Kristyn Smith never got her due as the new director of Startup Grind.
While she's been a familiar face at the organization since 2017, Smith took over as director in late 2019 and hosted her first event in February 2020 — just before the pandemic struck — and the group hasn't met in person since. The Wichita chapter of the national organization typically hosts monthly startup events to teach, inspire and connect local entrepreneurs. Finally, two years later, Startup Grind is gearing up to host its first in-person event Feb. 22.
Smith, who's also an educator at the College of Innovation and Design at Wichita State University, hopes to bring the attention back to the meet-ups. She joined a Q&A with the WBJ to talk about her experience in the city's entrepreneurial ecosystem and where the gaps and opportunities are.
Your background is in design and marketing. How do you think that plays into your role at Startup Grind? Having the technical background of design and marketing has made creating event graphics and general promotion for Startup Grind pretty seamless. While the rest of the Startup Grind team works on the other aspects of events, I am able to whip up variations of marketing material. My training in design thinking has been the most beneficial to this role, though. By incorporating various exercises we use in design-thinking workshops, we have been able to come up with some new and engaging methods for Startup Grind to continue to be a value add for the community, at least, that is our goal.
How many Startup Grind events have you been part of now? What’s the most enjoyable part of the job? I volunteered for day-of-event set-up and some brainstorming sessions in exchange for a free ticket to events while I was going through the masters of Innovation Design program at Wichita State back in 2017-18. Then in 2019, the previous Startup Grind Wichita director, Jacob Wayman, asked if I had interest in having a permanent role in the organization. I led my first event on Feb. 27, 2020, with Doug Stucky as the keynote speaker. The event went so well, it was sold out, and we were really excited for the plans we had made for 2020. And, of course, everyone knows that no one planned for what that year would really bring us.
Startup Grind is returning to its first in-person event later this month. How has the pandemic hurt – or helped – the organization’s mission? With the pandemic we lost a lot of things, but one thing I think everyone can agree on is how much we realized the importance of real, genuine connection between people. We put a pause on events for two years and I think the community is really excited and is welcoming Startup Grind back with their arms wide open. Our goal is to be a connecting organization that allows Wichita entrepreneurs and startups a platform to share their experiences and help inspire more to build their own businesses. I believe the pandemic has given us the chance to realign and make sure that all our programming still focuses on that goal.
What do you think is the biggest gap or shortfall in our community when it comes to the needs of entrepreneurs and startups? There are so many organizations and groups doing amazing things to provide resources for entrepreneurs and startups that I believe individuals have a difficult time knowing where to start, or what the next step for their business venture is. Luckily, there is work already being done to solve this issue and create a structure for founders in the community that need a “roadmap” of where to go. The Wichita Entrepreneurship Coalition, a collaboration between Wichita State University and NXTUS, are working to create programs that fill the gaps of the ecosystem and create a process to direct founders to the most appropriate resource.
Do you find that Wichita’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is empowering for women who want to get involved? What could be improved? It took some time, but I realized the biggest factor in what was holding me back from getting involved in the ecosystem, was me! Once you get out of your comfort zone and look up, you will see so many mentors and supportive people in our community. Doug Stucky, Jeremy Patterson and Jacob Wayman have been so encouraging and helped give me confidence to take on various leadership roles. I have also been extremely fortunate to know and get advice from female entrepreneurs in leadership positions such as Mary Beth Jarvis, Kaye Monk-Morgan and Trish Brasted. If I had to pick one thing that could be improved, it would be the overall message reach of the resources available to women in our community. If you know, you know — but if you are not “in the loop” you might miss some great opportunities.
How would you like to see the established Wichita business community interact with Startup Grind and with local startups? We would love to see established businesses be actively involved in each event we facilitate through Startup Grind. Whether it is as a keynote speaker, an event sponsor, or allowing us to host an event in your physical space, there are many ways for businesses in the ICT to interact with the startup community. I also firmly believe that encouraging their employees to attend events will help spark innovation and give them opportunities to network with passionate people in Wichita.
If you had your own startup, what would it be like? I have an interest in bringing “play” into parts of life that traditionally aren’t super playful. Like an office, for example. So if I had my own startup, it would involve staying with a specific organization for an extended period of time, getting to know the company, and then finding ways to implement some fun back into the work day for their employees, stakeholders and possibly their customers. I have not put much thought into actually moving forward with this idea, so I don’t know if this is viable or how it would scale but hey, it’s fun to daydream about.
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KRISTYN SMITH
Title: Design Educator, College of Innovation and Design at Wichita State University; Startup Grind Wichita director
Age: 30
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design from Wichita State University, 2014; Master of Innovation Design from Wichita State University, 2019
Experience: 10 years user interface/user experience design, 3 years WSU instructor of design thinking, prototyping, and business design/development
Family: Husband, Kyle; dog, Riley (7)
