On this episode of the Bourbon Friday Show, we had the opportunity to talk with Rebecca Brian Pan, Founder and CEO of Covo.

Covo—Supporting All Entrepreneurs

Serial entrepreneur Rebecca Brian Pan is no stranger to the coworking scene. Having opened ten spaces before Covo STL, she’s seen almost everything.

Covo began in San Francisco in 2016, and by early 2018, Covo STL was opening up in the heart of downtown St. Louis—just minutes from the Arch grounds, old courthouse, and the Cardinals stadium. The space, while housed in the stately Trust Bank building at 4th and Pine, is quite cozy and inviting thanks to the warm atmosphere and countless amenities available for members and non-members alike.

Covo offers memberships, private offices, as well as drop-in coworking for $2 an hour—with free coffee and tea, printing, and a fast WiFi connection. There are also meeting rooms plus an event space available for booking by the public and members.

While some of those features may sound similar to other coworking spaces you know of, Covo actually feels quite different than other spaces.

The name Covo hails from the moniker Collective Voice, a principle Brian Pan is very passionate about.

When opening other coworking spaces, she rarely saw people like herself utilizing the spaces she helped create. They were often overrun with the what you typically see at coworking spaces: mostly male, mostly tech, and mostly caucasian.

“We felt like with Covo and the concept of Collective Voice, we could use Covo as a platform to really support the whole spectrum of entrepreneurs,” says Brian Pan.

Thanks to the weekly community events, a strong focus on inclusivity, and no industry exclusions, Covo is quickly changing the face of coworking.

If you want to learn more about Covo, book a Covo Day, or take a tour of the space, go to https://stl.hellocovo.com/

Bourbon Innovation

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

This week the drink of choice is Amador Double Barrel Bourbon. This bourbon starts out in Kentucky and is aged in new-oak barrels (like all bourbon). But what makes this bourbon unique is that it’s finished in wine casks in Napa Valley, CA, about an hour’s drive from Covo. And interestingly enough, San Francisco, St. Louis and the location where Amado Double Barrel is aged in Kentucky, are also all on approximately the same latitude line.