After 13 years in the Navy, Quintrel Brown wanted to join the art world. It seemed like the natural thing to do after spending his time in the service creating media content—short films, documentaries, music visuals, and commercials. But shifting from the Navy to working as a full-blown creative wasn’t easy; he didn’t have the connections, support, or roadmap to get there.
Rather than pursuing art himself, Brown decided to help others find their creative footing. He launched KRe8 Spaces, a multimedia event space and incubator in Downtown West for artists, entrepreneurs, and content creators. The organization was recently recognized as one of America’s Top 100 Small Businesses by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Brown says it’s helped more than 12,000 creatives and entrepreneurs chart a course for their business journeys.
Keep up with local business news and trends
Subscribe to the St. Louis Business newsletter to get the latest insights sent to your inbox every morning.
“We didn’t take any big funding. We didn’t get any crazy partnerships,” Brown says. “It’s really just that people believed in us.”
Brown returned to St. Louis in 2022 after leaving his last duty station in Chicago, where he had spent the past seven years.
“I decided to come back home to my hometown and serve my community and mix in everything that I love,” says Brown, a Dellwood native. “I love art. I love serving. I love helping people with their ideas.”
Founded in 2021 by Brown and two other local content creators, Christian Boyd and Dwayne Ferguson, KRe8 Spaces is located at 2035 Washington Avenue. It provides affordable resources for those with a business or product idea who aren’t sure how to brand or market themselves.
“We are your accountability partners and your marketing team,” Brown says. “We’re going to make sure we scale that up.”
Those interested in using KRe8 Spaces for their business first schedule a consultation via the organization’s website to determine what kind of help they need—anything from headshots and commercials to branding and marketing. Memberships range from $50–$450 per month and include access to a digital platform with resources, along with mentorship and job opportunities.
“We kind of do everything you need us to do if you have a business, because that’s not your profession,” Brown says. “We make people realize that no matter what your profession is or what you like to do, you need to look at yourself as a brand and a business first.”
In addition to running KRe8 Spaces, Brown is a full-time MBA student at WashU’s Olin Business School. He hopes to combine his military discipline with entrepreneurial leadership skills to create lasting change.
“My goal is to approach things more in a business sense,” he says. “I’m a creative, and I love being nice and helping everyone out, but it’s still a for profit business. They have to grow and scale, so I’m hoping to use the skills from my MBA program to learn to do both.”
Since its launch, KRe8 Spaces has generated more than 3,000 paid opportunities and hosted over 500 events, Brown says. He says it’s also generated over $500,000 for the St. Louis business and creative ecosystems, and forged strategic partnerships with Greater St. Louis Inc., Vetbiz, Arch Grants, and Kranzberg Arts Foundation.
Brown hopes the organization will continue to grow its digital platform nationally and become a staple in the Midwest that can help every creator and artist start their journey and take off.
“We don’t expect you to stick around here,” Brown says of Kre8 Spaces’ incubator. “Once you get those four or five years in with us, we want you guys to do great things.”
