306. Empowering Spaces: Stories of Women-led Coworking
Resources Mentioned in this Episode:
Everything Coworking Featured Resources:
If you’re thinking about a non-traditional deal structure as a landlord or operator, join us for our upcoming webinar on June 9th: Three Things Landlords and Operators Should Know Before they Start Negotiating a Creative Deal Structure for a Coworking Space.
Masterclass: 3 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets to Opening a Coworking Space
Creative Coworking Partnerships: How to negotiate and structure management agreements from the landlord and operator perspective
TRANSCRIPTION
306. Empowering Spaces: Stories of Women-led Coworking
00:00:02,"Welcome to the Everything Coworking podcast, where every week I keep you updated on the latest trends and how-tos in Coworking. I owned and operated Coworking spaces for eight years and then served as the executive director of the Global Workspace Association for five years. And today I work with hundreds of operators and community managers every month, allowing me to bring you thought provoking operator,"
00:00:29,"case studies and inspirational interviews with industry thought leaders to help you confidently stay on top of what's important and what you can apply to your own role in the Coworking industry. Welcome to the Everything Coworking podcast. This is your host Jamie Russo. I've operated Coworking spaces and now I help others launch and operate profitable co-working spaces. And of course, I host this podcast and the Flex Uncensored podcast where I am a co-host with Giovanni Palavicini."
00:01:06,"Thank you for joining me this week. It is June when I'm recording this end of the year, end of the school year. Some of you are already off for summer vacation, maybe not off, maybe your kids are off. Maybe you're trying to figure out how to get all those parents into your Coworking space during the summer. Shout out to Kim Lee who is running her usual BOGO program at Forge in Birmingham."
00:01:31,"She's great luck with that and gets teachers, et cetera in for the summer. I think it's by July, get August free and then she retains some of those members. So consider doing a unique promotion. My guest today is Jeanette Rodriguez and this was really fun for me to do. So Jeanette was a Coworking Startup School student and of course I get to know the students on our coaching calls that we do every other week,"
00:02:00,"but it's hard to get like really deep into people's stories and I don't necessarily know sort of their why and you know, get all the details. So it's really fun to have students on the podcast to get the full story. I also did get to meet Janette at Juicy in Chicago, but also crazy busy and did not get to really sit down and chat with her,"
00:02:21,"but I knew she was doing well. She's already expanding. We talk about that during the episode. She has this really stunning, unique building in deland, Florida. So a Florida is hot, hot, hot right now, but deland is is a smaller market. And so she talks about opening in a smaller market where folks don't necessarily know about Coworking."
00:02:42,"Also, great story, she has a niche but attracted a broader audience. And I love, love this example, her example because her space is called Vision and Heels. So very female focused men can wear heels too, but clearly female focused, although her like aesthetic is pretty, is not very female focused, not a lot of pink and that kind of thing."
00:03:10,"So maybe when you walk into the space, it does not scream female. And she has attracted roughly 50% men and she shares some really awesome stories about how the men sort of have also found their place in her co-working space. So she talks about what's working well, boiler alert meeting rooms. She's expanding and adding some offices on the second floor. So she is learning quickly and adjusting and growing and she shares,"
00:03:39,"you know, what's working for her in terms of marketing. So it's a great episode. You're gonna love Jeanette. She's multi-passionate. She's a great story. She talks about her Coworking story the moment when she knew she had to create a co-working space and she's doing great. So it's a fun story to listen to. If you are listening before June 9th, then please join us on Friday."
00:04:03,"Giovanni and I are doing a live webinar on three secrets that you should know about creating a unique deal structure for your real estate space. That's not the exact title, but I didn't pull it up. So something like that. That is the gist of it from the landlord perspective and the operator perspective. So the simple way to say it, management agreements have become more popular."
00:04:29,"There are asset owners interested in converting vacant office space into flex space. They're trying to figure out should they do it on their own, should they have a partner. So we're hosting a session to help sort of demystify that and again, both from the landlord perspective and the operator perspective. So that's gonna be live Friday, June 9th. And you can register at Everything Coworking dot com slash flex and we hope to see you there."
