Jessica Liang Helping Build And Connect Communities With Nook

Jessica Liang is Helping Build And Connect Communities With Nook

Photo Credit: Silver Moon Photography

Jessica Liang: Helping Build And Connect Communities With Nook

It is a true pleasure to have you on our page Jessica. Please tell us about yourself.
Thank you for having me. As a child, I had always yearned for connection over conflict, which I channeled into art therapy and eventually, dispute resolution. I made my way towards building a physical community through Nook, after developing my User Experience Design career alongside photography and nonprofit work. I also have seven years of experience working with grants and I hope to be able to help guide charities and entrepreneurs to achieve their goals through grant approvals.

Photo Credit: Natalie Yung Photography

You are so young and so ambitious. What is your motivation?
Thank you, Jess. My background is deeply rooted in nonprofit grant work, equity in accessibility, and inclusion. I want to create a home for people to feel safe and fulfill their dreams. Nook is a vessel for premium community building and a launchpad for local initiatives, businesses, charities, and primary food producers. Nook’s mission extends to connecting Metro Vancouver consumers with farms to reduce emissions and contribute to a vibrant and inclusive British Columbia that we all call home, such as the incredible Farm to Plate Marketplace. Having worked on a farm for a few summers harvesting produce, painting their murals, and feeding the goats, I love to work closely with nature and promote food security. Nook will also be launching markets to spotlight 27+ local vendors and raise funds for charities of their choice. Vendors include Bak’d Cookies, Batiqua, Clara Leung, Invito Coffee, Tality Kombucha, Top Hat Kombucha, Gone Again Vintage, Pupper Supply Co, Doodle Bar Designs, Pup and Bahay, Yummy Bone Treats, L&J Patisserie and many more amazing partners!

Photo Credit: Natalie Yung Photography

I have had a tour of Nook. What a incredible place. What and how did the idea generate?
I took on the vacant property 3 years ago while working full-time, and along with my friends Frank and Marco licensed in construction and electrical, we renovated the old karaoke building into what Nook is today – an open-concept community workspace. I took on the lease and was determined to put in all of my time and energy towards making it work – including picking up furniture piece by piece from Facebook Marketplace sellers. I was simultaneously working on the Pup Social House Charity Fair, and the 27 vendors and influencers were so supportive and patient throughout the journey (launching soon)!

More and more community members joined in, offering to help sweep (thank you Ariana) and volunteer their time to photograph the space (thank you Natalie) When I was making multiple runs to IKEA and lugging unbelievably heavy patio umbrellas, my foodie friends Howard and Maggie spotted me struggling from across the street and carried them into the building from my car. I am blown away by our community. The original members will recall that Nook used to be called Pup Social House, a dog-owner community space. However, Pup Social House is now our community events program within Nook, and Nook is a blank canvas for all of these projects to thrive within our space. Nook is still dog-friendly (after they pass a puppy interview), and will have a member directory just for the dogs!

Photo Credit: Natalie Yung Photography

Please tell our readers more about Nook!
Nook is a work club and ecosystem for creative entrepreneurs where dreams are transformed into reality. Our mission is to nurture new industry members, providing the support they need to flourish. Nook is committed to exponential growth and offers funding, training, delicious food, and a genuine sense of community.

Nook offers conference rooms, a podcast room, studios (textiles and painting), and two kitchenettes with utilities and cleaning included. Downstairs we have 10 private offices, with 24 hour access for premium members, perfect for those who work from different time zones. These private spaces come with a digital phone fob key, a custom office key, phone receptionist and business address (with mail handling!)

Nook has a plethora of exciting projects in the pipeline, each designed to elevate the entrepreneurial journey. Resident experts in marketing, finance, and content creation are on hand to guide members, while resident DJs and magicians host workshops and podcasts. Oyeta, the founder of Okoko Cosmetiques, organized a beautiful content photoshoot at Nook with professional videographer Kate Telek and motivational speaker Christabelle Joseph. Nook’s retreats, collaborative networking, annual music festival Elements and numerous other events add to the vibrant atmosphere.

We are so thankful for our incredible collective of musicians, filmmakers, writers, designers, engineers, photographers, fine artists, martial artists, dancers, producers, influencers, environmentalists, car enthusiasts, nonprofit community leaders…I’ve been building Nook for the last 3 years and throughout this process, what kept me going were the incredible people in our community.

Throughout the many years of development, the support from our strong network of professional partners and mentors helped push Nook’s launch to success. With the support and mentorship from Uzair Merchant (award-winning film director, Hollywood production designer, founder of BKreativ Productions and international publishing house Kri8Labs), the tough labour of cleaning years of history off Nook’s entire exterior by Chris Martin (founder of Wash Bros), the photos capturing the beauty of the space by Natalie Yung (owner of Natalie Yung Photography), the launch of Nook was able to gather hundreds of guests from the community and start strong.

Collaborating with Hollywood production designer and film director Uzair Merchant this summer to launch Interstellar (brainchild of Pup Social House and Kri8Labs) was a huge part of this movement! We’re joining forces to elevate creatives from all walks of life through countless mediums, starting with the unique art exposé Elements. 236 attendees came to Nook to celebrate all forms of art and raise funds for orphans in Palestine through our partner Penny Appeal. Our amazing headliners were Uzair Merchant, B.Earl (writer for Marvel Comics such as Daredevil and Echo), and Shannon K (singer, actor, and model). Our resident artist Thomas Cheng kindly supplied Nook with a set of his amazing paintings for the auction and donated all proceeds of his art to Penny Appeal. Nook also hosted DJs Kingu (Chow Lay Fut martial arts master and international DJ), Melt, Cristian Fonseca, Order and Chaos, and Dreema (producer, popular DJ at clubs like Celebrities).

