Meet Gertie Harris of Fireside at Five in Capitol Hill

Today we’d like to introduce you to Gertie Harris.

Gertie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I grew up in Winnetka, IL — a northern suburb right outside of Chicago. As the oldest of four siblings, I’ve always been a natural leader and a big self-starter. I was accepted to The University of Denver for my undergrad and decided to head West (the skiing was a big draw as well). Turns out, heading to Denver in 2014 was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not only was Denver on the cusp of massive growth and development, but there were so many opportunities for me to be a part of it. And that’s what I really wanted… to grow alongside the city and contribute to the development of it.

My first big internship in Denver was as the Marketing Intern for Larimer Square. That’s what really changed the game for me. It was the first time I realized “wow, this is exactly what I want to do with my life.” I had the opportunity to plan events on Larimer Square, meet tons of Denver’s top industry leaders, and also handle social media accounts for both Larimer Square and some of the restaurants at Denver Union Station (our CEO was one of the Union Station partners). My mentor, Radhika Mahanty, was the Director of Marketing for Larimer Square at the time, and she really showed me the ropes of the industry. Without Radhika, I wouldn’t be where I am today — I owe so much of my career to her and whatever she saw in me at the start!

When Larimer Associates (the management company for Larimer Square) dissolved, Radhika helped me get a summer job doing the programming and activation for Lowry Beer Garden and Hangar 2. I worked for City Street Investors (another partner of Denver Union Station), and that was the first time someone trusted me to fully program an entire summer worth of entertainment. I managed a budget for the first time, handled vendor relations, and had full creative control — it gave me the boost of confidence I needed heading into the job market after college.

As my time with City Street Investors came to a close, I was informed about an Area Marketing Specialist position that was opening up at Sage Hospitality (yet another partner of Denver Union Station). I jumped at the opportunity to do the marketing for The Oxford Hotel, The Oxford Club, Spa & Salon, The Crawford Hotel (inside of Denver Union Station), and The Maven (inside of Dairy Block). For two years, I worked alongside Krista Pass (my former boss) and it was one of the greatest opportunities of my career. It was just the two of us and it was a HUGE job, but it taught me so much about experiential marketing and what I was really passionate about.

When Covid-19 hit and I was furloughed from my hospitality job, I decided that I wanted to find a way to continue bringing people together in an impactful and intentional way. My partner, Connor Holmes, and I went for a walk one day in RiNo and the idea came to me – why not facilitate industry, happy hour Fireside Chats for people seeking connection, catharsis, and community?! Why not call it something like Fireside at Five — a playoff FDR’s Fireside Chats and ‘it’s 5 o’clock somewhere’. We called our friends and started working on it… immediately.

To date, we’ve facilitated over 80 Firesides with 450+ community members across 25 industries. We’ve heard from key industry leaders, as well as local community members who just want to be a part of something. It has always been a privilege to interact and engage with the local Denver community, but I feel especially honored to know that people are seeking Fireside at Five out for themselves. Whatever their personal or professional goals or desires are, there’s something for everyone. I know that we’re only at the beginning of Fireside at Five – onwards and upwards as I like to say.

Has it been a smooth road?
It’s been a pretty smooth road so far! We’ve got a great team made up of Connor Holmes, Gaby Margas, Jeff Fierberg, and Trevor Tandy who are all brilliant and passionate creatives and make all of this a lot easier. We haven’t run into many issues as a team, but like any company, there are always ups and downs. I’d say the biggest challenge for me, personally, has been learning as I go. When we first started Fireside at Five, I didn’t really know what it would turn into. We didn’t have a business plan or a strategy for sustaining ourselves, we just had a TON of passion from people who really wanted to do something positive in the world. Our plan was basically to try and try until it works and if it doesn’t work, try something else. Sitting here seven months later, I’m really proud of how far we’ve come. I don’t always know the right answer and sometimes there are days when I ask myself what the hell I’m doing, but at the end of the day Fireside at Five’s biggest mission is leaving the campsite better than we found it — so as long as I can say I’ve done that for the day, I call it a win.

Please tell us about Fireside at Five.
Fireside at Five has always been rooted in community. From the earliest days, it was about bringing people together for catharsis, connection, and conversation. That hasn’t changed since we started, if anything, it’s gotten stronger. We believe that there are far better ways for companies and organizations to connect more intentionally with their communities and audiences and we want to help them do it. At Fireside at Five, we work with our clients to provide experiential programming that activates their community, provides brand recognition, and expands their networks to create partnership and lead generation opportunities.

Our specialty? Facilitated Fireside Chats with our clients! Our versatile and solution-driven Fireside Chat formats have been used by an array of companies and organizations for live-stream panels, project management, workshops, and focus groups. Whether we’re facilitating in-person or virtually, we are able to foster an environment that is more intentional, collaborative, and impactful for our clients.

In addition to our Fireside Chats, we specialize in virtual or in-person community events, activations and projects! One of our favorite projects to date was The Lunches for Clinicians Mural Project at Improper City. We worked with Lunches for Clinicians from ideation to execution to create a mural that represented the Denver community and doubled as an educational resource at the same time. The mural was created by three fabulous artists (Marissa Napoletano, Adam Vicarel, Bobby McGee Lopez) and featured Representative Leslie Herod, who was a co-prime sponsor of the Enhance Law Enforcement Integrity Act (SB20-217), one of the most comprehensive Law Enforcement reform packages in the United States. Working on that project was one of the most rewarding and inspiring things we’ve done thus far. Not only were we able to assemble a team of talented individuals to create an impactful mural in Denver, but we did it in a completely collaborative way, which is what sets us apart from others.

Fireside at Five is centered around collaboration and intent. All of our Fireside Chats, community projects, and client work follow that framework. It’s truly our special sauce. We believe that we’re stronger when working with intention and in a collaborative format as partners. At the end of the day, our goal is to bring people together, amplify voices that might not otherwise be heard, and leave the campsite better than we found it. Not a bad way to go about sales and marketing, huh?

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think we’re going to see a massive shift in the ways that companies go about sales and marketing. The consumer has changed drastically and marketing and sales teams will need to adapt to those shifts. It’s not just about Instagram Ads anymore, the consumer wants to support brands that are aligned with their values, actively impacting the world in a positive way, and connecting more authentically with their clients. I think that through our Fireside Chats, we help companies and organizations overcome these challenges by providing a space for them to tell their brand story, receive feedback, and engage with consumers in a highly intentional way. We always tell our clients that our hour-long Fireside Chats essentially take companies from steps 1-6 on the sales cycle, leaving step 7 (Nurture Lead) as the only thing our clients are left to do. It’s all about getting creative and innovative – we’re just trying to lead by example.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.firesideatfive.com/
• Email: info@firesideatfive.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/firesideatfive
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiresideAtFive
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/firesideatfive

Image Credits:
Connor Holmes and Jeff Fierberg

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