00:04:58,"Okay, here is my conversation with Jeanette. I am here with Jeanette Rodriguez and Jeanette, I'm so looking forward to this conversation because I need all the updates since you've opened. So Janette's in D Land Florida and she'll tell us a little bit more about her background and her Coworking space. Her Coworking space is called Vision and Heels and she's gonna tell us where the name came from and focuses on serving women,"
00:05:27,"women professionals, and entrepreneurs. So Jeanette, thank you for joining me and sharing your story. Well thank you for having me, Jamie. I appreciate it. It's been a journey, but a fun one. And thanks for all your help and all your through. I know I should mention you went through the our Startup school program, which is how I got to know you and then I got to meet you in real life at Juicy,"
00:05:47,"which was so fun. And it was funny cuz it took like I had didn't recognize you off of Zoom, you know, I see you on Zoom all the time. And then I was like, oh, you're here in real, you know, in real life in person. So yes, It was my first year see, so it was fun."
00:06:01,"Yeah, it was an experience and it was great to see you in person as well. Totally. Okay, so when did you officially open? Oh boy. Okay, so we got the space March. So it's already been a year. Oh my gosh. No wait. Yes. But when did you open to members? Open to members? In August."
00:06:21,"Okay. But it has been, yeah, quite a while now. Yeah. Does it feel like that for you? I feel like, whoa, that went really fast. When anytime I see like member anniversaries come up, I'm like, how could that be? It makes me feel like It's crazy. It's so crazy. Like I have stuff coming up on socials like a year ago today."
00:06:40,"Yeah. A picture came up of me standing in front of the sign. I'm like, oh my goodness. It's been a year. I cannot believe it. Totally. Yeah. Okay, well let's, let's back up. Talk about your background and then your Coworking moment. When did you think I have to open a Coworking space and it's gonna be for women?"
00:06:58,"Ooh, Background. Totally nothing to do with Coworking. 27 plus years in trading operations. Originally from New York. I was born and raised in New York and was interested in trading the whole finance world. Always like when you were growing up, did you notice When I Was growing up, I knew I wanted to do something with money, money, money. And I wasn't great at math,"
00:07:23,"which is the funny thing, but I knew the value of a dollar and I knew how to stretch it and multiply it and it was great. So I decided to get into that field, worked my way up, got an MBA and took all the funeral stuff that I needed to take. And when I got to the top, I didn't feel like that was my place."
00:07:44,"Like something's missing. I'm finally here, worked my way, traveled a lot. Fortunately for me, I had family in New York so the offices I worked for always had an office either in New Jersey, New York, and of course in Florida. So I was able to go back and forth and spend time in both places, which was great. That spent time with my dad,"
00:08:04,"my brother, and the rest of the family in New York. So that was awesome. But again, I just felt like something was missing. Fast forward to when I decided to do a Coworking space after being on the top for some time. I remember telling my husband wasn't quite 40 yet and I told him, I said, I don't know, but something's missing."
00:08:23,"I'm thankful I'm here. I love my salary. The bonuses are great, we live a nice comfortable life, but something is missing. And I said, I think I wanna do something for women. And I've always had a following. I've always helped women in one capacity or another. I'm also a mom of an autistic now, 23 year old adult."
00:08:45,"Wow. I've always, yeah, I've always helped women, either moms or helped them with job search or just whatever. And so I became an advocate for special needs mom and it was just, I told my husband, I wanna do something like this. I wanna help women, I wanna be able to help them with the job search, help them with,"
00:09:05,"you know, their children who have special needs, help 'em get resources. I don't know what it is, but I wanna have a hub of some sort. And when I turned 50, this is what I told him. I'm glad you hear that. 50 50, I know. Fifties, the new 30, but no, I'm not 50 yet."
00:09:19,"You Could be like five. Oh you're saying when? When you turn 50. Ok, good. I Him, I said, and I wasn't in my forties yet when I said this to him and I said, when I turned 50, I'm gonna stop my corporate job. Okay, I'm gonna focus on opening. That's Gonna be the pivot That's gonna be Okay."
00:09:35,"So then fast forward two years after that covid hit, I found myself remote. I was, you know, operating my job from my home office and I was alone. Yeah. And I remember it was just, Is your daughter still in the house with you or does she live somewhere Else? Yes, so my son is 23. He's the one OK."
00:09:54,"Has autism. He is now a Stetson University graduate. So he did graduate top of his class. He was diagnosed when he was four and he was non-verbal. And they told me he would probably never get a regular education and had to be in special classes and all of that. And I didn't take that for an answer. I said Nope, I'm gonna just do this."
