Episode 37 : Big Ideas, Midwest Energy

🍷 Episode Summary
What if the next big idea didn’t come from Silicon Valley… but from right here in Wichita?

In this episode, we sit down with Tracy Hoover, founder of Groover Labs, to talk about what it really takes to build something from the ground up and why you might not have to leave home to do it. From her background in big tech to creating a space where founders, developers, and creatives can collide and collaborate, Tracy shares how Groover Labs is helping shape the future of innovation in Kansas.

We explore the realities of entrepreneurship, the power of being surrounded by other builders, and the idea that sometimes what a city needs most isn’t more talent… it’s a place for that talent to come together.

Because big ideas? They’re not limited by geography. They’re just waiting for the right environment to grow.

🥂 In This Episode

• Tracy’s journey from Hewlett-Packard and startup leadership to founding Groover Labs
• The moment she realized Wichita needed a physical hub for builders and founders
• What Groover Labs actually is (and why it’s so much more than coworking)
• The role of space, tools, and proximity in accelerating ideas
• Why startups don’t just need funding… they need structure and support
• Inside the ACCEL-KS program and how it’s helping founders across Kansas
• Real examples of builders creating, prototyping, and refining ideas at Groover
• The truth about Midwest talent and why people are choosing to stay
• How community fuels innovation in ways you can’t replicate alone
  
  

💡 Key Takeaways

You don’t have to leave to build something big.
 The narrative that success only exists on the coasts is shifting and Wichita is part of that story.

Ideas need more than inspiration. They need infrastructure.
 Groover Labs exists to give founders a place to actually build, not just brainstorm.

Funding helps, but guidance changes everything.
 Programs like ACCEL-KS show that mentorship, structure, and feedback can be just as valuable as capital.

Community is the multiplier.
 There’s something powerful about being surrounded by people who are also in the messy, in-progress stage of building.

🔥 Memorable Moments

• The realization that Wichita didn’t lack talent… it lacked a central place for that talent to connect
• Founders evolving from modifying products to creating original prototypes
• The idea that even founders who didn’t receive funding still gained clarity and direction
• The energy inside Groover Labs when multiple builders are working and collaborating at the same time
  
  

🔗 Resources + Links

• Groover Labs — learn more, explore membership, and get involved
• ACCEL-KS — supporting early-stage founders across Kansas
  
  

🍷 Join the Conversation

Have you ever felt like you had to leave your city to chase something bigger?

Or have you seen something incredible being built right where you are?

We’d love to hear your story. Come join the conversation with us.

⭐️ If You Loved This Episode…

Share it with a friend, tag us on social, or leave a review. It helps more people discover conversations like this one.

And as always…

So THIS Happened. 🍷✨

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Cheers, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Cheers.

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Here we are. Episode 37 of So This Happened. Yes. And we are here today with Tracy Hoover of Groover Labs. So excited to have you with us. Yes. Thank you for having me. Yeah. We're we're I think it's going to be an excellent show. I can't wait to learn more about the like the inner workings of Groover Labs. It's such a prolific space in our community. So it's going to be really cool to actually dive in. I I know that I've been part of some events here in the past, but that was years ago. So I I'm just so excited to hear more about it. So today we're going to go over so Tracy's big move from big tech to a startup life and to building something amazing in Wichita, what Groover Labs actually is and who it's for. How the startup how the mouth on over such a few years ago is that edit. How the startup uh ecosystem is growing in Kansas, which is very exciting. The Excel of Kansas program and how founders are getting support. And then of course, why community might be the secret ingredient to innovation. But before we get into all of that, we have to play our little game of this or that. Oh, right and do it. Okay. Straight in this or do it.

SPEAKER_00 1:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

So the way this goes, since we're talking about big ideas and entrepreneurship today, I thought we'd do a little startup theme round of this or that. Why not? So what we'll do is we'll start with you, Tracy, and I'll go. I have a prompt. I'll say this thing or that thing. And then you'll go, Rachel go. No. I feel like sometimes it feels like that.

SPEAKER_03 1:40

Well, Jen and I do it. We do it more like a competition. Yeah, yeah. And um, so we try to guess. Like I put what I would answer, and I put whatever I think she would answer. And so I try to guess hers too. But with guests, it's more of just a stop, a talking point, a starting for all of the thoughts we have about certain things.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Yes, yeah. Okay, so we'll just dive right on into this.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

What do you got?

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Big idea or perfect execution.

SPEAKER_01 2:05

Oh, big idea.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

Yeah. There's no such thing as perfect.

SPEAKER_01 2:08

No, perfect. Perfect is the enemy of the good. Yeah, no problem answering that question.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

Just just like our line, messy is my polish. That's right. One of our one of our merch lines that we have.

SPEAKER_02 2:22

Yeah, no. Perfection's a fairy tale. Yeah, I love that.

SPEAKER_03 2:25

No hesitation whatsoever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:27

Okay. Give me the options again. So we have big idea or perfect execution.

SPEAKER_03 2:32

Okay. I mean, I have to agree with big idea because if you have a big idea, that means you usually have like the gall to have that idea and go for it. And with that, you're just going to do whatever it takes, whether it's messy and then polished or what. Yeah. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 2:48

Just get something out there. And yeah. Yes. And see if it's kind of cool. There's a market for it.

