AlumniAugust 20, 2024

Brooke Cagle Will Help You Segue into New Friendships

Written By: Judith Hansen

Pull up your calendar. We have some dates you’ll want to mark: Aug. 29, Sept. 26, and Oct. 31 to start. After that, we’re at the holidays, and you’ll need some special scheduling for those days.

Where are you going? Brooke Cagle, UAFS class of ’14, hopes to see you at Segue, a grown-up mixer she shepherds at the Bakery District.

“In a digitally driven society, people are desiring to connect physically, even if they can’t communicate that,” Cagle said. “It’s deep down inside of us – the desire to be known, to be accepted, to be loved, to belong.

“It’s as simple as that,” she said.

Cagle, whose degree is in graphic design, has worked as a designer and photographer, but in 2020, she launched Tributary Studio, her one-stop shop for all things marketing, from full-scale branding, to website design, to digital and print marketing and photography.

Segue (the word means seamless transition) is a monthly social gathering at the Bakery District at 70 S. Seventh St. in Fort Smith. There is no agenda for the evening, no guest list, no points to accumulate or prizes to win. It is just an open evening for fun, conversation, board games, new friends, and some coffee.

(The free coffee comes courtesy of Fort Smith Coffee Co., which sells coffee, beans, and pastries at the Bakery District and is co-owned and operated by Gabe and Kaity Gould, both former UAFS students, but that’s a story for another day.)

“Segue’s purpose is to bridge the gap for people to create a culture for connection while fostering an environment for lasting community,” Cagle said. “We need that, don’t we? People we can go to for anything, the ones we can do life with. Segue is the place to go to find your people. Show up. Be you. Meet someone new.”

Cagle describes herself as “an outgoing girl with a heart for connecting.” While at UAFS, she said, she had a good collection of friends. “I was the girl who wanted to be a part of everything and friends with everyone.”

The next few years saw her moving to northwest Arkansas then to Iowa and finally to Kansas. While she was in Iowa, she dreamed about Segue and even envisioned the logo. When she got to Lawrence, Kansas, she launched Segue there. She hosted five months before she unexpectedly returned to Fort Smith in 2020. Like many other people, she saw her life change shape that year.

Segue Fort Smith officially met for the first time in January. Cagle said Segue events draws what she calls a “young professional” group, aged about 21-42. In addition to the dates above, Segue Friendsgiving is in the works for some time in November. The monthly events begin at 6:30 p.m.

Mad Ox Bar & Tap has alcoholic beverages for sale, and there are food trucks outside the Bakery District. Cagle said events in 2024 have seen anywhere from 18 to 50 participants with new faces every time. Segue has been proud to host local musical artists, Cagle said. Scott Bartholomew is scheduled for September.

The Bakery District donates the facilities for the community-building events, and different local vendors have sponsored food at Segue gatherings. Information about sponsorships is available at the website. Other questions can be emailed to seguefortsmith@gmail.com.

Segue: the seamless connection; bridging the gap. Said Cagle: “Segue is changing the culture of connection.”

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