00:10:17,"I learned everything I could about autism. This was back in 2003 and there wasn't much of out there for me. Yeah. So I had to do a lot of self-teaching, read books, watch movies, I mean, everything you can think of. I did. And fast forward, he graduated top of his class with a general diploma and got a scholarship in Stetson University,"
00:10:37,"which they call the Harvard of the South. That's Awesome. So it's, it's a really big deal. But that, going back to the professional piece, I also have a daughter, she's 10 gonna be 11. Ok. I knew you had a younger one that was Around, I have a 12 year gap there. That's kinda fun. I have my daughter's 11 and sometimes I'm like,"
00:10:55,"oh my gosh, only you know, only somewhere years left and that's it. Am I I know Ready for that. Know she's about to go to middle school and it's hurting my heart because she's the last one. Yeah. She's active in sports, she's my little athlete. So she has us all over town. Not just great, but you know,"
00:11:12,"a lot of work when you're trying to run a business too. But anyway, so while working I found myself remote Covid hit and it was around Covid hit and then International Women's Day was happening and the company I worked for had an event for us and it was to feel and empower women and all of the things. And so I sat in and there was a gal named Kate Luk who's the founder of Luminary in New York."
00:11:41,"Yeah. And she talked about her space and I said like a light bulb like came on. I'm like, You had a moment, okay, What I need here in Florida. Like I started stalking her like, Hey, do you know anything about Florida? I believe we have a market here. All of that. And my husband got after about six months of hearing me complain and saying,"
00:12:04,"oh my gosh, I have to meet her. But we're in, I can't get to New York. Oh right. Yes. So he, as part of my Christmas gift, he booked me Flight hotel and everything and got a hold of Kate and her staff. I love your husband. Yes. And he arranged for her and I to meet. And so we met That guy."
00:12:24,"He listens to you. Wow. Wow. Lots of brownie points for him. Totally. So he arranged that and that was part of my Christmas gift. It had to be pushed out twice because during that covid got worse. So the trip kept getting canceled and pushed out. And I'm like, is this ever gonna happen? Finally, I love that you wouldn't settle for a Zoom call."
00:12:44,"You're like, Nope, I need to go there. I space I needed to, you know, just go see. Cause I was so excited and I came back fueled like I told my husband, okay, I'm not waiting until 50, I'm doing it now. He's like, huh, Game on. We're this happen? Yes, yes, yes."
00:13:03,"And she was such a motivation for me cuz she totally self-funded, no investors, no loans. And so I said, I'm gonna do that. And I started saving my bonus. My, sometimes You just need to know someone else has done that. Right? Yes. Yes. And it was, it's so Interesting. Yeah. Like it gives your you permission."
00:13:22,"Oh there's a way. Yes. And I feel like we're going through that a lot in the industry still. Like permission to do things a certain way or start a certain kind of space or, I love that. And I haven't, I need to meet her. I should have her on the podcast. Yes. We totally Should. People come to the Startup school often,"
00:13:39,"like they found her. They found, yeah. There are a few people who they who people show up and they're like, I'm so inspired by a certain space. So yeah, that was the one, yeah, that was the one for me. Game on. We're doing it. We Became friends, you know, text her all time tonight. She responded then I said,"
00:13:56,"how am I gonna do this? Okay, let me Google Coworking and here you pop up. And I'm like, okay, I'm totally gonna sign up for this cuz I don't know what I'm doing. And so I joined Everything Coworking and learned a bunch. That proforma scared me. I said, okay, this is what I'm thinking. And the proforma bought it all to reality."
00:14:16,"I'm like, E okay, maybe I need to wait. But it was necessary and it really helped me and showed me, I mean, you had everything laid out for me. So for someone never know, never having walked into a Coworking space until I started to plan. And then I started doing some secret shopping and you know, getting around to my local,"
00:14:37,"you know, Coworking spaces, which in this area there wasn't many. So I really had to drive 45 minutes north or 45 minutes south to get to one and see how it felt, you know, here in Florida. So that's, that's kind of how it happened. And then I planned my proforma for a space in a whole other county and I said,"
00:14:57,"I don't know, I think I wanna be closer to home. I wanna have it in my county. I think we can definitely benefit from having a space like this here. And of course with your help and, and the help of, you know, just going out there and, and working with the realtor and trying to find something, we ended up here in downtown deland."
00:15:15,"I want to interrupt you for a minute. With a special offer, if you are an operator that is getting ready to launch or your space is less than a year old and less than 200 members, office r and d is piloting a program called Flex Startup program, which allows you to save 50% on your first year with office r and D Flex to help you grow your Coworking space."
