Des Moines music venue xBk Live thrives with a purpose and U.S. Bank by its side

Owner Tobi Parks has made xBk a place for community since opening the club in 2019 

As the owner of music venue xBk Live in Des Moines, Iowa, Tobi Parks works to create memorable experiences for her customers – and to the help musical artists who play there grow their careers.

As shown in the video above, Parks focused on designing the club’s space in ways that optimize performances and help increase interactions between performers and the audience. Parks also focuses on mentoring artists and helping them understand the business side of performing, drawing on her own experience touring with bands.

“For so many artists, the payout is being heard on the radio or having an article written about them,” Parks said. “But the reality is that’s not helping them for the long-term and doesn’t keep your small business going. This is one way we can help creators make their art a career, (by helping them) figure out where the revenue streams are, how to take care of those finances and how to do business plans. It’s about being deliberate and intentional about how they’re going about their career.”

Parks opened xBk in 2019 and has been working with small business banker Nerma Mlivic for years.

“U.S. Bank has been a great partner for us,” Parks said. “Nerma has always been there for anything we’ve needed, whether it’s something small like helping with a wire transfer we need to do in the next 15 minutes to talking about different financial vehicles that you can put your money into.”

For Mlivic, that’s central to her role as a small business banker.

“Many of our small businesses are not sitting on a significant amount of capital,” said Mlivic, who is also working with Parks to provide financial education to musicians this year. “One of the easiest ways we can help businesses like Tobi’s is by talking through options on how to make what capital they have work for them – whether it’s through a business money market account or savings account – so they can then use those funds to build or grow their business.”

Parks said she has a lot of plans for her growing business ventures that include the purchase of the building next to xBk and her future in Des Moines with her wife and kids. Starting last fall, she celebrated five-years since xBk inception with televised performances from artists.

When Parks opened music venue xBk in 2019, she had no idea what was in store for her, her small business and for the musicians booked to play there.

“The pandemic was the scariest thing I’d ever gone through because I had put my life savings into this building,” said Parks, who moved to Iowa from Brooklyn, New York (xBk stands for ex-Brooklyn). “We didn’t know when or if live music was going to come back. We had a lot of support from a collective of small businesses and from U.S. Bank to get through that time.”

U.S. Bank helped Parks apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans with the U.S. Small Business Administration. Now, with xBk back in operation and welcoming more than a dozen artists a month, U.S. Bank is helping Parks meet the ongoing business needs through services like talech, a point-of-sale system her bartenders use that integrates with the business’ financial software on the back end.

The experience Parks provides to musicians and audiences is built on her time touring with bands through the 1990s and 2000s in venues across the country. She said that having a space that makes artists more comfortable, where they feel safe to play in, and that connect them to the community and to their art has been a driving passion that became a reality for her in Des Moines.

“It seemed like a really reasonable thing that I am now in a city that is reasonably affordable, where I can purchase property and create the space I want to for musicians and fans,” Parks said. “It’s something that I take great pride in – that people choose to perform here and that they choose to spend their money here. I want to make sure that their time here is one of the best experiences that they could have.”