SPEAKER_02 2:53

Yeah. I I think I definitely have, I'm definitely on the big idea part because it's like we always say yeah, perfection isn't, there's no such thing as that. And also, if it's going to be big, you have to kind of let it grow into itself and figure itself out. Like our podcast. Yeah. That was just definitely happening. I love that. Oh, okay. I love this one. Coffee shop brainstorming or whiteboard war room. Oh. I think whiteboard. I need a whiteboard. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Get all those ideas out there and just look at them.

SPEAKER_03 3:26

I saw one today that is a giant A-frame, six feet tall, taller than me, and both sides, so you could turn it. And it it's huge. I saw the most whiteboards in one room I've ever seen in my life today. It was impressive. I love a good whiteboard.

SPEAKER_01 3:42

Well, all of our conference rooms have whiteboards in them. Yes.

unknown 3:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:47

That's where you're comfortable with those mostly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

You know, if you're trying to sketch something out. Are you a color coordinator too? You know, just do a black marker and that would be fine. Okay. Simple.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Love it. Um, for me, I feel like uh at least for our podcast, our coffee shop sort of brainstorming sport, whether it's kind of that same version but in one of our living rooms or it, but we have more of an intimate setting. I feel like if you're with a big group of people, you need a whiteboard. Yeah, I do need a group. Yeah, you need a whiteboard, you need to be able to stand up and like talk about specific things and have that large spread. Yeah. But that also, even in our brainstorming, I'm a big note-taker. Yes. I'm a sticky note taker. Yes, you are. Plus my lists. So what's more relevant for me currently is coffee kind of some right.

SPEAKER_02 4:42

Yeah. I I love a coffee shop brainstorm. I I love a brainstorm though. I love it when I ideas start getting flung and things turn into really fun ideas. We're doing that right now with Digital Day for Digital Witch Time. A lot of really fun ideas are getting flung out there. That's fun. I'm so excited for this year's event. And so I it's it's I love when that happens. And everyone, you can feel like when everything ones finally getting into that mode. I think it takes a little bit of a little bit of a little bit of a little bit.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

I think if there's more than three or four people in the group trying to work together, probably whiteboard. Because you need like a bigger room, you need more.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Well, you know, it might also depend on who you're with, too. Because I feel like in a more corporate setting, it's definitely gonna be whiteboard. Yeah, for sure. And I I can also see how the whiteboard, like seeing all the ideas in one spot, can help you pull things together that you may have forgotten about if you're just put a big bin diagram up there, you know. Yeah. Okay. So big re big risk, big reward, or slow, steady growth.

unknown 5:42

It's different.

SPEAKER_01 5:43

You know, I've been part of both. You know, the startup that we had in the Boston area was big risk, big reward. Yeah. Groover has been more of a slow, steady growth. So can I have both?

SPEAKER_03 5:57

Yes, yes, finally, someone else with a bow. She's the both queen. Yes, you can have both. That's great. No one else has ever said that really. I mean, maybe not direct directly, but I'm always like, um, they go together. Oh, so my turn. Okay. I think slow and steady because in my panic brand, I when I hear risk, high reward, I think money, and I'm sorry, but I don't have the money to put down a big risk for the reward yet.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

You know, and I'm not a gambler. Money's generally involved if you're taking a big risk. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

So if it's just like, oh, I might embarrass myself, I might not, then sure. But if it's money related, I'm like, one day I will. One day I'll be able to play like that.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

I don't know. You could think of marriage as big risk. I know. Not married.

SPEAKER_03 6:47

Never been. Yeah. So there you go. I guess slow and steady. When's the race?

SPEAKER_02 6:52

Yeah, you're definitely yeah. I feel like it's kind of funny. I feel like I'm both in really weird ways. Like relationship-wise, and relationship-wise, I'm very slow and steady. Yeah. In work or fun new ideas that I'm really excited about. It's big risk, big world. Yeah. Even my 401k and big risk big world.

SPEAKER_03 7:12

Okay, I am in my 401k, but I trust my best for this next one. Exactly. I love that you brought up the relationship aspect of it. Like, if it was anyone but Jen, I don't know that I would have taken the risk to start a podcast with someone. Because like I've but I know Jin where we have that relationship where you can trust that person enough to take that risk and put the time in and all that effort. And it's gonna be beautiful. Definitely reaping the rewards and getting to meet new people and new connections. So yeah. So I guess both. We're gonna change it.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

We will change it. I'll let you change it. Good. I'm not the boss. I'll concur. Whatever. All right. So the yeah. Okay, and then so the last one, I love this one. Midwest startup scene or coastal tech hub.

SPEAKER_01 8:02

You know, it's been more than 20 years since I've been on the East Coast as part of startup ecosystem. But you know, I definitely miss it. Yeah. But, you know, here we planted our flag. And when we talked about doing Groover, we knew that we the resources that we had at our disposal would not have made a dent in Boston because of the number of people and the wealth there. Whereas in Wichita we could make a real impact. So I'm gonna say both, but I like you. What do you miss though? Like I I, you know, I grew up on the East Coast, went to college on the East Coast, and it's the it's the Boston, New York, Washington corridor. It's you know, back in the olden days, you've got the New York Times delivered on your doorstep or the Wall Street Journal, you know, nobody does that anymore. But but that's what happened back in the olden days. You know, the proximity of the ocean. Oh my gosh. You know, even though I'm not a beach person and we never really were beach people, yeah. It's the influence of the ocean on the weather. Yeah. And then, you know, when when a nor'easter is coming in the winter time, before it starts, everybody's gone to the grocery store and you know, stripped the shelves. And then, but really before the wind starts to blow and the snow starts to come down, there's sort of a hush. And then, you know, there's the conflagration of the storm, and then it finishes and it's very quiet. And then you start to hear the of people, you know, uh digging, you know, plow out of their side, shoveling their sidewalks. And, you know, I don't think I miss the aftermath of a big snowstorm or the prolonged aftermath of a big snowstorm, but I miss, pardon me, I miss that nostalgia sensation. And we just hardly get any snow here. Yeah, so true.