Our first in-house specialist is Arpi Sylvester, the founder of My Marketing Crew agency. They specialize in SEO strategy, with 10+ years of experience in digital marketing in Singapore and now Canada. MJ Dewji, a founding member of Nook, owns ABC Digital Marketing and runs a monthly networking workshop called Chai ‘n Chat. Our resident artist is Thomas Cheng, who auctioned his paintings at Elements creative festival and donated the proceeds of his art to Penny Appeal. Nook also hosts resident DJs Dreema (producer, popular DJ at clubs like Celebrities), Bass Legacy (1/2 of Order and Chaos with Bradzilla) and Kingu (Chow Lay Fut martial arts master and international DJ).

Photo Credit: Natalie Yung Photography

We are thankful of our strong network of professional partners and mentors such as Ariana Mattar (event planner and founder of Yummy Bone Treats), Paul Simmons (co-owner of Simmons Insurance and 10x Grant Cardone-certified), Veeka (owner of Vancity Digital), Dean Michael Buescher (owner of Michael Buescher Photography and stills photographer for films i.e. Superman & Lois), Julia Burakova (owner of Silver Moon Photography), Matt Astifan (owner of Internet Masterminds), Brittany Michalchuk (founder of YVR Entrepreneurs Club), Sabrina Haloukos (business consultant), Christabelle Joseph (co-founder of Luxgo Media and Hyperformers), Gloria Zhang (founder of The Inner Child Podcast with over 1 mil+ podcast listeners), Jean Louis Hardy , Kate Telek (expert smartphone videographer and educator), Juliana Lopes (founder of FEM Group), Trent Stonehouse (founder of Remote CEOs Academy), Miguel Bautista (founder of CPS Recovery and expert videographer), Tinatin Basilaia (psychologist and life coach), Shiva Ghayemghamian (notary and educator), Shyla Maharaj (UGC expert, event bartender and founder of Karma Clothing Swap) and more. Exceptional and community-minded attendees of their space include Lily Lou (founder of Lily Lou’s Aromas) and Insta coach Nicole Wong (founder of Nicole Wong Coaching).

Photo credits: Lily Lou’s Aromas

Nook attributes our success to the incredible community we’ve built along the way – individuals who share our vision of creating a global mentorship community. Nook is here to help members build their own communities because we believe that growing together is vital for collective well-being. As they say, “rising tides lift all boats,” and at Nook, there’s an abundance of space for everyone to develop their visions. We understand that taking the first step can be daunting, but with Nook, members are never alone in their entrepreneurial journey from the early stages to scaling.

Any collaborations in the near future?
We are constantly collaborating with the community to create engaging workshops and events! We’re excited to partner with Dean on future creative shoots, whom you had also interviewed on Urban Asian! We will also be hosting the incredible Sofar Sounds next year, so be sure to come to our events!

Some words for Nook fans:
We welcome you to rest and do your best work at Nook, whether it’s in the open lounge or in a private office. Come and check out our events, whether it’s our monthly Chai n Chat hosted by MJ or our creative shows!

We are thankful of our strong network of professional partners and mentors such as Ariana Mattar (event planner and founder of Yummy Bone Treats), Paul Simmons (co-owner of Simmons Insurance and 10x Grant Cardone-certified), Veeka (owner of Vancity Digital), Dean Michael Buescher (owner of Michael Buescher Photography and stills photographer for films i.e. Superman & Lois), Julia Burakova (owner of Silver Moon Photography), Matt Astifan (owner of Internet Masterminds), Brittany Michalchuk (founder of YVR Entrepreneurs Club), Sabrina Haloulakos (business consultant), Christabelle Joseph (co-founder of Luxgo Media and Hyperformers), Gloria Zhang (founder of The Inner Child Podcast with over 1 mil+ podcast listeners), Jean Louis Hardy , Kate Telek (expert smartphone videographer and educator), Juliana Lopes (founder of FEM Group), Trent Stonehouse (founder of Remote CEOs Academy), Miguel Bautista (founder of CPS Recovery and expert videographer), Tinatin Basilaia (psychologist and life coach), Shiva Ghayemghamian (notary and educator), Shyla Maharaj (UGC expert, event bartender and founder of Karma Clothing Swap) and more. Exceptional and community-minded attendees of their space include Lily Lou (founder of Lily Lou’s Aromas) and Insta coach Nicole Wong (founder of Nicole Wong Coaching).

Any collaborations in the near future?

We are constantly collaborating with the community to create engaging workshops and events! We’re excited to partner with Dean on future creative shoots, whom you had also interviewed on Urban Asian! We will also be hosting the incredible Sofar Sounds next year, so be sure to come to our events!

Some words for Nook fans:

We welcome you to rest and do your best work at Nook, whether it’s in the open lounge or in a private office. Come and check out our events, whether it’s our monthly Chai n Chat hosted by MJ or our creative shows!

Photo Gallery:
Renovations (photo credit: Jessica Liang)