00:15:41,"As many of you know, I run programs that help operators launch. I run mastermind programs for operators that are in business and a Community Manager program. And we have lots of members that love using r and d office r and d. It's kind of an all in one platform that has fantastic analytics, meeting room management, lots of integrations, all the things as I like to say."
00:16:07,"So it's a fan favorite of the Everything Coworking program members. So I'm excited that you get a chance to kind of get started with it at a discounted rate. So 50% off of your first year, you can learn more about the offer and sign up for a demo by going to Everything Coworking dot com slash nd. That's Everything Coworking dot com slash nd."
00:16:35,"We'll also throw that link in the show notes. So if you open your podcast app, you can grab the link right there. Okay. I was just googling what the population of deland is. 38,000. Yeah, I was gonna say we're just about, we're about to hit 40,000 so Oh, You're about to, okay. Hit 40. Yeah. A little bit of growth cuz interestingly,"
00:16:53,"even before 2020, I mean maybe Florida just operates this way in general. It's definitely a growth town. Yes. You know, if you look at the, the little chart that pops up on Google, you can see an uptick starting Yeah. Really In 2000. So a nice steady increase. But still a small town. I mean 30 to 40,000 is still Yeah."
00:17:14,"Yeah. And to go for an all female space in a smaller market was brave. Yes. Although, I wonder about your timing. When did you sign your lease? So I signed my lease in March Right of 2022. Okay. Yes. Yep. And luckily for us, there was still a lot of space in the building so we were able to negotiate and so all of the things you suggested and we picked a space that was a doctor's office."
00:17:43,"So yes, we needed to do some build out work, but not as much. And so we, you know, I I think we made the right move. We're we're, You ended up on the retail level cuz I feel like you had a space that was like a used as a church and Yes, we went through a lot of like, I dunno about that Jeanette."
00:18:00,"Yes. I remember receiving a response with the recordings like, no, this is not gonna work. Oh yes, I like this. So yeah. Thank you so much. Well, so the building you're in though is beautiful. Yeah. Tell us, talk about, and you, I think you kind of knew it when you found it like this is,"
00:18:16,"oh my gosh, this is it. Yeah. So the building is part of a landmark in this, in this town and how I like to describe the land and everyone's like, oh my gosh, you hit it on the nose. If you ever watch Hallmark movie channel during Christmas and you see those towns, I kid you not come to deland in December and you would totally see it."
00:18:36,"Like it's, that's it. They need to film a Hallmark Christmas movie here. It's just it. We have the wooden toy soldiers on the corner, like the whole thing. And yeah, so this is the town and everyone knows everyone. So it's really cool to see. And it's all about word of mouth here, So. Okay. What, how would you describe the architectural style of this building?"
00:18:57,"I've never seen anything like it. We'll link to your website cause it's right on your website. Yes, Yes, yes. Stunning. But it's been updated. That can windows new. Yeah. Yes, yes. So it's been here forever. It was a JCPenney way back and then it was a bank and it had been a couple of things. But yes,"
00:19:18,"it's been rehabbed the outside still has that old town feel. But the inside is, you know, updated. MySpace is totally modern. So when people come in here, I have like orange and, and they're like, wow, cool. They, they call it, so this is the newlan is how they like to, Ooh, I love it."
00:19:38,"I love it. Yeah. So it's pretty cool. And we are walking distance to a lot of the federal offices, the big courthouse, which has been a plus for us, which I didn't even think about in building this out, how that was gonna help us. So Yeah, that's always a win. It's hard to know. It depends on who you're serving."
00:19:57,"But meeting rooms. And it depends on whether everything locally is being done. Florida, I think, you know, opened so they didn't move a lot of things to zoom because I've heard folks, I had a woman who was in our Startup school program in outside of Toronto. She is an attorney right next to a courthouse. The courthouse closed down completely during Covid and everything went to Zoom."
00:20:20,"And so she thought she was in the perfect location and then it turned out to not be the case. Okay. And you've got 15 five star Google reviews. Yeah. So you're rocking the Google reviews. I love it. The year, because your background's not marketing at all. Right? You came so finance numbers, now you're, you know, sort of in customer acquisition,"
00:20:41,"marketing, programming. You're doing a ton of events. Okay. Let's talk a little bit more about who the space is for, why the name. Yeah. Tell us kind of what, what you're up to. Sure. So vision and Heels. I'll tell you how the name came about. So we had two names. I had two names and first one was ftl and it I,"
00:21:02,"in my office at home, I had these stickies up that always drew my attention. And it was one sticky that said faith, one sticky that said Thrive and one sticky that said love. So I was like, Ooh, FTL. And then of course my husband, Mr. Sales, cuz he's been in sales his whole life, he's like, for the ladies."