SPEAKER_03 9:59

It's beautiful too, because with the ocean, you get the full effect.

SPEAKER_01 10:03

Right. You know, the full effect of all that moisture that is, you know, causing all that snow.

SPEAKER_03 10:10

Yeah. I have only been to the East Coast once, and I loved it when I went to Salem, Massachusetts with my sister-in-law for a week and uh stayed in Revere, but traveled to Boston as well. Yeah, sorry, I stayed there, took the bus every day, but it was so such I loved it. Good weather. And I'm so beautiful. I like the mixture of people too and cultures that's in the area. So I I would like to go back sometime soon.

SPEAKER_00 10:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 10:36

But that's really awesome to hear your experience with it too. I'd love to hear more too.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

I know. I'm so excited to dive into a lot of your history. Yeah. Do you have any okay? So let me the the prompt is Midwest startup scene or coastal tech hub.

SPEAKER_03 10:51

You know, I've never really lived anywhere but the Midwest. Yeah. So as far as location and just traveling, I'd love to travel outside of the Midwest. But, you know, because I just I love experiencing new places. But as far as if I were to invest in like a startup, I would want to be close to it. So I'd want to invest Midwest, but I that won't stop me from traveling. Yeah. It shouldn't. If you want to take me to invest in a party on the East Coast, I'll go. A big startup party. Hell hell yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:22

For me, I used to work for a startup out on the West Coast, which is funny. Like social media examiner and their That's right. Yeah, I worked for them for four almost five years. And then I was their social media social media manager and community manager for their conference, social media marketing world, and of course the company Social Media Examiner. I and it, I don't know, like I've we've had a lot of really cool startups here in Wichita that also went out to that to the social media marketing world and got ideas and built community out there. And so I got to experience a little bit of that out there, but it was kind of cool because I was working here, but traveling there to work there. Um and watching all of these awesome startups in Wichita go get ideas from out there and bring them back and grow them into incredible communities here. Yeah. But not just Wichita community, global communities right here in Wichita, like Quick was one of them.

SPEAKER_03 12:17

Back to your point. Wichita's the best place to potentially start it, because then you still can get the other experience and then come back, maybe, you know.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

That's true. Or, you know, go there and then gather, you know, work in the in a tech industry in the tech center for a while. Yeah, you know, and take bring that knowledge back because I find that you know, Wichita's good at a lot of things aviation, real estate, oil and gas, recharising, but the history of tech, tech and tech investing is fairly shallow. Yeah. And I think, you know, going somewhere else like Silicon Valley or Boston, where um or even Austin now, yeah. And getting some experience there, and then you know, coming back.

SPEAKER_03 13:01

And yeah, I've seen that with a lot of different business owners, and that they're always traveling to meet with their friends to talk about this new tech, um, and then bringing it back here and make seeing if it works in this area for their business. So that's a good point, too.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

So tell us about your background before before Groover. Well, so I was a software engineer back in the olden days before I had children. And so my husband and I worked in the in the tech industry in the Boston area in the 80s and the 90s. Wow. And so I worked for Hewlett Packard for several years. You know, that was the last job I had before I became a full-time parent. And and Kurt was software and a hardware engineer who self-taught as a hardware engineer, and although he did have a background in electronics from when he was a middle schooler and high schooler. And we had a venture-backed startup called Amber Wave Systems, and really, you know, it was his. I paid the mortgage and the bills at home supported the support team's efforts, but it was really him and his partner. And but it was to develop a low-cost Ethernet switch, and this was in the mid-90s when the internet was just taking off. And back then, an Ethernet switch was the size of a refrigerator. You know, ours is the size of a bread box. Yes. And then now, you know, it's a sandwich box and you can buy it at Walmart. Right. Um, but you know, it was revolutionary at its time. And then so US Robotics bought our company, and then ThreeCon bought US Robotics, so we had a successful exit. Yeah. Nice. And and then, you know, along in there, our first child was born, and then we had another one, as you know, as happens. But we took some of those funds and started a small private foundation called the Gridley Family Foundation. Okay. And so we've been doing traditional philanthropy all these years. You know, we gave a lot of money to Wichita State. Kirk graduated from Wichita State and various other, you know, local and national charities. And then we moved here in 2005 to be closer to family. Okay. As one does. Yes. True. Or as one does if, you know, when you're from here. Um, you know, I mentioned earlier that I'm not, I grew up on the East Coast and went to college on the East Coast. Yeah. But Kurt's folks lived in western Kansas, and then they moved to Wichita about a year after we did. But we thought we'd be here, you know, a couple, three years. Our children in her first and third grade. And then Kurt's dad died very suddenly. Um, and so, you know, his mom was, you know, left she was here. And so we stayed sort of for her. And then suddenly the kids are in high school, yeah, and they both went to the IB program at East High. Oh, yeah. You know, my older child, my son, had a really good experience. And I think my daughter struggled a little more, but I think, you know, it was definitely a great experience for both of them. But they might tell different stories if you get them alone. Right. But, you know, you don't want to, you know, once your kids start high school, yeah. If you don't have to move, you don't really want to move. So true. Um, and then they both ended up at Northeastern University in Boston. Oh my gosh. They went back to the room. So they went, right, they went home. And so anyway, you know, suddenly the kids have gone off to college, you know, as if it were a surprise. I didn't think it was college. Um, and then in the meantime, we've moved downtown, so we live over in Old Town in a condescending. Um, yeah, it's really great. I love not having a yard to worry about. Yeah. And, you know, the Chung report had come out saying that Wichita had fallen behind other Midwestern cities on all these various economic measures. And we found out about this building being for sale, and Kurt decided he he's really the one with the vision and the big ideas. You know, I just make sure the kids are fed and clothed, and there's food in the refrigerator, and they get to school on time, and they get picked up on time. Um, and you know, payroll gets run here at Groover, and the wicked bill gets paid, and all those things.

