What if there was a bar where you could watch the dramatic finale of The Bachelor surrounded by fellow Bachelor Nation superfans? Kelsie Exley, an entrepreneur and content creator, is envisioning just that.
At 25 years old, she’s shuttered her social media agency and founded Basic – her take on a sports bar but for pop culture fans. Instead of dozens of TVs showing different sports, her bar will be a place where pop culture fans can gather to watch the latest Reality TV reunion show or award shows like the Oscars and Grammys together.
“This is a new venture for me but something I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” said Kelsie. She says that besides being a server for a few years, she doesn’t have industry experience. But that’s never stopped her before.
Kelsie is documenting her journey of starting a business on social media and has experienced viral success. Small Business BC sat down with Kelsie to learn more about Basic and her strategy for launching a business in its early stages.
What is Basic?
“Basic is my take on sports bar,” said Kelsie. “I’m a big pop culture fan, that is my favourite hobby. I love watching reality shows and award shows the Met Gala,” she said.
“I find myself usually watching those events or shows alone in my bedroom or my living room. Maybe sometimes having a few girlfriends over, but I always had this vision of being in a beautiful space like a bar that’s very feminine and having other women and people around that have the same interests as me and we all get to experience watching the award shows and reality shows together,” said Kelsie.
Why is it called Basic?
Kelsie aims to take back the word “basic” and make a space where everyone feels safe to like what they like. “Basic is such a weaponized term,” said Kelsie.
“If you get called basic, it’s almost like an insult. But to me – I’m just proud of it. I like all these things that most people would call basic. I enjoy it and know many other people enjoy those things too.”
What is your business experience?
In the past, Kelsie ran her own social media marketing agency. “That’s where my expertise lies,” she said.
“I never went to college or university, social media ended up taking off for me, so I grew a following of my own on TikTok and I used that to do social media management and content creation for brands and turned it into my own agency…I obviously learned a lot so I have a good grasp on the marketing and social media side of things, which is super important these days when it comes to business. So I’m trying to take those skills and then learn a lot about the hospitality industry which is completely new,” said Kelsie.
While her agency days are over, Kelsie is now devoted full-time to content creation and launching her new business.
What stage is your business in?
Kelsie says she’s about 60 to 70 percent finished with her business plan for Basic. Right now, she’s in the market research stage. “I took a unique approach in posting a lot about it on social media…seeing, ‘is this something that people, other people besides me are interested in?’” Now, she’s talking about her business on social media and networking with people in the industry to learn more.
What’s your next step?
The next thing I want to do is host pop-up events before I open up my own bar,” said Kelsie. “I want to hold these events and see if people come, if we’re going to do a Met Gala watch party or a season finale of The Bachelor – whatever it may be to kind of test the idea for Basic and see if people want to come, if they have a good time, and see what the feedback is.”
What’s the feedback been like so far?
Kelsie says that while the feedback on social media has been positive, she got some pushback from people in the hospitality industry.
“I did get some pushback on niching down that far and being more marketed towards women, they thought maybe it wasn’t a great idea because traditionally when it comes to the bar space, the older generation seems to think that men are the ones that spend most of the money at bars,” said Kelsie.
“But in my experience, my girlfriends and I love to go to the bar and spend money.” In her experience as a content creator, she’s worked with local Vancouver bars on events and found a big market for women-oriented spaces. Indeed, other niche businesses, like The Sports Bra in Portland, a sports bar for women, and Bevees, a non-alcoholic liquor store in Coquitlam, are experiencing success.“So, I took it to social media, and I was completely right. Thousands of women want this and my content started blowing up pretty quickly, the comments were all very positive, and everyone’s very excited about it.”
What has your social media strategy been?
“I’m building the business very publicly on social media. I decided just to be super transparent and what I want my audience to feel with Basic is that we’re doing it together,” said Kelsie.
“I want their feedback. I’m genuinely going to take their feedback and make that part of what I’m doing. People will feel like we did it together because it’s not just for me, it’s for the whole community of other people that are Basic.”
What’s your advice for new entrepreneurs?
“My biggest advice for business and what’s always worked for me, is just going for it and not waiting to be perfect or to know everything before you start or put yourself out there which is super scary and vulnerable. Taking the more messy action forward is always more needle-moving than staying frozen and trying to learn everything possible first. You can learn a lot from going forward and putting yourself out there,” she said.
“I’m doing my best and I’m willing to learn and to meet people and hear what they have to say. So if there is anyone out there who feels like they can’t do something because maybe they aren’t as educated as others, they didn’t get a degree in business or marketing, that is not something that should hold you back. You can still get out there. Thanks to the internet, we can network and learn a lot,” said Kelsie.
I have to ask, are you a Taylor Swift Fan?
“I feel like Taylor Swift was the main inspiration for this whole idea,” said Kelsie. Before the record-breaking Eras Tour concert film came out in theatres, she would watch glitchy live streams of the concert on TikTok in her apartment alone with a glass of wine.
“I was like, ‘Oh, how cool would it be to have a space where we could like do this together other girls because I know there’s other girls in their apartments alone right now watching this live stream,’” said Kelsie. She hopes to have Eras Tour watch parties, album listening parties, Taylor Swift dance parties at Basic. “That is for sure going to be a big focus,” said Kelsie.
Kelsie welcomes you to connect on social media and be a part of building Basic. “I love getting feedback from everybody. So if this sounds like you want to be part of the basic community, I would love your input and support.”
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