On this episode of the Bourbon Friday Show we talk with Christopher Holt, CEO and Co-Founder of TechArtista, and Rebecca Brian Pan, CEO and Founder of Covo.

Covo x TechArtista—Community-Building at Work

Longtime coworking industry veterans Holt and Brian Pan met several years ago and became fast friends—little did they know that down the road they would be collaborating in St. Louis.

In fact, a few years ago when Brian Pan was looking to expand Covo to another city, Holt vouched for the St. Louis coworking scene’s credibility.

“He was actually one of the reasons that we came to St. Louis when we were visiting different cities,” says Brian Pan. “Chris is so woke in coworking and we were really impressed with the caliber of coworking that Chris had going on.”

TechArtista, which made its debut in 2014 in the Central West End, has found great success in the St. Louis coworking scene and is rapidly expanding to different locations around the City.

One of which will be the Covo St. Louis location later this year.

While Covo has grown and built a great community here, several impediments have kept them from reaching their full potential in St. Louis.

Not wanting to forfeit the community and effort put into making Covo so great in St. Louis, Brian Pan and Holt came to the agreement that TechArtista will takeover Covo St. Louis.

The transition will be gradual, and ultimately will help best serve the coworking scene here.

Members of Covo St. Louis and TechArtista now have many convenient spaces around the City where they can enjoy quality coworking experiences.

And since both Covo and TechArtista are both a part of LExC (League of Extraordinary Coworking Spaces) members from both spaces will still have access to great coworking spaces around the world.

“The goal is really just to help build more cohesion across these networks,” says Holt. “We tend to be a little more split apart in the City, so our hope is just to build off of this to continue to create something that is a region-wide network of people who are movers and shakers throughout St. Louis.”

If you would like to sign up to visit or become a member of either of these spaces you can go to https://www.techartista.org/work for Techartista and https://stl.hellocovo.com/monthly-coworking for Covo.

Bourbon Innovation

As always, the Bourbon Friday team does their best to choose a fitting drink for the occasion.

The bottle this week was Jefferson’s Reserve Pritchard Hill Cabernet Cask. Jefferson’s Reserve, often known for their unique blends and finishes, created the Pritchard Hill Cabernet Cask by finishing this blended bourbon in ex-Pritchard Hill Cabernet Sauvignon French Oak casks. These casks were sourced from Chappellet Vineyard in St. Helena, Napa Valley—which is only about 70 miles from Covo in San Francisco, CA.