PBN 2023 Business Women Awards
ACHIEVEMENT HONOREE: Jo Lee | PopUp Rhody founder
DURING THE EARLY PART of her career in the technology sector, Jo Lee’s perspective was global. The industry’s momentum swept her up into jobs on the West Coast, in New York City and overseas.
Lee, a California native who’s lived on Providence’s East Side for 20 years with her family, has adjusted her focus. As the founder of PopUp Rhody, she’s zeroed in on the local economy and nurturing the small businesses that sustain it.
Founded by Lee in 2020, PopUp Rhody connects businesses and locations that have available space with other small businesses that need a spot to set up shop or to hold an event. Most recently, PopUp Rhody landed space at Farm Fresh Rhode Island for Rhode Island Fashion Week’s 2022 runway shows.
“For people who do events, it’s a bit of a godsend because Rhode Island is rich in unique spaces, but there isn’t a dominant repository where you can go to find them,” Lee said. “There’s all this legwork, and it becomes a process of stumbling upon [a spot] and maybe finding a phone number to access space.”
PopUp Rhody also helped the startup Muse Mirror set up shop at Providence Place mall in May 2022, giving mall visitors a peek at a high-tech makeup mirror created by four University of Rhode Island graduates.
At its core, she says, PopUp Rhody makes connections that benefit small businesses that don’t need or want a permanent physical location, and larger, more established businesses with space to spare.
The platform went live just as the COVID-19 pandemic began to force a tidal wave of business closures. Lee put the idea “on ice” until doors started reopening and fledgling entrepreneurs were becoming adept at doing business virtually.
“PopUp Rhody gives businesses a lever to generate revenue,” Lee said. “It gives creative businesses a place to touch down, make contact and then go back online. We’ve emerged into a business environment that’s very conducive for PopUp Rhody. PopUp Rhody helps businesses connect and share space to thrive in our new hybrid world.”
After the stagnation of the pandemic, Lee enlisted her longtime friend Julie Holabird to join PopUp Rhody as her equity partner. Holabird, who spent years building developer relations and a customer support system at music metadata company Gracenote, is Lee’s “alter ego,” Lee said.
“[Holabird] is one of those people who says, ‘Let’s develop a process for it,’ ” Lee said. “For her, everything is a problem to solve. Together, we are a nice match.”