Meet Michael Mooney of MASS Collective in Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Mooney.

Michael, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I grew up a bit of a misfit in a large Baptist church and learned early on that I could get out of services and instead get paid by working at the church instead. By 15, I was working in the kitchen, janitorial services and managing the youth rec league sports programs. I went off to college and eventually graduated with a physics/ computer science/philosophy degree, the ability to pour latte art and few other marketable skills. My first job out of school was writing firmware for a small manufacturer of custom pollution monitoring equipment. The first year was trial by fire, the firm had bitten off more than it could chew and I soon became responsible for product development, documentation, warehouse management and large amounts of the manufacturing. By the end of the fourth year, I had created a quality assurance department and decided that I had seen enough and would rather work for myself.

In the process, I learned the important differences between someone with a degree and an expert, the value of direct hands-on experience and the difficulties faced by small businesses. These experiences showed me that there was this giant opportunity for a well organized and managed shop, with real experts, regardless of the client or the product. At that point, I was sold on the idea of the Makerspace Movement and dove wholeheartedly into building MASS Collective with a small group of friends. It’s been six years of work now and I’m proud to say that we are thriving!

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Oh… definitely not smooth. Word to the wise, don’t start a small business without any money. We didn’t have a dime, and so had to bootstrap everything we did and reinvest all our profits in order to grow. The first few years were nothing but hard work getting the space cleaned up to be usable, trying to find jobs to help raise money and finding teachers who were willing to teach at their private shops while we sorted out ours. Most of the original crew burned out and quit during this phase, as it seemed like we would never get off the ground. However, with the help of a very supportive landlord (thank you Anthony Harper of the Goat Farm) and an amazing first batch of teachers (Jay Wiggins, Mark Hopper and Sarah Green) we got our feet under us and were able to cobble together a shop.

Sharing 100K of equipment has been a bit of a social experiment. There were definitely some culture and social issues early on, as well as the joys of learning how to deal with non paying clients and moving goalposts. Work ethic, professionalism, and organization just aren’t in everyone’s vocabulary, but at the end of the day, everyone currently involved is really a salt of the earth “leave it better than you found it” contributor.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about MASS Collective – what should we know?
MASS Collective is an inclusive workshop whose goal is to lower the barrier of entry to equipment and expertise. We organize workshops for the public in everything from welding and woodworking to leatherworking and 3D design. Currently, we also do interactive science exhibitions at Fernbank After Dark, commission work in all sorts of design and fabrication and after-school programming with The New School Atlanta, a private high school. Primarily we are known for being able to get it done to a high standard, or if not being able to find the person who can get it done.

I’m most proud of our dedication to the mission statement. We offer memberships to the public for $150 a month, or $300 quarterly. For the price of a gym membership, we offer anyone willing to learn access to all of our manufacturing equipment, discounts on our classes and services and opportunities to participate in the commission jobs that come in. We’ve built everything we have by working together and reinvesting into the shop, and some of the apprentices who started out sweeping the floors in exchange for access are now employed full time in the movie industry.

What sets us apart from others is the holistic approach to the shop. It needs to be an education platform, a community resource, and a profitable production platform in order to be fully utilized. There are a lot of moving parts, but we are dedicated to keeping them well oiled. It really is more of a co-op in that sense, so the community approach to production and growth we have is what makes us different.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Aside from the previously mentioned parties, there were definitely a ton of people that made MASS happen. It’s been a community effort, so over a hundred sets of hands have helped move it along. I would be remiss not to personally mention Kyle Howser and Duncan Shirah. They were the crew that did the lion’s share of the work to get MASS off the ground, and a number of times the three of us sat down and decided to just keep going together, despite the difficulties and the workload.

Jay Caudle, the only founder still involved, has been steadily a voice of reason and for a long time was the only fiduciary control. Jack Bloom did all our branding before there was any company at all, and his vision for the tone and mission is still the clearest beacon we have to follow. Luciano Giarrano stepped in as CEO when there was a crisis of culture, and established a really great plan and mode of being, as well as a million collaborations. Ryan Metzler designed and set up the website and the RFID access control system without any real help, while also being the tallest, kindest, and probably most intelligent of us. Jamie Purl, Ron Martin and Scott Johnson all came into the collective with literally out of this world vision, work ethic and standards. Each of them has raised the bar for me personally as to how I conduct myself, and what I expect from members.

Abagail Bleakney has taken over Ron’s legacy at MASS and at 24 is still one of the most professional designers I know. Nathan Roche has run Collet and Bit (CNC/design/fabrication) out of MASS, for going on 3 years now, and was a literal godsend. Gabriella Mooney, manager of details and apprentices, has facilitated people like Doran Hickey (social media manager) and Ryan Carmichael (lead apprentice) to attract and facilitate access in exchange for labor. That alone has changed MASS indefinitely.

I also want to give thanks to all the bad clients, unacceptable behavior from members and collaborators, and general malfeasance. To be honest, we’ve learned as much about next steps and culture from jerks as we have from the people above who led by example.

Pricing:

• $150/month or $300/3 months for 27/7 access, discounts on resources, and community membership.
• Classes ranging from $20-$400 on all the skills and equipment.

Contact Info:

• Address: 364 Nelson St. Sw Atlanta, GA 30313
• Website: masscollective.org
• Phone: 404-477-4224
• Email: info@masscollective.org
• Instagram: MASScollective
• Facebook: masscollectivesocial
• Twitter: @MASScollective

Image Credit:
Ryan Carmichael, Doran Hickey

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