Creating space for women business owners

Editor’s note: We learned at press time that Mad Genius Studios will close on Nov. 30 to make way for a business washed away in flooding. All planned events have been canceled. Instead, a farewell party will be held later this month. Mad Genius hopes to reopen in a different location in 2025.

Throughout years of working with entrepreneurs in Asheville, Shawndra Russell watched women struggle to find a voice at the table in male-dominated industries. She dreamed of having a space where women in business could collaborate, get help, network and celebrate each other. A women-only “clubhouse” of sorts, says Russell.

Today, tucked behind Atelier Maison & Co. furniture studio on Sweeten Creek Road, Russell runs Mad Genius Studios, a cozy commons where she hosts a variety of events, including pop-ups, podcasts, lunch-and-learns, boardrooms, coworking days and just about anything that could support women in business. And in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Helene, she has used the space as a hub for staging disaster relief distribution and volunteer activities.

“We are the anti-format. We’re experimental. Whatever anybody wants to do, let’s talk about how we do it,” Russell says. “[Mad Genius Studios] just really is a way to bring us all together and have a stronger voice as a business community.”

Networking know-how

Russell has been in Asheville for the past decade, working in public-facing positions as a high school English teacher, a freelance reporter and a business owner. She first began connecting with entrepreneurs and growing her network while writing for  Mountain Xpress and the now-closed Capital at Play magazine, and later expanded her network as a podcast co-host for The Great Reset.

In 2019 she became co-owner of Harmony AVL+media, a home technology company. In her work with Harmony, she witnessed firsthand the hurdles women in business face, especially those working in the trades. She recalls sitting in coed spaces within the business community and “seeing some women shrink back or not talk as much” while men tended to dominate discussions. That’s when she decided, “We need a place where even the shyest woman in the room would feel comfortable.”

When Russell heard about a commercial space available for rent — two spacious rooms and plenty of parking — she knew it was the perfect opportunity to make her vision come to life. She signed the lease and opened Mad Genius Studios in January of this year at 121 Sweeten Creek Road. 

The location is comfy and welcoming. Plush, colorful, mismatched chairs surround a long table more likely to be found in a dining room than a conference room. Bright orange shelves decorate one wall while natural wood beams cover another. Giant scratch papers scrawled with notes hang around the room. A high-pile rug softens the floor.

While the space is laid-back and settling, Russell’s outgoing personality keeps the energy high. She talks fast as she explains her vision, leaning forward as if she can’t wait to share what she and other women business owners have been up to this past year. A sketchbook sits propped open on the table in front of her, a network of notes constellating across the pages. She occasionally picks up a pen to jot reminders and ideas.

“I don’t have to do business the way that it’s been done for a billion years,” says Russell. “It can be done in a different way, and I can make it really, really fun.”

A women’s club

Russell has hosted groups at Mad Genius Studios for just about everything — lunch-and-learns that carry over an extra hour to allow for informal collaboration, podcasts, a pop-up coffee shop with rom-coms playing in each room, and even a pickleball group. Russell and a dedicated group of women meet at Asheville Sports Club every Thursday at 8:30 a.m. to play. What can a pickleball group do for women in business? It’s all about collaborating and connecting, says Russell.

“Can we make women feel supported while they’re going down this journey? Because it can be superlonely, superoverworked, grinding it out all the time. So having each other, and all the circles that are forming … we’re helping strengthen everyone,” she explains.

Jennifer King co-created the pickleball group along with Russell, Heather Bauer and Annie Lewis. King, who is the only female senior-level Small Business Administration (SBA) business development officer in Asheville, understands how important it is to meet with other local women entrepreneurs.

“I’ve been doing this for 20 years, and so sometimes having the energy to be excited about new things all the time, and new groups of networking is hard,” King says. “But Shawndra makes it easy because she’s really put together an amazing [group].”

King, who lives in Asheville and is originally from Brevard, works for First Commonwealth Bank, based in Ohio. Before meeting Russell, she hadn’t really focused on supporting local business owners, but through the pickleball group and other networking events at Mad Genius Studios, she’s connected with more local women and helped them not only navigate the SBA loan process but also develop new ideas to grow their businesses.  

King says it’s important to have spaces like Mad Genius Studios because, in the past, women haven’t had the resources, community and access to capital that men have had. Many real estate and other transactions “take place off the books,” she explains. Opportunities are passed by word-of-mouth even before going on the market. Creating groups like the pickleball club, where women can come together and talk, allows them to make connections, share resources and make referrals.  

“We’re not trying to shut men out,” says Russell. “But it’s our time to be able to say, ‘Listen, I want to be around like-minded people, and we’re going to help each other rise up.’” 

