Meet Natalia Martinez-Kalinina | Cofounder & COO, Base

We had the good fortune of connecting with Natalia Martinez-Kalinina and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Natalia, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
In my opinion this is a deeply personal question, so my answer can be dramatically different from someone else’s. I would like to reposition this away from a binary, however, because most of life occurs in gray nuance and messy entrails. To me, the real question is what space is there to renegotiate, pivot, evolve if something isn’t working, doesn’t feel right, or is costing too much (financially or otherwise). Most things can be adjusted, renegotiated, reimagined, paused, reconfigured, if we are open to those conversations with ourselves and with others.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
We started Base out of a confluence of factors. First, noticing a decades-long trend in research around how community and connection has been declining the world over, and finding that it collided with a post-pandemic reality where many of us feel an absence of deep and meaningful connection. In the U.S. alone, a majority of adults report not having made a new friend in the last five years, so the state of American friendship seemed to be in crisis, even more in the face of a hyperconnected digital world that consistently takes us away from seeing each other in person. Base is our answer to reverse this trend and give people consistent, reliable, and fun avenues to meet new people authentically, and have surprising, unexpected experiences and conversations.

Base matches people to curated, intimate gatherings where connection and community is the focus. Our members in Miami report having this experience month over month, and having made close friendships, started businesses, and created real community as a result. As we grow and expand to other cities, and eventually abroad, our goal is for Base to transform how individuals connect in their city, as well how they connect to unique experiences while traveling to other cities. We believe the crisis of community can be reversed, one thoughtful gathering at a time, at scale.

It has certainly been a rollercoaster of a first year starting Base, and the lessons have been endless. We are fortunate to have a membership that gives us feedback often and readily, so we have been able to build experiences, launch a membership platform, design an algorithm, etc with the needs of our customers and our community at the center. I’ve always believed in human-centered design, but I’ve never had the opportunity to experience it as vividly and in action.

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?

A combination of:

(1) something in nature, and ideally near water — either the beach, scuba diving, going for a late evening walk on The Venetian, kitesurfing, paddleboarding,

(2) something cultural, like one of the many incredible galleries we have in Miami, in addition to the bigger museums and collections. And/or a live music spot or listening room.

(3) a cozy, small bar seat at any of the great restaurant bars around town.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Awesome Foundation MIAMI, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary! I co-founded the organization when I moved to Miami, and since then, it has funded 170+ grassroots, local projects through micro-grants. Many of them have gone on to become larger events, registered businesses, consistent collaborations. Watching the applications come in every month from all corners of our city and seeing so many people care about their community enough to apply for a micro-grant to fund an idea has been one of the most uplifting and hope-filling experiences in Miami.

In honor of this milestone, we have released a documentary, which can be viewed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_4AyJWHOEI

Website: base.club

Instagram: @soulafloat

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataliamartinezkalinina/

Twitter: @soulafloat

Image Credits
Ekaterina Juskowski Valerie Lopez Ekaterina Shcherbakova The panel photo I don’t know the specific credit, but Concordia sent us all photos of our panels. Do you need more photos?