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Jon Smalls has trained in the performance arts of dance, theater and music for more than two decades. He knows and understands the needs of artists for each of their chosen media, and is closely connected to the industries surrounding these needs.
Before starting the Nawn, Jon worked as a full time software engineer for the US Department of Commerce, writing intranet software to support regulatory compliance. He earned a BS in computer science, minoring in theater from Suffolk University. He has managed multifamily properties in Boston, and overseen deep renovation efforts to expand and improve the habitable space; electrify its power plant and net zero out its energy consumption. Fun fact, at one point Jon also operated a fleet of leased taxicabs in Boston before transitioning into technology.
Jon was inspired to open the Nawn after seeing a neighborhood and cultural need, and reaching into his network to address it.
Jon grew up in the South End of Boston near Columbus Avenue, attended Boston Public Schools and currently lives in Dorchester.
He is a dancer with a sense of humor.
Jon Smalls was born into a family of public speakers, and performing artists. His father was a preacher, while his mother was a SAG actress, author and local childrens performer.
Jon began performing in high school with show choir, a cappella groups and school plays. It was a big departure from his childhood background in competitive sports, but to this day Jon will tell you: theater is the one place where he can be as weird as he wants to be.
He has a number of iMDB credits for his film and commercial work. He has participated in projects like Surprise! Surprise! with appearances in reality TV and game shows like Spontaneous Construction and Pressure 1.
In his adult life, he has focused on dance and live theater with Danceworks Boston, Onstage Dance Company, and Rainbow Tribe. He also had a long running principal role in Slutcracker shortly before stepping away from the stage to step into planning art @ the Nawn.
While attending Roxbury Community College, Jon worked as a taxicab driver to pay for school. His routine was to take late morning classes into the early afternoon; go to the local garage to pick up a cab for the night shift; catch naps between fares before going home at 400am, and doing it all again.
He eventually dropped out of school to choose his next direction. He tried a number of different ideas: more cab driving; tech consulting; bar and restaurant security before he found his niche in web design and software programming. He works primarily with the LAMP stack, if you are curious, and remains a champion for open source and privacy focused software.
With help from a first time home buyers program, Jon was able to buy his first house in 2017. The early years of home ownership were hard; the building needed serious repairs, and Jon spent his whole first New England winter without heat; but that motivated him to roll up his sleeves to take on the challenge.
He learned to read plans, manage multiple units, work with contractors and even to pick up the tools himself. He was eventually able to accomplish a number of renovation goals like:
All of these skills came together in 2020. Fresh off of the closure of his usual rehearsal space in Cambridge, Jon felt confident enough to take out a loan, and open up a small commercial storefront as his own dance studio. He drafted a business plan, and began touring local vacancies in search of the right location.
Around that same time, the City of Boston released a public RFP for the renovation of the Nawn Factory. The RFP went largely unnoticed until Jon spotted it while packing for a flight to a dance competition. Rather than competing, he spent the whole weekend recruiting a team, adapting his business plan and planning for the submission. He submitted a package exactly at the deadline, and since then has been full time dedicated to bringing the best facility he could to the community where he grew up.
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