Vendor Spotlight: Umbrella Garden PlayCafe
Written by Cory Cathcart
Umbrella Garden PlayCafe’s window display for Season 3 of St’Artup 317
Meisha Wide is the entrepreneur behind the new idea of what a coffee shop can be, where parents and children both will feel comfortable in a creative space. In today’s cafe atmosphere, children are not always the most welcomed audience. Being a parent herself, Wide knows that there is a need for this kind of community in Indianapolis. Umbrella Garden PlayCafe is a place where innovative parents can bring their children and know that they will get a chance to interact with other children and have a creative activity available. Meanwhile, the parents will be able to connect with other adults, get work done, and not feel like they are intruding on a child-less space. Visit her website and follow her on Instagram and Facebook.
Tell us about yourself and your business.
The name of the business is Umbrella Garden Play Cafe. It's a space to grow ideas and grow a vision. To me, the business is about nurturing innovation and creativity. Cafe is also an acronym, so it's a Community Affirming Family Experience, letting it be a space for adults and children to both have that nurturing and growing experience together. The word umbrella actually was in a dream of mine. I couldn’t figure out a name for it. Umbrella, the symbolism of security and nurturing and comforting, felt like it was the perfect fit for a space that could grow families.
What's been the best part and worst part of owning your own business?
I have told people that being an entrepreneur is a gift and a curse. I have been an entrepreneur ever since I graduated from college. It wasn’t my initial plan in life, but it fell in my lap and taught me how to move professionally after that. The best thing about it is that it has taught me so much about resources and networking within the city. The worst part of it is that I am always on. I’m always thinking about, “How is my business going to operate? How does this interaction impact what I am doing to help me push forward with my passion?” So, it’s kind of hard for me to turn off sometimes. That's why I look at it like the gift is having that vision, but it's also the hard part of being able to know when you take time for yourself and not be so focused on business. I find the joy in it, too, is being able to be a connector. Just learning about people and being able to find out what their passions are and connecting each other to be able to fulfill those things.
Tell us about your St'Artup 317 window display. Where did the idea come from, how long did it take you to plan and execute, etc?
Because it is just a window display, I thought it would be best to try to grow the following and make sure that people have information on how to get in contact with me. There was an opening around the windows too, so I had a vision of setting up some displays in there, but then the space was taken so that changed the vision of how I wanted to use the space.
You mentioned you’ll be having a pop-up, what are you planning on doing for the pop-up?
It will be a small group of parents and a small group of kids and they’re going to be working on an art project. For this being on the First Friday of July, I am kind of calling it a Freestyle Friday and the kids will be able to work on something that's empowering and help them see their own ability to run with their own visions. I’ve got an artist that I am bringing in who's going to work on those art projects with the kids and then I’ll be there kind of mixing and mingling with the adults.
What do you hope to get out of this experience?
I have heard rumblings here and there about people wanting something like this, and so I felt like giving the community what it needs. I've even talked about how the need is greater than my own fears. Because so many people have talked about wanting an outlet or wanting a space like that, I just want people to know that it's real, and it's doable. Even though it's in a small capacity right now I have ideas of using larger spaces, so people dont have the fear of coming in contact with the pandemic that's going on. I just want people to know that it's something that's attainable here in Indy. We’ve seen it happen in other communities. This is accessible. It's not like you have to have a certain type of income, because of what it is. I try to make it accessible to everyone. I’m disrupting what the norm is of your coffee shop experience and letting people know that it can be a full experience for families. This experience to me needs to be more intimate and it needs to feel like you can connect with somebody, and not be scared about what ideas you share or even introducing your family to another family.