SPEAKER_03 17:04

Well, hey, you know, you can't have one without the other.

SPEAKER_01 17:07

So and so he thought, you know, we could establish a place where all elements of a thriving tech ecosystem could come together. Because, you know, in Boston, Silicon Valley, you're standing in line at the coffee shop, and the people in front and behind you are starting a startup, they're working for a startup, they're exiting a startup, you know, it's all it's in the air and it's in the water. But as I was saying, in Wichita, you know, we're good at a lot of things, but tech startups is not really, we don't have a deep experience. Yeah, there's definitely printing for that. And so our foundation bought this building and paid for the renovation. It used to be printing ink, and so it was just a big mess. Oh yeah. I never saw it when the when the uh all the printing equipment was in here, but it was a big empty building. You had to wind your way through it, and there was electricity everywhere because all these big machines needed all this electricity. And so we worked with Hutton Construction to design this space. And so, you know, parts of the building are 100 years old, but the extremes of the building are from the 70s and 80s. Wow. So cool. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:13

Um so when did you open?

SPEAKER_01 18:15

We opened, we had our grand opening in late January of 2020, which was right before the COVID shutdown. Oh. So, you know, the timing was really impeccable. You know, we had bought the building at the end of 2018 and did the renovation during 2019. And so, you know, who would have thought, you know, it was just like that people are gonna need a place to work. Well, right. Because I mean, you know, it was co-working and events and uh event space and conference rooms. Yeah, and then, you know, one thing my husband is very passionate about is making things and solving engineering problems. And so a third of the building is a makerspace. Yeah. And we had originally thought it would be a place where people could come and go and make things, but then you know, COVID happened, and you know, we couldn't get people to come out of their basements for love or money. Um, and so where we ended up was, you know, in the maker labs, our best efforts are spent helping companies do early stage product prototyping. Okay so it's not come and go and make a coffee table, it's really focused on on people, folks who are making making products, a specific product to take to. Okay. Yes. Um that's a great note. Did that answer the question? Yes. Yeah, definitely. So I mean, I think I've tr I morphed into some other things.

SPEAKER_03 19:33

That's the whole point. Yeah, exactly. Love that. No, I didn't even know that that was a part of what you guys do here. So I when some people hear co-working space, they might just think it's open offices. So, really, like what other options or equipment do you offer to people here?

SPEAKER_01 19:50

Well, so for co-working memberships, everything is month to month because people who are doing startups need flexibility. So it's not you don't have to sign a year's lease, it's month to month. That's why. Um, and then we have a variety of levels. We have hot seats, which are the entry level, and you know, you come in during regular business hours and take any open seat over here on the lobby. And then we have dedicated desks and offices and cubicles and studios, and all those include 24-7 access to the building. Oh yeah. To have those people go through a light background check. I don't want anybody to be a member of Gruber who's committed a personal felony. Yeah, yeah. And so that's really all we're checking for. And then, and so we have small offices and large offices, dedicated desks to a 30 by 60 desk, but it's your desk. Nobody else is gonna sit there, and you you can come in. You can keep snacks there if you want, right? Right, and there's like a little kitchenette in each section of the building. So if you want to put lunch in the refrigerator or keep, you know, seltzer in the refrigerator. Yeah, and there's a large kitchen. Right, there's a large kitchen here in the lobby, yeah. And then we have a high density of conference rooms because it's all about collaboration, working with people. Um and so, pardon me, you know, conference room access is included in your membership, we don't monitor the number of hours, and we have a little app that you can use to schedule the room so you know you don't have to come and talk to staff to book the time.

SPEAKER_03 21:13

How does that work? So if one person that is going attending this conference, does each person have to have a membership or just one of them?

SPEAKER_01 21:19

Well, so if you, you know, if you were a member and you wanted to have people in for a meeting, they're your guests. Okay. And so you're responsible for them until they walk out the door. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 21:28

Perfect. That's that's such good information to know. Oh man. Yeah, I didn't know you had all those options and walking in here and seeing all of the equipment and the the lovely like kitchen area and stuff. Like, of course, everybody just respects the space and you can tell because it seems nice and comfortable and cozy.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

And yeah, and you know, the real object is to create a community. We're all about uh a community. Yeah. Because again, you know, those startup things, you know, are in the air and in the water in Boston and Silicon Valley, but here it takes Being co-located and talking to each other.

SPEAKER_03 22:02

And well, they might be in the minds of so many people or in the hands, but they don't have the community to you know help push them to actually do it. Right. Whereas living on the coast, you are getting a whole bunch of different walks of life, cultures, and experiences. And it's on the coast, so people are usually traveling from all other areas with different information.

SPEAKER_01 22:22

So and if you work in tech, you work with a lot of people who are all also working in tech. Yeah. I've worked in tech for a long time.

