Mixin Mingle Portrait

If you’ve been up on the square recently, chances are you’ve walked past Mixin Mingle and maybe even thought to yourself, “what is that colorful window front?”

Well, it may be one of the best things in town you’ve been missing out on!

Mixin Mingle has been featuring some very fascinating events within their walls.  Everything from weekly zumba to, group spiritual forum, private parties, and even Woodstock’s new Wedding Network meetings and everything in between.

“I think I’m the only person who has been to every single event, and for the most part, they’ve all been special in their own way. I am a person who likes variety and I have a short attention span, so I want my business to be a place that attracts popular activities.” States Naté when asked about her events.

This is not your average wedding hall.  (Yes, you can do weddings here)  This is so much more.  Mixin Mingle was born out of a desire to bring all the social events in ones life into one location.  Ever tried to plan a birthday party, wedding, and graduation party in one year?  

“Well, that day came when I was standing in my kitchen putting dishes away. All of the sudden I was flooded with ideas because it dawned on me that in the last few months I went to all these different places to do different things.” Naté was explaining when asked about the idea behind Mixin Mingle.

The life events that brought about such a creative business were not as happy though.  Naté told us that the spiral of events started when she was diagnosed with postpartum depression after the birth of her son and was hospitalized for the condition.  

“Shortly after returning to work from the medical leave I was “let go” from my job. My world turned upside down and I knew that finding a new job in the recession would not be easy.  At the time, I was seeing a doctor who was treating me using clinical hypnosis. One of the things I asked him to do was help me figure out if I should start a business. He said he could and he asked me to write down what I liked doing and what my skills were. I told him I wanted to use my skills in marketing to help small businesses. I also wanted to have a fun job that would work with the lifestyle I wanted to have. The best I could come up with at the time was to be an independent consultant, but I knew small businesses really wouldn’t have the funds to hire me. So he set the intention during one of our sessions that the idea would just come to me one day.”

Shortly there after, Mixin Mingle was born!  

“We officially opened our doors on Thursday, May 5th, 2011. It was Cinco de Mayo. I had my friend Tracy Walker come and teach a Hatha Yoga and Meditation class. Nobody from the public came, but my family, friends and husband showed up.”

After a little time, determination, and some stellar marketing Mixin Mingle is starting to thrive.

When asked what she was most proud of Naté told us, “Every time there are people I don’t know in the space who are there for a class or event, it makes the hair on my arms stand up. Or when people say what a great idea they think it is. Because when I first started out, I had no idea what I was doing and frankly I felt stupid putting myself out there this way.”  

Now the event calendar at Mixin Mingle is getting a little bit more full every month but, don’t you worry there’s still space to book your parties!  

When we asked about the goals of the business Naté explained, “Long term, I want to create a repeatable and profitable business model in order to bring the concept to other places.  Short term, I would like to fill the empty space with activities. I am also working finding other businesses that can make use the space to offer great public events.”

Her short term goal seems to be panning out rather well with The Woodstock Wedding Network having a few meetings here along with a few other businesses and the private parties have started coming in.

We asked Naté, “Is there anything else you feel we should know about you or the business?”

“We are one of the most open and flexible companies around and feel that we can accomplish more through partnerships than we could by ourselves. We like putting other people and businesses in the spotlight to connect them with the community.  We can learn so much from each other and help each other succeed. If anyone reading this has the inkling they might like to try something entrepreneurial or out of the box, we urge them to contact us because we provide a low risk mechanism to do just that.”

If you haven’t been to Mixin Mingle to check it out, we definitely recommend that you do!  Where else can you go to get a wedding hall, a business meeting, a birthday party, and yoga all in one week?  Not to mention, meet Naté herself!

You can check out Mixin Mingle on Facebook or, at their website www.mixinmingle.com where they have their list of events and a calendar where you can have your event.

You can see our full Interview with Naté here.  It's a good read from a wonderful woman!