Meet Callie Gribbins | Owner-Operator of Colorado Springs Flowmies

We had the good fortune of connecting with Callie Gribbins and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Callie, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When Flowmies was created- I just bought my first pair of poi. LED poi to be exact. I was super excited to have them and be able to go to festivals & flow! The problem was, I had no idea what to do. I tried to watch a couple YouTube videos but YouTube wasn’t helpful for me as most videos seemed to be out dated or for the more advanced artist. I also overall find it harder to learn hands-on things, online, rather than in person. With the frustration of not understanding where to start, I thought about my friend Danielle- she lives in Missouri and attends weekly “flow meets” there at a local skate park.
Flow meets are essentially when a group of Flow Artist get together and teach each other new skills- flow together. Often you will see Artist trading props with other artist and learning new skills on those! Flow props or “toys” can be things such as Hula-Hoops, LED Gloves, Fire Staff, Juggling, or even painting!
So I went to Facebook to see if I could either find a flow meet, or create that experience for myself! I reached out to a couple local people about my idea & what I was thinking- and what I heard back was, “we need to create a Facebook group.”There are many other people like me who want a community of not just Flow artist but DJs, Promoters, Tattoo Artist, Engineers, where all walks of the EDM community could come and grow together. So the Facebook group was created- and Flowmies was born. Starting with a group, the business really started to create itself. DJs came in wanting to share their music with the community. Some willing to bring speakers, decks, tents, and other equipment! So we got some people together & got to work. A line up was organized, we put a quick flyer together, and we were ready to start promoting! We had a huge push of support through social media, a “Flowmies Facebook takeover” some might call it. You really could feel the excitement grow as people craved a new outlet to build community. It really is beautiful how it has all fallen into place thus-far, and we are excited to continue to collaborate with local venues and Artist to building a strong foundation; as we are really seeing an uprise of need to support small businesses & creators since the start of the pandemic.

What should our readers know about your business?
My business is Colorado Springs Flowmies- I build community through Electronic Dance Music and flow arts education.I am most proud of the amazing energy and support that is shown at my events to others. It is really rewarding to look around and see people smiling and interacting with people they might not have known if it wasn’t for my event. I also get really excited when I ask someone how they heard about my event and they tell me they “heard the music playing and wanted to come have fun.” I wouldn’t have made it to where I am today if I didn’t take the risk of just putting myself out there. I only knew a handful of people here when I started hosting events- so I was surrounded by a lot of new faces. DJs, Flow Artist, spectators. Through this I had to put trust into people I’ve never met before to ensure that the events would run smoothly- from sound, lights, power sources, etc. it’s scary to take a risk like promoting an event, not knowing if you will have all the equipment you need. But! With that I have had sometimes where people don’t stick to their word, or things happen such as emergencies. During those times when things don’t go as planned, I found that the best thing that I can do is take a deep breath- and put my trust into the people around me, and communicate for the best solution possible. It becomes easier to find those people around you that you can rely on as time goes by. It doesn’t just happen. You have put effort into building those relationships, often times on a more personal level. Another lesson I’ve learned is that you get what you give. When you support movements, friends, and business partners in what they’re doing, a lot of the time they will come back and do the same for you. It’s a mutual respect thing, but also wanting to support and see each other grow, as we grow a community.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I am the worst person to ask this because I don’t get around much- but of course I’m going to say they need to come to one of my events. Not to be selfish! But it is a really good time, and if it was my best friend, I know I would want to show them the EDM community and I love that it has shown me. We would probably grab some Slice 420 on the way & get some Voodoo doughnuts for dessert. Garden of the gods of course. Then we would probably go to red rocks and explore the amphitheater I would share story of how I met Boogie T’s father at red rocks! I was very awkward- I still get embarrassed talking about it. Haha! Depending on the season I would definitely take them to a Denver Broncos game! I went last November, the weekend after Thanksgiving and had such a great time! The last thing I can really think of would be to take them on a train ride in Colorado Springs that goes up to the top of pikes Peak! I’ve never done it before but the pictures look gorgeous.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Wow. To start, shoutout to the Colorado Springs underground community. More specifically there are a few people in out the community that deserve specific recognition, such as DJ MudBug a.k.a. Josh Triton for mentoring me & always getting people on the dance floor! Subcaste Sounds for, you guessed it, bringing high quality professional custom built sound! Alex & Kay of H.A.M productions for taking me under their wing showing me how to promote my event & put together a solid line up. I’d like to shoutout Marc, Adrianna, and Will for always being down to play a last minute set! Deep State Entertainment for the support along with Jumpstreet Productions, DJ Moonshine & Shut The Funk Up Entertainment. Last but not least I would like to give a shout out to Lightspeed Curation‘s Art Gallery & Tattoos! They have supported Flowmies from the ground up and also have a really cool space that’s been referred to the “Colorado Springs Meow Wolf” go check them out! I know I’ve missed some people- sorry! The local EDM community has really been the backbone for the success of Flowmies. Thank you to each and every one of you.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Coloradospringsflowmies/

Linkedin: http://linkedin.com/in/colorado-springs-flowmies-7395a7247

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coloradospringsflowmies

Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@coloradospringsflowmies?_t=8VWEoNme478&_r=1 Email: Coloradospringsflowmies@gmail.com

Image Credits
Kris Clark