SPEAKER_03 22:31

So oh, I I don't do that, but I have a friend. Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

So that's kind of what we're just trying to provide here, also, is you know, those kinds of connections as well.

SPEAKER_03 22:39

Yeah, I love that. I always used to want to be an inventor when I was a child. I had a notebook of all of my ideas, right? Oh, I love that. Now that I'm grown up, I found that notebook years ago. You do, but they've all been taken now. They're all done. They've all been made. Which I guess means they were bad ideas. That's exactly right. So just knowing that the space is here for a lot of that. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 23:01

So what what is a typical day kind of like here?

SPEAKER_01 23:05

Well, so you know, you come in, you badge in, there's a little scanner on the front desk, and everybody has a barcode on their badge, and you come in and put your stuff down. You know, if you have a if we're gonna sit in the hot seat and you take your jacket off and everything, and then you probably come and get a cup of coffee, and then you sit, you know, you greet the other people who are over there and then start working. And then, but there's always a little chit-chat over here, and people, you know, there's been a lot of problem solving and brainstorming that's been gone gone on, especially recently. And then, you know, when I come in, I put my stuff down and then I bring my cup out and I get a cup of coffee ammonia in response. Yeah, yeah. We have our own blend of coffee from local roasters. Oh, yeah, I like it a lot. So that is so cool. I have my cup of tea at home, and then I come in here and I need my Groover coffee. Yeah, is it that is that the name of the blend?

SPEAKER_02 24:01

I think it's Groover Labs or sign in there. That is so cool. I love them. They do that for so many people. That is really cool. Yeah, very local and awesome. I love that. So what about folks that are like back with like their desks? Is it kind of like are are they interworking and getting ideas from each other?

SPEAKER_01 24:20

And yeah, that you know, people run into each other here at the coffee pot or you know in the kitchenette, or you know, the people who are sitting in dedicated desks are in an area they're kind of out in the open. I've heard it called the bullpen. Okay, and then there's offices and conference rooms around the perimeter, and you know, you greet each other and chat, and yeah, and so you know, it's it's about you know becoming part of the community and saying hello, and you just slowly get drawn in or quickly get drawn in, depending on your personality. Sure, yeah. And and then great things happen.

SPEAKER_03 24:54

That's good. Yeah, I love that of just being able to be around other people that are like-minded and having somewhat of a goal, even if it's not the same as yours, if they're working towards something and you know you can benefit each other, even if not, just knowing the people in your workspace.

SPEAKER_02 25:07

Yeah, and having your own like network, yeah, like in here, like that's that's cool. And the people with the same mindset all in one spot too. Yes, like you're talking about the whole ecosystem that you don't really get here in Wichita like you do on the east or west coast. Right. But having it right here in one building, it's gotta be right.

SPEAKER_01 25:24

If you're doing a tech-based startup in Wichita, you should be a groover. If you're not already, you should be a groover, right?

SPEAKER_03 25:31

Do it. Groovy baby.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Groovy. Groover baby. Stickers, we can yeah, t-shirts.

SPEAKER_01 25:38

So, what's the coolest thing that someone has built here? You know, there's been a whole bunch of things. There were some projects that we worked on early on. We worked with Greenfield Robotics at Benchini, because they're doing a robot that runs down a 30-inch crop row to cut weeds to try and eliminate spray from broad acre agriculture. I love that. And so we worked with them pretty intensively for a couple, three years. And this company that I was mentioning earlier that did the vibrating eyelid cleaner, it's a it's a device with an on-off switch, a rechargeable battery, a motor, and a sponge, and you put the secret sauce on the sponge, and then you turn it on and it vibrates.

SPEAKER_03 26:17

I bet that would help uh so many people with dies and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 26:21

Right, right. Apparently, you know, dry, I mean, dry eye syndrome is an issue. And there's glands in the edge of the eye lid that get clogged, and then once they get clogged, they die, and then they're no they don't come to us.

SPEAKER_03 26:33

I know someone who's dealt with that actually, and that her eye doctor prescribed her heating paths for her eyes, like special little ones to heat up to help reopen those and keep them open.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Yeah, so they're so they're they we worked with them to develop the beta version of that thing, and then we we did some low numbers of assembly of their their product, their final version of the product. You know, Kurt designed their circuit board that that is in the in the product. And then more recently, you know, we've gotten a lot of they had a lot of great applications with the Excel Kansas grant. Um and you know, the so several of those were hardware-based programs. And and one of them was a fellow who's a member who's doing a sensor that you can put on a wind turbine and it can sense the vibrations, and the vibrations apparently change as the turbine has more hours on it and can indicate when the turbine is about to fail. Oh, wow. That's great. So he's testing that. That's really and oh those are that's I'm drawing a blank now. That's that's a lot, those are really great examples. That's super you know, software-wise, we have a company that's developing uh an AI-based hiring software model to try, you know, you you submit your resume and then AI does something with it, and then you never hear from the company again. But they're they've developed an AI-based program where the it generates an AI avatar or avatar is probably not the right word, but based on your resume, and then that that AI avatar talks to the AI of the company and develops a relationship and try and get stories told. I feel like you've heard of something called Planetary Talent, and so I'm very excited about what they're doing. It is amazing. Um, there's another company that got a grant that's doing helping you do inventory for you know, like hoarding situations or you know, estate planning situations, more just insurance evaluations using AI with you know, taking photographs and using AI to identify those things to evaluation. Yeah. Um, so you know, and there's there's a dozen more, and I probably offended somebody by not mentioning them. Oh my gosh, no.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

If you ever think of anything later, we can always put it in the show notes. Um but no, there's just so much going on here with so many more hours you can take. That's one thing I love about tech that is cool, is like how you said one thing you create for a certain purpose, even if it ends up not working for that purpose, it very well might work for something else. So I think that's really neat. And then just having the creativity and thought to even think to try it on that.