00:21:21,"And I'm like, oh that was ftl. Cause it had dual meaning Or Yes. Or Vision and Heels. Vision and Heels was the first one. Okay. I rolled down and so I got with my nephew who's an artist and I said, okay, vision and heels. I wanna crown over the V and the L needs to be a stiletto. There's no like,"
00:21:43,"it has to be a stiletto. And so my nephew helped create it and then we still had the FTL on the side and I was like, oh, vision and heels is it. I got rid of the crown off the V but left the stiletto. Okay. That's how the name came about. And our space is a female forward space, but believe it or not,"
00:22:01,"Jamie, half of our members are guys. Oh my gosh. I love that. Okay. I love it. Yeah. It's nearly for someone with that stiletto. I Mean, you come in, I, I would love for you to come and visit if you're ever in Florida, there's like Chanel and there's stiletto. I mean my offices and rooms are named after shoes."
00:22:21,"So right now I'm in the gladiator team conference room. We have a platform room, we have a trainer's room for trainers, sneakers or shoes. We have a Oxford room. So each and every one of our rooms are named after shoes. So it's super girly. Like Well, but your photos, I mean interestingly I've seen some really girly spaces. Your logo is for sure."
00:22:45,"I just love this logo. It's so far you're gonna have my little Notebook so you can see this is kind of Totally okay, love it. Yes. If you're watching on YouTube, you can see, if not, you'll have to go to the website. Okay. But you're not pink. No, totally modern. Okay. I love all the photos in front on you."
00:23:03,"I'm looking at your Google business profile photos. Oh yeah. As you Can see, there's women in front of the logo. It's so good. The Google review it, a couple of the guys. So we have a chiropractor that uses our space and took a picture in our lobby. So it's, it's been pretty cool. We've had a few folks from New York that,"
00:23:20,"cuz we were down the street from the museum, so they were dropping off art needed a place to work and the museum sent him here and it was a guy and he had, you know, all his setup, his iPad, I mean it looked like a cockpit. Like he just everything out. I was like, okay. But they love the vibe and they're happy to be there."
00:23:38,"Okay. They Loved it. They left a review. As soon as he sat down he was like, this place is amazing. It smells good all the time. We feed them, it looks nice. Totally. You take care of them. Yeah. That's a great point. If men, and For them it's a selling point cause they're like, we're inclusive,"
00:23:54,"we support Yeah. You know, females and we have our office in a female folder. Totally. I love it. Okay. I love it. I wouldn't have known that. And I would think the vision and heels like clearly staged. Yeah. They keep saying, I need to change it and have a boot somewhere. And I'm like, no,"
00:24:09,"it's not happening. That's so funny. Okay, so you're in a smaller town though. Tell me about, okay, you're doing a lot of event. Kind of talk about what you did to get people in the space. Do people know about co-working? Are they learning about Coworking? What was it like to get your, your first members? So,"
00:24:26,"although I already had a following with the ladies, I found myself having Local ladies or, and when you say following Instagram, following, what does that look like? Instagram, a lot of the groups that I formed, either, you know, parents of special needs kids or women You're placed in the community. You were already pretty active and vocal and Okay."
00:24:48,"Right, right. So I felt like I had a, you know, a step forward already because I already had the following. But initially I spent a lot of time educating folks about us. Right. Yeah. This is who we are, this is what we offer. And it was tough in the beginning because I, it was repetitive and they're like,"
00:25:07,"okay, what exactly You do. Yes. So it was tough. And now it's funny because I, a lot of times the members will invite people and, and as they're getting them signed in, you can hear them, Them explaining that. They tell the story. I don't say anything cuz I wanna make sure they're understanding it, you know, and they're explaining it."
00:25:29,"So they're like totally like have everything down packed. Like yeah, this is a female forward space and we collaborate, we meet, we have pop-ups here. You know, if you need a website guy, he's here. Yes. He's a guy. He uses a space, but he's super cool. Like, it's just so cool to see. And they're walking around this space telling them what each,"
00:25:48,"what we've done in every single room. And I'm like, yeah, okay. They get it now. It took a while, but they get it. They get it. I love it. Okay. What kind of events are you hosting? I looked at peaked at your website. It looked at like, you have like almost two a week. Oh my gosh."
