by Kate Crofts
Daily Lobo
Like many non-traditional UNM students, Chris Konwin balances parenting, marriage and a full graduate-student course load. Her career, however, is what makes her stand out from her peers.
In October 2001, Konwin and her husband opened The Phoenix nightclub in Albuquerque's northeast heights. She said the business venture further depleted her amounts of energy, time and money.
Admittedly tired, Konwin said she refuses to compromise any of her responsibilities, and instead, shakes up the mixture and serves a very tasty cocktail.
Konwin said she had to invest significant time in the club - time that was already divided between a family of five children and her hours spent at UNM studying to earn a master's degree in East European History.
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Due to Konwin's professed "save-a-holic" nature, she and her husband were able to fund the business without any outside financial assistance.
"I'd been saving since I returned to Albuquerque in 1992 penniless," she said. "So when my husband and I decided to open the club, it was practically a case of opening up the checkbook, and there you go."
Konwin said the ability to finance the club on her own reduced the prejudices she expected to face as a woman entering the business world.
"We weren't financed by a bank, so thankfully we didn't have to deal with the banker in the three-piece suit who is expecting to see a man sitting opposite him," she said.
Self-financing the business is intimidating, Konwin said, but it appears well worth it. The Phoenix, near the corner of Juan Tabo and Eubank Boulevards, has become one of the city's most popular nightspots, bringing in large crowds of all ages almost every night.
"Money is easy come, easy go," she said. "I'm not trying to be blasÇ, but you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes you save and save and have all this money and then something happens to you. Your car dies and suddenly you're poor again. I was scared investing all my savings, but if it doesn't work, I just go back working eight to five and start over."
In an effort to "do everything," Konwin's week has become crammed with various activities and obligations.
"Tuesday is catch-up-homework day. Wednesday is class," she said. "We open The Phoenix Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights too. We'll get home at four or five in the morning, and just go to sleep. Monday is our day off, so we try to get out of town for a break, but that hasn't happened for the past couple of weeks."
Richard Talley, president of UNM's Association for Non-Traditional Students, said he sympathizes with Konwin's hectic schedule.
"Do non-traditional face problems other students don't?" Talley asked. "Absolutely. They have to juggle family, work and trying to get used to being in the classroom at an older age. Time pressures get really intense. You can't stop being a parent just because you're a student also."
Konwin said she is relieved by the luck she and her husband have found in the nightclub business.
"Business has taken off," Konwin said. "Thursdays are really good, and we now have new marketing for Fridays."
Working as an entrepreneur has its pros and cons, she said. Konwin knows her own success depends on that of the business, and she has learned that sometimes she can't afford to take the time to rest.
"If I one day want to peel green chili in the afternoon, I can," Konwin said. "But on another day you come and work 20 hours in a row. There's a lot more flexibility, but you work a lot harder."
Despite all the time constraints, Konwin said she is adamant she will not quit until she has earned her master's degree.
"I have a quest for knowledge," she said. "Evidently a history degree is not going to put me any higher, even if I were to go back to corporate America. It's a personal gain - to know I've done it, and it's hanging on the wall to look at."