SPEAKER_02 29:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 29:15

That's really cool.

SPEAKER_02 29:17

Yeah. So let's talk about Excel Kansas. So what is it first off?

SPEAKER_01 29:22

Excel Kansas is a program that's run by the State Department of Commerce. In prior years, they were awarding$25,000 proof of concept grants to applicants, and they did that on a they evaluated applications on a quarterly basis. And evaluating tech ideas and then getting money out quickly is not something the state is really equipped to do well or quickly. Yeah. And I mean that in the most important way, of course. Yeah. And so they decided, you know, this is really doesn't make sense for us to do this, and how can we push this down to entrepreneurial support organizations? And so they had an application process last spring. We applied because, you know, it was really squarely in our in our mission, wheelhouse, but you thought, oh my God, this is going to be a huge amount of work. And you know, is this something we want to take on? And I go, yes, we do. This is really, this is something we should do. And you know, it's been twice as much work as the as we thought.

SPEAKER_04 30:21

As it is always. Right.

SPEAKER_01 30:23

But we were Groover and KU Innovation Park were the two awardees. Um, and so the state awarded us$400,000 to then, you know, award, do these proof of concept grants. And then they really said, you know, they didn't really say how to do it. So we had to figure out how we wanted to run an application process because we've never done that before. And and so, you know, we thought we'd get 15 or 20 applications because there the state hadn't gotten a huge volume of applications, but you know, we beat the drum and put it in our newsletter, and we went out and talked to rural partners because they really wanted some of that money to go to rural communities. And we ended up with like 56 applications. That's great, yeah. And so, you know, it was like, whoa, okay, now how am I gonna deal with things? But we wrangled a group of people to um very, you know, talented and and smart people in the community to help us evaluate those grants. And so we ended up awarding 19, and then we had some world grants of some smaller organizations that like Emporia Main Street awarded a couple grants, and then we just had another small round because we had some money left, and you know, it's just been an amazing experience. And you know, fortunately, the Department of Commerce has been very happy with the work that we've done. And it wasn't just the money, it was, you know, all these we've got all these grant, all these applicants, and you know, we weren't going to be able to award money to all of them. So, how can we help the rest of them who aren't getting money? And so, so we have developed a sort of a suite of wraparound services to help them so they have access to programming with Nexus. Uh-huh. And then the the folks who were on our evaluation committee offered their services, like, you know, one-hour consulting on various on various topics. Yeah, I've, you know, Gruber is incredibly fortunate. We have an amazing, you know, I have an amazing staff, and then I have an amazing team of volunteers as well. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

Um that just goes to show you how much it's needed here and like how much you're probably inspired by that even being an option that they can apply for. Right. And then even still following it up with hey, how else can we still support you? Right because we really do believe in you. We wish we could give you all the money. Right, right. Everybody. But that's amazing.

SPEAKER_01 32:47

Yeah. Yeah, it was it was a pretty, it's been a pretty remarkable year.

SPEAKER_02 32:50

That's amazing. Yeah. So what kind what kind of founders applied for those?

SPEAKER_01 32:55

Well, so some of the ones that I talked about already, Planetary Talent, the Jitterbug, the Wind Turbine vibration sensor. What a fun name, too. I know, I know that. Uh the folks who are doing the AI evaluation of possessions for estate, you know, insurance purposes. There's another fellow who's doing equipment monitor monitoring, an equipment monitoring device for companies that have large bits, large pieces of equipment that you know, you don't want to have to run an electric line every time to the thing. He's doing that. Oh Lord. There's a a company who's doing a platform to help trucking load load. I'm gonna really mess this up. Oh, that's you know, so the trucking industry, okay, it's very spread out. Yeah, yeah. And you know, trucking brokers talk to people who ship things, and they talk to people who carry those things. And you know, the pair people who carry those things are all a bunch, a lot of independent logistics companies. Yeah, so it's logistics companies, and each, you know, there's like a whole bunch of different platforms where or dashboards where you have to enter the data. And it takes a lot of time. And so he's trying to develop one platform where it all, you know, you can only enter you only need to enter the data once. Wow. So that's interesting.

SPEAKER_03 34:17

I feel a lot of companies deal with that where it's like there and then everything gets outdated, and then some companies can't afford the more expensive ones, so they're using the other ones, but then they stop enter at four different places. Right. So then one worker's doing something that you know the four people should be doing, or just you know, it's like the trucking industry is just so interesting, you know, it's something I never dealt with.

SPEAKER_01 34:42

You know, UPS comes to my door, brings me the package. Yeah, right. You know, I don't I don't take delivery of things that require that level of intervention. And then suddenly we were getting things here, a groover that required that. And I'm talking to trucking brokers, and I'm like, and what planet did you think this was gonna have?

SPEAKER_03 35:01

Um, and so it's just you know, it's always that's another thing about tech, which it's not the way my brain always works, but it's crazy how in-depth it is. Yeah, like like all the little things that are so convenient to us took a lot behind the scenes to develop.

SPEAKER_04 35:17

So true.

