{"id":245411,"date":"2012-09-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-29T07:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/a-queen-bee-in-north-park\/"},"modified":"2012-09-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-29T07:00:00","slug":"a-queen-bee-in-north-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/a-queen-bee-in-north-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Una abeja reina en North Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Local business owner celebrates four years of art and cultural center<\/strong><\/p>\n

Por Dave Fidlin | Reportero SDUN<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"A
Alma Rodriguez, owner (Courtesy Queen Bee\u2019s)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Alma Rodriguez made her first steps into a vacant North Park building nearly five years ago, she saw beyond the disarray and decay.<\/p>\n

After assuming a previous business owner\u2019s lease, Rodriguez transformed the interior of the building, located at 3925 Ohio St., into the current Queen Bee\u2019s Art and Cultural Center. Along the way, she also created a venue that celebrates a full range of art forms and personal expression.<\/p>\n

The Cultural Center formally celebrated its fourth anniversary earlier this month. Reflecting on the milestone, Rodriguez, a native of Puerto Rico, said the entire experience has more than surpassed her initial expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I first saw that facility, it definitely was run down,\u201d she said, \u201cbut there was a real charm to the venue as well. I saw beauty. I felt a certain energy and knew I was meant to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Launched just as the nation\u2019s economy spiraled downward, Rodriguez and a group of dedicated workers rehabilitated the interior of the facility and introduced Queen Bee\u2019s to the North Park community. From the onset, Rodriguez said there was tremendous support, and now the operation has evolved over time.<\/p>\n

To date, Queen Bee\u2019s has hosted more than 100 non-profit fundraisers and community events. Additionally, the center has been a destination for hundreds of artistic programs that include concerts, private events, art shows and dance classes.<\/p>\n

While the events are disparate, Rodriguez said she desires to host programs that inspire people and promote personal expression. Inclusiveness, she said, is the overarching theme within the organization.<\/p>\n

Gill Sotu is among the local artists who said he benefits from Queen Bee\u2019s presence in the community. Sotu is the mastermind behind several regular programs, including the open mic Train of Thought poetry events that are held most Tuesday nights at the venue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere aren\u2019t many spaces I know of that offer so much in a centralized location,\u201d Sotu said. He brought Train of Thought idea to Queen Bee\u2019s in 2010. \u201cIt\u2019s really an all-purpose facility that\u2019s benefited a lot of people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
Queen Bee\u2019s fans spread the bee love. Courtesy Queen Bee\u2019s)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When he married nearly a year ago, Sotu\u2019s wedding was held at Queen Bee\u2019s, a nod, he said, to the importance the venue has played in his life in recent years.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said entrepreneurial endeavors are in her DNA. Prior to helming Queen Bee\u2019s, she oversaw a concert promotion business and began booking local bands at a club she ran, the Hot Monkey Love Caf\u00e9, near San Diego State University.<\/p>\n

As Queen Bee\u2019s was beginning, Rodriguez also made the decision to wind down operations at Hot Monkey Love.<\/p>\n

\u201cRunning a business is a lot of work, but it\u2019s rewarding,\u201d Rodriguez said, who sometimes puts in 17- and 18-hour workdays. \u201cBut I really don\u2019t know any other thing to do. This is where I\u2019m meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

While she is director and official \u201cqueen bee\u201d of the operation, Rodriguez quickly points out a small staff and swath of volunteers have made the operation a success in the past four years.<\/p>\n

As she has settled into North Park, Rodriguez has also enjoyed witnessing the neighborhood\u2019s renaissance. She credits passionate business owners and property owners \u2013 including her own landlord, Allen Hitch Jr. \u2013 with investing in the area.<\/p>\n

More recently, Rodriguez has extended her business sense as a board member of the local business association, North Park Main Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve meet some really beautiful people in this community,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m with people who are fulfilling their dreams, and we\u2019re doing it all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of the most-often asked questions surrounding Queen Bee\u2019s is the operation\u2019s name. When asked what inspired her to adopt the moniker, Rodriguez heartily laughed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had struggled coming up with a name for the business,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

When word got out that Rodriguez was transplanting her business talents from the SDSU area to North Park, a local publication reported on it and referred to Rodriguez as a \u201cqueen bee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople were coming up to me and calling me a queen bee after that article came out,\u201d she said. \u201cIt stuck with me. Besides, I like bees and their whole culture. They all depend on each other, just as I depend on the people helping with this business. Without them, I cannot be a good leader.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amid the work, Rodriguez said she is grateful for the opportunities that have arisen in the past four years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still pinch myself sometimes and wonder if this is all a dream,\u201d she said. \u201cThe path has been very incredible.\u201d<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Local business owner celebrates four years of art and cultural center By Dave Fidlin | SDUN Reporter When Alma Rodriguez made her first steps into a vacant North Park building nearly five years ago, she saw beyond the disarray and decay. After assuming a previous business owner\u2019s lease, Rodriguez transformed the interior of the building, […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":245412,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"A Queen Bee in North Park","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11547,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-245411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-features","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245411\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}