roam’s backstory

Roam wasn’t built in a day. (Sorry, I had to.)

In fact — the concept of a creative studio hourly rental in the Toledo area was desperately needed. In December 2021, I had a pipe dream of opening my own studio space. I’m a go big or go home type of gal, and once I have an idea in my head, I don’t stop until I make that idea happen. I started searching for local listings — I wasn’t sure if I should buy an existing structure, buy commercial property and build a dream studio right out of the gate, or rent a space to test the waters. I wrote up a long business plan, ran some numbers and realized the capital and investment in order to purchase and/or build was out of the question at the time. I connected with a realtor who know someone who knew someone and a few months later of late nights scouring the internet and doing the most investigating I could to find a space, I stumbled upon 129 1/2 W. Wayne in my hometown, good ‘ole Maumee, Ohio.

A few chats with my future landlord and I realized the space had a ton of potential and I couldn’t beat the location. I wanted somewhere that felt safe for a single person to walk out of the door at night and get into their car - Maumee is that for me. The space was in rough shape and was used as a storage area for a travel agency that had been downstairs for 30+ years. I had a dream landlord who trusted my vision entirely and told me to pick out what finishes I wanted - everything from paint to flooring to how I wanted the ceiling to look. He ran with my idea and it ended up being pretty amazing. Eternally grateful he was generous enough and trusted my vision to bring it to life. And boy, did it ever. Here are some before photos when I first toured the space.

This was my vision board for the space that I pulled together combined with my brand identity from my amazing designer and web developer, Jasmine Digital.

From there, construction began - progress photos are so fun to look back on! I asked for black trim windows (they accidentally turned out white because of a miscommunication and I think it’s my favorite mistake made during this process) and convinced them to expose the rafters and paint the ceiling white.

To the final product:

I am in love with the finished product. It’s EXACTLY what I envisioned and dreamed about. I have worked so hard but I also have so many people to thank — friends, family, my husband, complete internet strangers that offered to step in and help in the very last minutes before my grand opening. I’ve never been so tired, stressed, exhausted, overworked and completely happy at the same time. I truly, truly hope you get to immerse yourself in this unique, amazing space and create something beautiful.

Roam, you’ve been so worth it and I can’t wait to see where this journey takes us.

xx - Jenna Knott

madi behan x roam

Madi was an integral part of the design + curation process of the studio. I knew I needed to outsource a part of that process, and that’s where I knew Madi would be the perfect fit. I had pitched her in the early stages of planning and she came right on board. We ran through the vision boards for overall feel of the vibe, design, and aesthetic, and I trusted her implicitly with sourcing materials for decor and making the studio like a cozy, inviting, lived-in space. You’ll see her scattered through this website too; she was my muse for a lot of the site content. We’ve been friends for quite a few years now and I couldn’t imagine having anyone else by my side during this process. She’s an amazing photographer and interior designer, so make sure to check her out!