SPEAKER_03 35:18

And so a lot of that happens here, and that's amazing. And I love that you're helping support that. Yeah, and and in and in Watch Talk, Kansas. So people, you know, that may and help people that may not have the money to go to a place or go to a school where they can find people to be able to promote their ideas. Right. Yeah, they might be, you know, multi-million dollar ideas that could save, spread, save the world in a way, or help them at least.

SPEAKER_01 35:42

You know, a multi-million dollar idea is only as good as having a market. Yeah. And so uh I'm a firm believer in, you know, you need to identify a problem in a market that needs to be solved. Because dreaming up, you know, the whatever the the version of the better mousetrap, yeah, you know, it's a lot of work to create a market and get people to buy it. So it's way better to identify a problem or a deficiency in a marketing. Well, that's what you did. That's what you did here.

SPEAKER_02 36:12

Yeah. So because we don't know. And so it continues. Yeah. That's so cool. So what what has surprised you the most during that review process, would you say?

SPEAKER_01 36:22

Well, so the number of applications. Yeah, yeah. I, you know, given the experience with the Department of Commerce and the number of applications, I I was under the impression that they received, I thought, oh, we'd get 15 or 20, and we got 56. And so there was that, and then there was just, you know, this incredible enthusiasm and outpouring of support. And, you know, it's just it's you know, Groover has benefited a lot. You know, we were very grateful to receive the grant, and most of it, you know, we awarded, which is, you know, writing a check to somebody, that's all we've got. Nothing the matter with that. No. And, you know, it's you know, brought people into our orbit, into the building that we never would have met. So, you know, it's just been rewarding for a lot of you know, a whole host of reasons. Amazing. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 37:12

Yeah, that is it's so exciting. That's so exciting right here in Wichita. It's amazing. So we gotta talk about community. Because that's the reason we're here, right? Yeah, so why is physical community so important for founders?

SPEAKER_01 37:29

Well, you know, it gets real tiring being in your basement, you know, talking about dog doesn't answer when you talk about dogs.

SPEAKER_03 37:38

Unless you develop the tech.

SPEAKER_01 37:40

No, I just I was thinking like up. I know you can't, you know, it takes a I I'm a firm believer, it takes a village to do about anything. Yeah, you know, you may have a genesis of a really great idea, but it takes a lot of, you know, takes feedback from other people to figure out how to make that a reality or to figure out is it should it go this way or this way, or really we should be going over here. But there's a genesis, you know, or a kernel of a great idea, but you know, what direction do we take that? And again, you know, in a place like Boston or Silicon Valley, you know, there's a huge density of people who are working in tech or who have worked in tech, but you know, in Wichita not so much. So being being co-located with other people who were, you know, maybe not solving the same problems, but are thinking about the same maybe meta issues is huge.

SPEAKER_03 38:34

What about outside of tech for you, like on a personal level? Is there a way that you found community as like to just I don't know, help us that our listeners get to know you a little more? I mean, it kind of combines.

SPEAKER_01 38:43

Yeah, you know, I have in my other life, I have a community which is totally separate from Groover. But, you know, I was mentioning a little while ago, my husband Kirk Ridley and I founded Groover Labs. Yeah, you know, it was a joint effort, a joint passion project. And Kirk died a couple of years ago after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and we all know that that's not good news. No, no, you know, it the diagnosis to his death was you know five or six weeks. So it was it was really awful. It's always gonna be awful, and I'm never gonna get over it. But you know, you pull up your big girl pants every day, and you you know, my job is to make sure that we were, you know, continues to succeed without him because it was really his vision. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:27

And I think you're succeeding.

SPEAKER_01 39:29

Yeah, a great job. And so, you know, the team, you know, we were we're a small team, and you know, the loss of Kirk, you know, was deeply felt by everyone, but you know, all my people have really rallied around. We've rallied around each other, but they really rallied around me. That's good. Yes. And so, and not just this the team, but you know, the community. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:53

Um, well, good. Um, so I'm glad we could be introduced into it too. So I thank you again for having us.

SPEAKER_02 40:00

Thank you for asking me. Yeah, of course. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03 40:03

I think that makes it so much more passion and love behind it. That it it's it's the actual passion that was created and couldn't have done it without the community and without your partner.

SPEAKER_04 40:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

And yeah, that's how I feel in a different way. But I always say it when anything like this comes up, like my community I wouldn't have without Jen and without a lot of the other lovely people around me, like when I've gone through hard times or whatnot. It just always helps me like think of more ideas too. So, like, even the emotional support alone, just like having someone to talk about with things, just it gets my mind working and it gets different gears turning that were kind of slow. And then I hear something they say, and I'm like, oh, and then you can bounce off of each other. So I think it's always good to have this space too. It's a clean, nice, airy space. You've got good lighting, you're not just like in the dark in your basement, like you said. So yeah, that's thank you for sharing.

SPEAKER_01 40:59

Yeah, you know, I just think it it takes a community, you know, it takes a village to solve about any, you know, problems big and small. Yeah, you know, particularly big problem.

SPEAKER_03 41:09

And to make a change or to create something, yeah, yeah, something amazing.

SPEAKER_02 41:14

I love that. I do too. So has there been like a moment or or many moments where you've just like sat back inside and been like, this is the reason we built this?