Risk takers change the world

April Nash, client intake specialist at Western Women’s Business Center, has made a career out of helping women in business rise. She and Russell first met in February when Russell participated in the Western Women’s Mastermind program — an eight-week cohort of business owners who meet to support each other’s growth. Although the program ended in May, Russell and Nash have continued to collaborate, their relationship shifting from mentor-client to “business besties.”

Nash, who has spoken to over 100 women entrepreneurs over the past year, says there’s one thing she sees again and again in her clients: self-doubt. “They believe in the vision. They believe in the mission. They know it’s important. They know the world needs it, and they just have this self-doubt — ‘I’m not sure I can make this happen’ — even when they have decades of experience in the field,” Nash told Xpress. She says that connecting women to their peers helps them tap into their personal power, take courage and take risks.

“My favorite thing about going to the Mad Genius events is when you walk in, it is so very welcoming,” says Nash. “You are surrounded by powerful women who are slaying at business, and they’re doing so in a way that is grounded. It’s community-oriented. It is collaborative. … You will learn and you will grow just by spending time in this space.”

Nash and Russell both strongly believe helping women in business is the key to creating change within communities and society. In separate interviews, they both point to the statistic, gathered by the International Labour Office in 2018, that women give 90% of their income back to their families and communities while men in business tend to give 30%-40% back.

It’s a statistic that Nash has seen play out in real time in her work at Western Women’s Business Center. She estimates that over 90% of the women she’s worked with have a business plan that involves giving back to or uplifting other people in the community. “Women, in my experience, absolutely see their business as a vehicle to uplift their community, to support their goals in life, to make the world a better place. And oftentimes, the profit motive is secondary,” says Nash.

Russell says wealthier women in business means “healthier families, healthier schools, healthier economies, healthier communities. It’s literally the ripple effect of all ripple effects,” and she’s doing everything she can to support them.

Coming together, moving forward

Over the past several weeks, as local business owners have grappled with the impacts of Tropical Storm Helene, Russell has mobilized into action and proved that support can take many forms.

Mad Genius Studios survived the storm undamaged. A recent drive down Sweeten Creek Road showed many of her neighbors were not as lucky, with signs of flooding and downed trees still highly visible.

Just days after Helene came through, Mad Genius Studios was back up and running. When cellphone service returned, Russell set up a hot spot for internet access and began gathering resources and sending them out to her community members.

Heather Bauer, CEO of artisan pickle company DJ’s Pickles, says staying connected through group texts and phone calls with Russell, Nash of Western Women’s Business Center and other local entrepreneurs has been critical. “The speed of which we’re hearing things from reliable sources and they’re able to put it into terms that we understand and express such real care and concern has … helped us stay focused, it’s helped us stay motivated, it’s given us hope, and it’s given us a sense that we matter,” she says.

Russell recently expanded her reach to bring hope not just to business owners, but others affected by the storm.

On a Wednesday in late October, Russell and a group of volunteers were unloading the contents of a semitruck parked outside her business. The bounty — clothing, cleaning supplies, personal hygiene products, toiletries, baby items, nonperishable food and case after case of bottled water — had made its way to the WNC mountains from Russell’s hometown of Cleveland, Ohio.  When she put word out that her community was in need, her friends and former classmates rallied to gather supplies.

“All I did was be a hype woman,” Russell says, surveying the supplies spread out around her. Her plan was to use Mad Genius as a storage space and hub for organizing volunteers to distribute the goods to Babies Need Bottoms, Goodwill Industries and churches in Swannanoa and East Flat Rock.  

In the wake of the storm, Russell has also shifted to add new programming that supports local business owners. Her three-part Co-Creating Our Future series, originally intended to be hosted across three days in October and November, is being reimagined as Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders Week in early December. The event will feature a women-owned expo and holiday market on Friday, Dec. 6, at Mad Genius Studios that will be free and open to the public. Russell also plans to host panel discussions, a documentary screening, a town hall and happy-hour events inside local businesses.

In the meantime, Russell has added new weekly meetings at Mad Genius Studios, including coffee hours, comedy nights and fireside chats. Every Thursday, 5-8 p.m., women can gather around a firepit, eat warming food and talk specifically about poststorm recovery for the small-business community. She hopes members will brainstorm ways to rally behind each other — whether it be through helping with cleanup, reopening or adapting to a radically altered landscape. 

Russell says she’s excited to expand her reach in the coming year and that she’s looking forward to creating new and more varied opportunities for women to collaborate. Hosting more coworking days, leading events in retail shops to boost business and establishing coworking communities in other cities are all on Russell’s to-do list. 

“We want to connect and support women, locally, individually, where they feel like they have this hub to feel safe and trust and go to for literally anything they need,” she says. “Supporting women entrepreneurs is my full-blown passion. I’m like, whatever you think’s going to help you, let’s go.”  

To learn more about Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders Week and other Mad Genius Studios events, visit avl.mx/e79.