Before you read, watch or listen.
See Downtime in action. A real product walkthrough.
A 49-second radio spot from Maya, a plant shop owner in Detroit.
One Message. Everywhere. All At Once.
9 months ago, I had no idea how to code. Now I have a working product and I need your help getting it to the world. I cannot wait to get this into the hands of business owners.
How We Got Here
When I sent Downtime Newsletter Vol. 1 on November 8, 2025, I was building an app to help people find what was happening around them right now.
156 days later, I built an all-in-one product for small business owners.
Here is exactly how I got here.
Part I: Before the Company
“Grandma, I just want to be a legend.”
I grew up in massive churches with their own academies. Hundreds of kids, thousands of members. My grandma used to throw events at our home with high-ranking elected officials of Detroit. Some of my first experiences with fine dining... well, the customer experience side of it.
My grandparents were business owners too. And business was POPPING. Huge office spaces in some of Detroit's most desired locations. I remember sneaking away after hours, walking through halls, finding vacant offices to explore. I was always adventuring, always learning, and always watching my grandparents juggle life as business owners.
Then came Club Inferno in Walled Lake, Michigan. A 15-18 teen club where I threw legendary parties. Vegas nightclub energy. I had a VIP list of about 50 kids who got free access for everyone they brought if they sent the invite to their full Facebook friendslist. When a teen party showed 400+ people confirmed... you HAD to go. This was right when Project X came out and everyone was chasing that experience.
Legendary nights. Bringing people together was my life and I was damn good at it. High school graduation happened. One last great summer. And then every... single... one of my friends left for some great college or university. I went from the king of an empire to not knowing anyone or what to do.
That's when Downtime was birthed.
My desire to create a solution for this problem came from a personal need. I quickly learned that I wasn't the only person that felt this need wasn't being met.. and the hunt began!
Part II: The Science Experiment
The Product Journey
Seven phases. Each one a hypothesis, a finding, and a next step with a reason behind it. Tap each phase to read the full story.
The "Right Now" Problem
The Cost of Real-Time Data
Whose Data is it Anyway?
What Owners Actually Said
Business Owner Problems
The Solution is Built
Hours Free Forever
Since the last newsletter, I haven't slowed down. Not even a little.
heathersmusicroom.com
1 Million Cups Detroit
Meta for Developers
Google Business Profile
Apple Business ConnectRead that list again. Every single one of those happened since the last time I wrote to you.
Let me show you what this actually feels like.
Not a pitch deck. Not a mockup. The real thing.
No dashboard training. No platform juggling. No technical knowledge. Just a message and a tap.
The Ask
Road to Being a Unicorn
In 1995, Jeff Bezos was trying to start an online bookstore. That's all it was. A website that sold books. He went to 60 people he knew personally. Friends, family, people who believed in him. He asked each of them to invest about $50,000. He told every single one of them straight up: “There is a 70% chance you will never see this money again.”
22 people said yes.
His parents, Jackie and Mike, put in $245,573. His brother and sister each put in $10,000.
That online bookstore became Amazon.
They believed in the person, not the spreadsheet. The window to get in at that level closed the moment it started working.
I've sat across from hundreds of business owners and heard the same pain over and over again. The businesses are queued. The product works. If this resonates with you, I'd love to have a real conversation.
Ifinvestingisn'tyourthingrightnow,sharingthisnewsletterwithsomeonewhoshouldseeit,makinganintroduction,orjustsendingawordofencouragementmeansmorethanyouknow.