SPEAKER_01 41:25

Yeah, I think the you know, the XLKS grant process was really was really rewarding in that way. But I was sitting out here last week talking to Parker, our develop community development manager, because he's away, it's spring break week, and so he's with his family doing something fun. And one of our members came out and said, 1.1. And you know, he had closed a deal, and he would not have uh, you know, he and he's a very recently joined member. Wow. And you know, he was so excited, and you know, there was a lot. There's I I think there's been a lot of chit chat out here that I haven't been privy to because I'm you know, I sit farther back in the building, but you know, it was kind of a you know, we're all rooting for him because he's doing really good work. Yeah, and you know, suddenly he comes out and says, you know, I did this thing. So, you know, there's there's that individual win, and then there's this, you know, this big community wide.

SPEAKER_03 42:23

That's the thing too, celebrating the wins. Yeah, win the thirds is so so important. Yeah, honestly. We sold our first merch not that long ago, and we were like, big one, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 42:33

So exciting. Then that's a that's not 1.1. Well, what excites you most about the future of Uber?

SPEAKER_01 42:40

I, you know, we've had we've had some rough times between opening right before the COVID shutdown and obviously the loss of Kurt, but I feel like we've hit our stride and we're, you know, we had a group meeting last week to sort of think about what's what you know, we did, we have done well with the XLKS grant. I feel like we've executed that very well. Yes. And okay, now how can we top maybe to top that is not the right thing to think, but you know, what's the next yeah we don't want to just rest on our laurels. So how you know what what's the next year bringing? What's the next three years? More nebulously, what does five years look like? Um so you know, again, I have an amazing team around me, and I feel I feel excited for the future of Groover.

SPEAKER_03 43:29

That's good. I'm excited for you. I can't wait to see what comes next.

SPEAKER_02 43:33

So then what kind of founders should be looking towards Groover Labs to join the excitement? Give them a shout.

SPEAKER_01 43:39

You know, individual, individual founders or small teams. We have bearing office sizes, we have flexible, you know, hot seats and desks, but talking to people, if you need help with something, or maybe you don't know you need help with something, but having that social conversation will spark ideas and help you help. You take it to the next level or solve a problem or think of something you hadn't thought of. So it's the community. It's all about the community. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

It is. You mean that's why we started this. Yeah. That's what I think that's our favorite word. It's community. I know. We use it every episode. We ought to make that our theme song. Just community sung in different tones. Community. Maybe not too. Not that close.

unknown 44:28

No.

SPEAKER_02 44:28

It's just not catchy enough. Well, it's been so much fun learning more about you yourself and of course Groover Lab. So thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01 44:39

For having me on your podcast.

SPEAKER_02 44:41

Oh, it's been wonderful.

SPEAKER_03 44:42

Thank you for welcoming us into this beautiful space. And opening up and sharing about everything that you've come from and made it happen. Is there anything else that you would like to share or mention before we close out? Where can people follow Groover?

SPEAKER_01 44:55

Groover Groover Labs.org is our website. If you scroll to the bottom of any page, you can sign up for our newsletter, which comes every couple weeks. We don't sell your information to anybody else. Okay, no spam. No spam. Certainly not Groover, Groover originated spam. But the books that I'm sitting in front of are part of my husband's library. Oh, that's so special. And so we brought some of those things here, topics that were interesting to him and important to him. And I can't ever not give him a shout out. I love that he was the most amazing person and deeply flawed as we all are, but very amazing.

SPEAKER_03 45:35

Guilty. Yeah, no, I love that you put that extra touch. So thank you for sharing that too.

SPEAKER_01 45:41

You know, it makes this a little, you know, a cozy area. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:45

Right up against them. Yeah, well, thank you. So yeah, we will put everything that you need to follow her and where you can join, and we'll put it on the show notes.

SPEAKER_02 45:54

Yeah. So we have a couple of things coming up. We have a couple of solo episodes coming up. So you guys can hang out with just us.

SPEAKER_03 46:02

You can see us battle on this and that, and probably another another T Swifty segment.

SPEAKER_02 46:07

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

So this hits different segments. I don't know what I'm assigned next.

SPEAKER_02 46:11

You know, it'd be great. Hey, y'all need to requ like request something. Give us a request. Give us a request that Rachel has a song to go for.

SPEAKER_03 46:18

Yeah, you know, Upalite was my favorite so far. I think that one sold me. That's making me a little swiftier. Look at her go. Other than that, I'm still not there yet. So give me some good ones.

SPEAKER_02 46:29

Maybe next week when we go to the Heart Spring Gala, we can record, we can request some Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_03 46:35

Okay, maybe. So yeah, that's coming up, Heart Spring.

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Yeah, so next week, March 28th, is the Heart Spring Gala. We will be there. We're gonna be so excited. There's gonna be apparently a lot going on. Neither of us have ever attended this, but I did tour Heart Spring today and got to know a little bit about their facility and their what they have to offer. Got to hang out with their marketing team. Really truly fascinating facility that they have out there. They have a lot going on and they're doing just like Groovers.

SPEAKER_01 47:04

And they do amazing work. We truly do a couple, maybe three or four years ago now.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

But yeah, they do incredible work and that like they're growing and doing really exciting, like more and more exciting things for our community and the families here, and not even just here, around the nation. I know that they bring people in from all over the country to our facility here in Wichita, which is insane. That is so cool. They have a lot, apparently a lot of people from just specifically Illinois, which is really interesting to me. Yeah, I learned a lot today, so I'm excited to talk a little bit more about that on next week's episode as we get a little closer to the gala. So, but yeah, the next two episodes is gonna be just the two of us back in the hot scenes again. So, but today has been wonderful. Thank you so much. So this happened.

SPEAKER_03 47:52

So this happened.

SPEAKER_00 47:53

Cheers.

SPEAKER_02 47:53

Cheers.