3 minute read
Entrepreneur finds joy combining creativity, community & KC.
by KC Options
By ANN CLIFFORD
When Matt Bramlette was ready to make a career shift away from graphic design and advertising, he knew he wanted to do something completely different. So he made a list of things that brought joy to his life — creativity, entrepreneurial projects, music and traveling. As he broadened his scope beyond traditional jobs, he discovered Kansas City’s maker scene.
“I wanted to be around creative people, and the maker community was interesting because it’s made up of people who are creating things because they love it,” Matt explains. “I started to look for a way to tap into that feeling of creativity and positivity. There were a couple of local stores that I really liked, and I began to explore the idea of starting a business.”
The first step was a crash course in entrepreneurship. “I didn’t have retail experience, and I’d never started a business,” says Matt. “From my work in advertising, I was familiar with the FastTrac program available through the Kauffman Foundation. The program is basically startup 101, and it gave me the classes, resources and reality-checks I needed to understand what opening and running a business would take.”
From there, Matt and his husband, Rick Leavitt, opened the doors to Mid Coast Modern in 2015 located in the Crossroads District and later moved the store to the Westport area for better foot traffic. The store showcases “Midwest coolness” with an eclectically curated inventory of handmade, small-brand and locally sourced gift and home goods items.
“We wanted the store to be different, and we were constantly looking for unique items,” Matt says. “Rick was traveling a lot for his job, and every time he went to a city, he would visit similar stores and bring back things that might be a fit. One trip, he came back with a do-it-yourself soap kit.”
“We tested the kit out and got interested in the process,” Matt explains. “For fun, I created a brand — Bear Soap Co. — and we started selling four different bars of our handmade goat’s milk soap at the store and local craft events. The soaps quickly became bestsellers for us.”
The Bear Soap Co. took off, adding scents and products including bath bombs, beard balm and solid shampoos. Today, business is booming with an in-house Bear Soap maker space in the recently remodeled Mid Coast Modern store and products are available at Made in KC marketplaces on the Country Club Plaza and in Lenexa, as well as through various wholesale clients.
“There’s a lot of support for small business in KC and a lot of local pride,” Matt says. “The region has a lot of niches and nooks, so as an entrepreneur and in life overall, you can find your people. KC has something for everyone, and there’s always something to discover.”
When he’s not in the Mid Coast Modern store or building the Bear Soap Co. brand, Matt enjoys exploring KC and recommends the East Crossroads area for its vibrant and unique local businesses, graffiti art along Art Alley and a favorite out-of-the-ordinary coffee shop, HITIDES.
