of her life. now we're doing word association. We give you one word to give us one word back. It's not wrong cuz it's your word. Are
Andrea Hattan: Oh, and my, my daughter did say, she's seven.
She wanted me to let you guys know she's gonna take it over one day, so
Don and Ebony: Oh, I love it. Excellent. Yeah. Excellent. Good for her. I love.
What's her name?
Andrea Hattan: Aviva. Future owner
Don and Ebony: Future future owner of the Hive. Excellent. That sounds so, so good. succession plan already done.
Andrea Hattan: Yep.
Don and Ebony: Leader.
Andrea Hattan: Oh. Oh. We are
Don and Ebony: We, we rolling? Mm-hmm. ? Yes.
Andrea Hattan: Okay.
Don and Ebony: Just say huh.
Andrea Hattan: Oh, man. Authentic,
Don and Ebony: Nice. Success.
Andrea Hattan: How you define it.
Don and Ebony: College.
Andrea Hattan: Not necessary.
Don and Ebony: Okay,
Andrea Hattan: for everyone.
Don and Ebony: Nice. Failure.
just a learning experience.
Don and Ebony: Entrepreneur.
Andrea Hattan: My favorite humans.
Don and Ebony: That was very good. Wichita.
Andrea Hattan: Awesome.
Don and Ebony: Vacation
Andrea Hattan: Needed.
Don and Ebony: Hero.
Andrea Hattan: There's many of them.
Don and Ebony: Wichita Chamber.
Andrea Hattan: Hmm. Support system.
Don and Ebony: Family.
Andrea Hattan: Important.
Don and Ebony: Fun.
Andrea Hattan: Doing what you're passionate about.
Don and Ebony: Last but not least, and you have to tell the truth, beverage.
Oh, a London Fog.
Mm.
Andrea Hattan: It's like a black tea with sea milk and a shot of vanilla syrup.
Don and Ebony: Huh? ? Isn't that something? I know.
Andrea Hattan: It's yummy.
Don and Ebony: London Fog. I don't, I don't think I've heard of
Andrea Hattan: I'm teaching coffee shops around the world.
Every time I go to one, I'll be like, Can I have Alen fog? They're like, What's that? Let me
Don and Ebony: I'm not the only one. Okay.
Okay. Excellent London fog. It is, and thank you for showing up and, hanging out with Ebony . I know it's, it's a chore, but it is what it is. No, truly. Thank you for being here. This was fun.
Andrea Hattan: Yeah. Thank you guys. Thanks for having me.
Don and Ebony: All right, friends, we've come to the end of today's segment. If you would, please make certain that you like us, make certain that you.
Segment with anyone who you may find value or someone who may be interested in starting their new business or hanging out at the hive and getting empowered. Till next time,
Peace. peace