For Jessie Summa-Kusiak, opening a live music venue has always been a dream. So after eight years working as a design manager for Amazon, Summa-Kusiak left the corporate world in 2006 to open the Skylark Club and Café in West Seattle’s north Delridge neighborhood.

"I moved to West Seattle and thought there really should be more places for live original music,” said Summa-Kusiak.

When the Skylark first opened, the neighborhood had many doubts about whether it would be successful or not.

The location was questionable to find from within West Seattle, but Summa-Kusiak said it also has had its benefits.

“The location is both the challenge and the blessing,” said Summa-Kusiak. “I chose it because there was not a lot of density for noise complaints, but it’s a little hard to figure out how to get there from within West Seattle.”

Others wondered whether West Seattle would support an all original venue.

“People said ‘You can’t have live music in West Seattle, that will never work,’” said Charlie Russo, Skylark’s sound engineer.

Originally Summa-Kusiak imagined her restaurant business would carry the developing concert series’, but it turned out to be the opposite. While the Skylark draws well with its concerts, she had to work hard early on to find a lunch crowd.

Even in the current economy, the Skylark has maintained its customer base.

“Bad news affecting the industry is everywhere these days and people are definitely adjusting their lifestyles," said Summa-Kusiak. "We've never charged a cover, and now we're adding a $5 lunch menu and a few domestic draft beers to help lower your tab this summer."

Part of the venues' success draws from Summa-Kusiak’s own experience as a musician. When designing the Skylark, she strived to replicate her favorite aspects of the other music venues. She proudly said her venue is often compared to former local venues like the Sit and Spin and OK Hotel.

Soon, the venue will also be able to offer bands live recordings, an opportunity many of the local artists don’t typically have.

“Using what I learned being a performer, what was good and bad about venues that I’d played, I tried to create a home away from home for a lot of bands," said Summa-Kusiak.

In the future, the venue owner would like to expand the Skylark to include the space next door. But for now Summa-Kusiak is happy with her current success, having hosted local bands The Trucks, Brent Amaker and the Rodeo and Hey Marseilles.

“I hoped to develop this great community but I was still surprised when it happened,” said Summa-Kusiak. “I'm always surprised when local musicians that I'm a fan of show up (at the Skylark).”

The Skylark will celebrate its third birthday with four live, local bands on June 5.

The party will begin at 8 p.m. with throat-singing, tabla-playing DJ Baba James, continues with the downtempo Deepsleep Narcotics Company, kicks it up a notch with westside country-punk heroes The Stevedore, and culminates with indie rock awesomeness The Apple War.