Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Jensen.
Hi Nicole, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Founded in 2018 in Austin, TX, Hopscotch is an immersive and experiential brand that brings together artists in collaborative environments to create unique, impactful, and distinct shared experiences. We believe art can be a vessel to tell stories and illuminate important messages of the past, present, and future.
Hopscotch allows artists to showcase their works in sustainable and creative ways, encourages them to be inspired by new mediums, and empowers them to reach new audiences. We strongly believe in cultivating lasting relationships and a synergy with our staff, artists, and the local communities we are in.
After doing short-term exhibitions in Austin we opened our first permanent location in San Antonio in 2020. We will be opening a Hopscotch at West Harbor (L.A. Seaport) in late 2023/early 2024 and plan to open another location ahead of that one which we will announce soon.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Of course not, haha. These types of projects, as with most things in life, always have unexpected hurdles along the way. When we first started out we were very naive to the commercial real estate and construction process. Everything ends up taking ten times longer than you think it will and that was all before the pandemic hit.
We then had to open in the middle of COVID -19 which impacted everything for everyone and we were no exception to that, it impacted everything from how we curated to shipping, staffing, the guest experience you name it. We are all stronger for it and have learned a lot along the way, adapting is the name of the game and we definitely know now to expect the unexpected and thrive in it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Hopscotch?
We are first and foremost an immersive and interactive art gallery featuring 14 installations from over 40 local, national and international artists. What people may not realize is that we also have a full bar with craft cocktails that you can take throughout the gallery with you. We also have a great gift shop with unique artistic items, a food truck, and live music most days.
We are family-friendly until 7 pm then we are 18+ so that adults can enjoy a date night and feel like kids again without being distracted by kids. We curate in a way that emphasizes variety, we love when one person’s favorite installation was another person’s least favorite, we aim to push boundaries and provide guests with a wide variety to make their experience unique.
Our guests often find themselves laughing, being playful, and forgetting what’s going on outside of the Hopscotch walls and we love that.
Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Whether they believe themselves to be or not, I think any entrepreneur is absolutely a risk-taker at heart. It is very risky and vulnerable to quit your “normal” job with a guaranteed paycheck to venture out into the unknown with an idea.
For myself and my business partner, we both founded and ran other businesses before Hopscotch which to me my first business was the “gateway” for lack of a better term. I ran events and created experiences for people so the risk was in being able to create, sell and follow through on what I created and sold. With Hopscotch the risks are absolutely greater, we deal in large artist contracts, ten-year real estate leases, long-term construction, time spent, etc. Risk to me is nothing without stamina/longevity or what Angela Duckworth coined as Grit which in her words is “The power of passion and perseverance”. Anyone can have an idea and really anyone can take a risk, it’s getting comfortable sitting in the “risk zone” for weeks, months, and years that ultimately will make you successful.
One of my biggest strengths is the ability to hang in there and see something through. You have to have vision and confidence in something with little to no positive reinforcement for years at a time when building something like this which ultimately is a worthy test because it doesn’t get any easier once you actually build and open something, then you have to run it and continually adapt to make it successful and if you’re like us you are also always curious and focused on growth.
One big thing that has helped me personally with this is all of the runnings I did in my 20s and early 30s. I’ve completed over 20 half marathons and two full marathons including the Boston Marathon. I credit that work to a lot of my mental stamina, you spend a lot of time self-motivating when you’re training for something like that, you have to get comfortable with your thoughts and push through physical and mental adversity with no one to rely on but yourself.
Pricing:
- GA Tickets – $24
- Student / Veteran / Teacher / First Responder – $20
- Children – $15
- 3 and under – Free
- Lounge & Gift Shop – Free
Contact Info:
- Email: contact@letshopscotch.com
- Website: www.letshopscotch.com
- Instagram: @letshopscotch
- Facebook: heyhopscotch
