We had the good fortune of connecting with Caleb Alexander and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Caleb, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
Around 2013 I had been learning and teaching friends all these interesting modern board games. I cast a wide net to friends and suddenly my home was too small to have more than one game played at once. We moved it to a local bar. The bartender, Leah, suggested I talk to the manager about getting a tab and bringing in games regularly. When attendance grew and stabilized, I negotiated a payout instead of just a tab.
In 2015, I took the Coconino County Basic Business Empowerment course and started thinking how to grow what I had built as game nights. I wanted to do a game rental service, but the events brought in customers and established the business. Shortly thereafter, I started running roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons for a drop in charge and hosting trivia, as well.
In the mid 2010s, Flagstaff didn’t have a great place to learn these games. Flagstaff had places to buy games, but not places where you could try a variety of games. I take a lot of pleasure in seeing customers enjoy themselves, so I really put care into listening to what people want to play and teaching games players are going to find appealing. Many tabletop enthusiasts get excited for their favorite game, but I take helping people find their favorite game seriously.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
More than anything, Vault supports a community interested in face-to-face fun. It is easy enough to silo off in your interests and passions, but finding community, especially an in-person community, is no small challenge. Supporting and fostering that community has been a gradual, but delightful project; a project I didn’t always realize I was working on. My moments of greatest pride are looking over a room of two, three, four dozen players and seeing so many happy, engaged people. These players are often connecting between generations and professions, finding friends that they would not otherwise meet. I love seeing a confident young teen recruit players to a game they’re excited about, connecting with other youth, young professionals, and seniors.
Flagstaff itself has been both an incredibly supportive community, but Flagstaff is also the biggest challenge for Vault. Despite a growing list of events, Flagstaff has felt too small and too expensive for Vault to be my only job. This challenge is exacerbated by trying to pursue Vault on my own and with only a limited skill set. Vault would have likely grown more with a business partner able to complement my own skills. I started Vault unaware that doing this alone can undermine success.
Since then, I’ve pursued more employment outside of Vault. Nevertheless, I continue to seek ways to support this community and foster spaces for players to come together. In 2022, we restarted in-person events and are seeing growing numbers of players at our library game nights and requests for more weekly events with former business clients. The community of face-to-face gamers are stronger and more supportive than ever, and I am thrilled to see this community reconnect after the last few, isolating years.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When visiting Flagstaff, I always recommend Walnut Canyon, Buffalo Park, and the nearby parks and memorials. I love highlighting Cab Comics, Bright Side Bookshop, and the Flagstaff Community Market. When hosting, I try to have something homemade ready and love to use local produce from the market or Flagstaff CSA.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had many supporters!
Leah – When I brought games into the bar, Leah was the one who saw the potential for game night before I did. I always express my gratitude to Leah for encouraging me.
Cory – When I started running game night, I went to my local comics and game store, Cab Comics, and asked for support. Cab Comics has been there again and again to help make game night a success.
Sarah – Sarah was my graphic designer and sounding board when Vault was developing. I feel her sense of play comes through even now and her style guide is still my go to for marketing and web design.
Website: https://www.playwithvault.com/
Instagram: @playwithvault
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PlayWithVault
Other: Meetup: https://www.meetup.com/flg-games/
Image Credits
Head shot: Marissa Molloy Game Photos: Caleb Alexander, @PlayWithVault