Jenny Babcock fully intended to leave Jefferson City for good after high school. Now she spends most of her time and effort making it a better place.
"I came back to Jefferson City with no intention of staying in 1993," she said. With degrees in economics and music theory and composition, she worked for Jefferson City's Parks and Recreation Department, Central Bank and the Missouri Public Service Commission before leaving the world of "box jobs" to open a live music venue on the city's east side.
"Staying busy doing something you love, it's not a burden. I don't have a 'box job,'" she laughed. "I'm more of an oval."
The Mission, which Babcock opened at 915 E. High St. with then-husband Rich in 2009, hosts live music Tuesday through Saturday nights, as well as encouraging a dynamic arts culture in the community with events like regular open mic nights.
"'The mission' is to bring quality live music to Jeff City in a clean, safe environment," Babcock said. "I'm a firm believer that an art and music community is composed of three elements: you've got to have the artists and musicians, you have to have venue owners and you have to have patrons. And all are equally important, and relationships between those three are critical."
Getting the dream off the ground took some outside-the-box thinking.
"Putting another bar back down here on this corner was not highly encouraged by the city, even though we kept telling them, 'We really are going to bring something positive,'" Babcock said. "We just decided we'd take that plunge. Had we known it was going to be the same year as the recession and the housing market dropping and 18 months later we'd have a smoking ban, we might have changed our tune. I'm just glad I didn't know; I'm glad I went in blind."
She said she's happy to have joined the vision businesses like O'Donoghue's, Prison Brews and Shrunken Head Tropic Lounge helped create in bringing positive development to the neighborhood.
"The east side, in my opinion, is the soul of Jefferson City. There is a pulse here that needs to be nurtured," Babcock said. "There are people down here that want to make things work in the neighborhood. People sometimes talk about the east side the way they talk about the east side, and I will say 95 percent of the people in this community, in this area, want it to be great. I have had wonderful support from residents that live here."
A musician herself, Babcock performs with her band, Rose Ridge - which also features her husband, Tracy Blase - every Tuesday at The Mission and a few times a month at other venues.
But she's also happy to play patron and venue owner while she watches other musicians succeed - acts like Down Side Up and The Kay Brothers who began performing early at The Mission and have found success locally.
"I don't ever use the word 'proud' - because if you use the word 'proud,' in my opinion, it insinuates that it's something you did. I'm grateful," she said. "This place is going because of a lot of people have believed in the concept and found happiness being here and want to see that continue for other people."
Further developments in Jefferson City's arts community - like Avenue HQ's plans to foster an arts hub on Capitol Avenue, including live music venue The Bridge's upcoming relocation there from Columbia - affirm for Babcock that The Mission is accomplishing its mission.
"The fact that this community can support so many live venues, I think, just shows that our vision was on," she said. "People kept telling us, 'It will never work in Jeff City,' and it is working in Jeff City."
While The Mission may be her "baby" in a metaphorical sense, Babcock also has eight children and stepchildren, ages 8-25, and two grandchildren.
Q. Who has invested in you and your career?
A. "My family. My parents, my sister, my kids, my husband. He works a full-time job and then he comes and not only makes music with me but he bartends, he runs sound, he runs the door, he helps clean the place. And friends that share the same vision. Financial is part of it, and that's come predominantly from my family, but the rest of it is critical, too."
Q. What choices have you made to invest in yourself and your own success?
A. "To make the decision that what I want to accomplish with this place is following my own personal passion but it's something that this community needs, which validates the time and effort."
Q. What are the biggest issues still facing women in business?
A. "I personally have not experienced this here, being sole owner, but I think society-wise, equal pay for equal work. Even though we might be generalized as being more emotional, that's not a bad thing, that there are some merits to looking at things from different perspectives."
Q. What drives you most in your life and in your career?
A. "The true belief that what I'm doing is good for my community. Music connects people, and watching that bridge the gap between demographics, ages. I believe music is still the only socially acceptable form of emotional explosion, and we all have to do that. We all have to purge and get it out there, and music is one way that men and women, everybody, can do that. And I offer a place for people to do that. That's what drives me - not to mention I get to listen to kick-ass shows five nights a week."
Q. What advice would you give to a woman going into business?
A. "Suck it up, buttercup. Don't take things personally. Put the work in, accept the personal things about yourself that you need to change to be successful, invest in yourself, find some time for recreation. Be passionate about what you do."
See the full October 2016 edition of #jcmo Inside Business here.