Tag: Newsletter Aug. 2025

Q&A with Jaron Heard, a designer, community builder, and founder of the Soonlist app

Jaron Heard is a fixture of the Sunnyside art and tech community. He’s a coffee shop regular often spotted riding by on a bike or skateboard with a backpack—laptop in tow. He’s the kind of neighbor who seems to be quietly involved in everything, from designing tech tools for local organizers to figuring out how to snowboard 50+ times a year. All without owning a car.

On a sunny afternoon at Never Coffee, we talked about his app Soonlist, his philosophy on community, and why Sunnyside might just be the heart of what keeps Portland weird.

Tell me about your time in Sunnyside and what makes this neighborhood feel so special to you.

Jaron: I’ve been living in Sunnyside since 2021, but I’ve been orbiting this part of Portland for much longer. There’s something magnetic about it. There’s art, there’s music, there’s food, and there’s a real sense of community.

It feels like a microcosm of what makes Portland unique. There’s always creativity bubbling up—things like Poems Out a Window at Sunset, Pedalpalooza, and community spaces like the School of Art and Time. People here are building a culture that’s generous, creative, and deeply local. And it’s not driven by profit, which I love.

And you don’t own a car?

Jaron: Nope. I get around on a bike, skateboard, or the bus. Sunnyside is perfectly placed. Within 30 minutes by bike, I can get to almost any cultural hub in the city. And I can get to Mount Hood in a little over two hours by transit. I snowboard about 50 times a year without owning a car. Same goes for the coast. That kind of access, to both the city and the outdoors, is one of the most unique things about living here.

Tell me about your app, Soonlist. What is it, and how did it start?

Jaron: Soonlist helps you turn your event screenshots into actual plans. If your camera roll is full of flyers, Instagram posts, and group texts, Soonlist organizes them in one place so you can see what’s happening and actually show up.

The idea came from real community needs. I was working with an organization called Making Earth Cool to build a shared calendar for environmental and activist events. At the same time, I was helping organize creative gatherings through the School of Art and Time. And I’ve been involved in Pedalpalooza for years, which runs on a collaborative calendar that anyone can add to. I started wondering why more people didn’t have access to tools like that, so Soonlist was born from a mix of those frustrations and inspirations.

And unlike so many other apps, the goal of Soonlist isn’t more screen time. It’s to get people off their phones, yes?

Jaron: Totally. Success for me isn’t about downloads or time spent in the app, it’s about connection. Are people using it to get off their phones and into the community? Are they going to events, meeting each other, and feeling more rooted? That’s what matters.

I want it to be easy for anyone – a neighborhood group, an artist collective, a circle of friends – to build a shared calendar. My hope is that it leads to more real-life gatherings, support networks, and joy.

That’s such a hopeful way to build tech. How do you think about the intersection of technology and community?

Jaron: I think community is the antidote to disconnection. Online platforms tend to flatten us and suck up all our attention, keeping us inside and disconnected from our neighbors and surrounding community. But when you gather in person, eat together, protest together, make art together, you actually experience the richness of being human. That’s the kind of connection I want to support with anything I make.

I really believe the Sunnyside neighborhood can be a model for a creative, human-centered community that thrives. If more people share what they have and show up for each other, we can build something truly sustainable and beautiful here.

How can people download and use the Soonlist app?

Jaron: Soonlist is available on iOS. It helps you save, organize, and show up to the events that matter, whether it’s a screenshot from Instagram or a flyer on the wall at Stumptown on Belmont!