Ellen Winkler grew up on construction sites. After studying civil engineering at Villanova, Winkler started working for her father’s construction company out of college, paving highways and managing construction projects. She made some interesting stops along the way, but she has found herself come full circle, managing some of the most exciting design and branding projects in the Denver area, with her many ventures, Drumbeat, Wink, Inc, and now Industry.
After working a couple of years in the construction industry, Winkler found herself in an unlikely place for an easterner, Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Her husband, Jason, took a year off after getting his pre-med degree from Yale to ski bum in the mountains. But he never made it back to medical school, becoming a professional skier instead. Understanding that you can’t have a career in skiing forever, he was able to parlay his ski career into a successful career in video productions and brand experience for premier lifestyle brands, bringing Ellen into the business as well. As a two-person operation, the couple worked on the first national brand event for Red Bull and went on to work on the X Games and The Gravity Games, building this premier lifestyle brand from the ground up.
Looking for a place to settle their successful TV production company, the two of them came to Denver, a hotbed for nationally recognized lifestyle brands. But when no existing spaces spoke to them, they decided to create their own. The space they settled on was the 300,000 square foot building located on 6th and Kalamath, now known to many as Battery 621.
Because the space proved way too big for their needs, they began to ask other lifestyle brands to work along side them. By invite only, they curated a boutique space with innovative brands like Icelantic Skis and Something Independent. Winkler designed the space, giving great consideration to how space would be used and the underlying aesthetic. Winkler claims Battery 621, now around 4 years old, as the 2nd co-working space built in Denver (The first, she says, was Taxi).
Success at Battery 621 laid the foundation for Winkler to start working with other innovative companies in Denver. Understanding that brand experience transcends two dimensions, Winkler worked with Convercent, a HR company looking to rebrand into the tech sphere. Space can convey a company’s values and goals, and Winkler helped them rebrand from the inside out. Winkler and her husband finally gave up the TV production company, instead choosing to focus on experiential branding through spatial design. Now Winkler is moving into her third career, in real estate as a place-maker, designing eco-systems and creative environments.
With 3 kids at home, Winkler will quickly stress the importance of her family life — but her baby right now is the 9-acre space located off of Brighton Blvd, aptly named Industry. Winkler saw an opportunity to transform the sleepy industrial hub into a vibrant community, something the city and county of Denver is committed to as well. They have pledged 50 million dollars through tax incremental financing to redo the streetscape of Brighton Blvd, making it into the northern gateway to the city.
“To wake up and ignite this area,” Winkler says, “you’ve got to start with the day time. Bringing in 500 workers to the area every day will start to enliven the area.” She prides herself on the fast turn around for the work that she does, but the plan has only completed its initial phase. In the next three years, Industry will grow to include 261 rental units designed by the Lynd Group out of Texas, a leader in creative place making and development. Along the Platte River on the west side of lot, there will be 61 brownstones for sale.
More companies will be relocating to the space in the next couple of months, including an 80,000 square foot corporate headquarters for CorePower yoga, which will also bring yoga studios, anticipated to be completed in June. Creative and tech companies currently occupy the space, which include the corporate headquarters of Snooze, the Denver headquarters of Uber, PR firm Onsite, and web design firm Zenman. The space is not co-working in the sense that anyone can come in and utilize the space. Everyone who works in the space pays monthly rent and has a dedicated office. “Everyone has a door to close. That was really important to me in designing the space.”
Winkler has a say in all the companies that join the Industry community, and none of the companies are in direct competition with each other. This collaborative and gentle message is literally plastered on the hallways, with messages like “Play Nice.” Winkler wants the space to be tranquil and comforting — it uses what she describes as “timeless sayings you might hear from your grandmother to decorate the space.” It’s all about community building. You come into this community and you have 200 instant friends.
She seems to have thought through everything, providing a soothing maternal energy. Extremely mindful of how people work, with a strong sense of flow and how people move, to Winkler material things are not hugely important. She says she would rather have an experience, like a fun vacation with her family, not a big house. No matter how successful she becomes, she intends to always live small. “Size is not a sanctuary.”
And despite the fact that Winkler always gets home by 5 o’clock for her kids, she is a tireless entrepreneur, balancing four different companies. A true entrepreneur, she says she has never been on a job interview. She says the key to her success has been her grit. “If I had a tattoo it would say bootstrap across my wrist. Because no matter what I do I am always picking myself up from the bootstraps. We almost lost the Industry deal, but we never gave up. I don’t believe in problems. There is no ‘no.’ You just have to figure it out.”
Understanding what it takes to succeed as a serial entrepreneur, it was a perfect fit for her to collaborate on the new entrepreneurial hub at 1245 Champa. Her approach to the new space is to provide a comforting sanctuary to entrepreneurs while giving them options to keep moving, exploring and avoid stagnancy. There will be plenty of spaces for entrepreneurs to move around and connect with one another at workstations, tables and stand up desks. Over $100,000 of furniture has been donated by Teknion. “And the technology will be amazing,” she says.
But ultimately, the focus is on developing entrepreneurship. Therefore, keeping costs down and the budget in check is her number one priority. “It should be a space to facilitate partnerships and cultivate growth for the Denver community.” Winkler believes in Denver and the future of Denver — and one thing’s for certain: she’s shaping it.
Be sure to check out the rest of our photos of Winkler and Industry.
by Emily Przekwas