00:26:03,"Yes. So I also decided to start a Toastmaster's chapter. Okay. I thought, okay, so you started it, you're not just hosting it. I started It. Yes. I started it here. I contacted Toastmasters and I'm like, Hey, do you have, I looked online, I was like, nothing in the land. Are you interested?"
00:26:20,"And they're like, yes, we've been getting called about it. I'm like, well I have the space. So every other Thursday we meet here, which has been great. And we work with the local university. So Stetson University, which is where my son went to. Yeah. So it's nice to say my son's an alumni. Right. Go hatters."
00:26:37,"And actually they used our space and that prompted me to create a student membership offering. I didn't think it was gonna be popular because they're on campus. Yes. So the staff has used our space because they're like, our folks wanna get out. Okay. They don't wanna be on campus all the time. Change of scenery, just like anyone else. Yeah."
00:26:58,"Because We're downtown and we have nice bars and restaurants live next door. They get out the meeting and they go next door to the, you know, the wine room and they have a glass of wine. And so the, the staff is using it, not the students staff And the Students. And the students. Okay. Do you give a discount for the university?"
00:27:14,"Yep. So we give them a special price for students. And then we have a, a lot of nonprofits asking us, use our space. Okay. We've partnered in with a school that is remote. So they do all homeschooling, but they do meetups here. Okay. So My classroom is on another floor. So it's, even if the kids are inside a space,"
00:27:37,"you can't hear 'em. It's not disturbing anyone. And it's just amazing because they have kids from all sorts of exceptionalities and it just, it's my way of giving back. The fact that they came here and the fact that I'm a mom of an autistic now adult, so it's amazing. And, and they use their space every Tuesdays and Thursdays. They do their meetups here and just to see the kids,"
00:27:59,"the parents come out smiling. So it, it's just awesome to see. I love that. And I'm looking at your event list is like pretty diverse. Yeah. I'm also part of local chambers. Okay. So my local city chamber and then I'm part of the West Volusia Hispanic Chamber. I'm also part of the growth exchange program at the Daytona State College."
00:28:21,"That's okay. I'm part of the SB d c, I'm part of the minority group in Orlando Toastmasters. I also sit on the board of a female, a nonprofit female empowerment group. So they do their meetups here too. A few different, you're host And you're inviting groups to host. Do they pay to use your space? Yes. Okay. See it's revenue generating."
00:28:45,"Okay. But I see life insurance 1 0 1. Yep. And then I see let the women speak a panel Bible study. Yep. And then I see Retro Game Fest. I mean it's, that's wild. It's so fun. It's, it's Crazy. It's crazy. We've had cookie decorating, we've had knitting classes and we have It's like a hub. You're It's exactly what you wanted."
00:29:08,"Literally A hub. Yeah. Okay. How many square feet? Alright, so I went small. I know all, everything I was sending you was like five Five. I know. And I Right. I was like, Jeanette, I don't know. Let's think about this. Is this. Yeah. So I, I Think I mentioned this to you over at the conference."
00:29:24,"I regret not going bigger with more offices. Right now we have a wait list. So I was like going back and forth and the reason why I decided to go with this space, it's 3000 square feet. Hey, I just wanted to jump in really quickly before we continue with our discussion. If you're working on opening a Coworking space, I wanna invite you to join me for my free masterclass."
00:29:48,"Three behind the scene Secrets to opening a Coworking Space. If you're working on opening a Coworking space, I wanna share the three decisions that I've seen successful operators make when they're creating their Coworking business. The masterclass is totally free, it's about an hour and includes some q and a. If you'd like to join me, you can register at Everything Coworking dot com slash masterclass."
00:30:12,"If you already have a Coworking space, I wanna make sure you know about Community. Manager University. Community Manager University is a training and development platform for community managers and it can be for owner operators. It has content training resources, templates from day one to general manager. The platform includes many courses that cover the major buckets of the Community Manager role from community management operations,"
00:30:40,"sales and marketing, finance and leadership. The content is laid out in a graduated learning path. So the Community Manager can identify what content is most relevant to them depending on their experience and kind of jump in from there. We provide a live brand new training every single month for the Community Manager group. We also host a live q and a call every single month so that the Community Manager can work through any challenges that they're having or opportunities get ideas from other community managers,"
00:31:12,"build their own peer network. We also have a private Slack group for the group. So if you're interested in learning more, you can go to Everything Coworking dot com slash Community Manager. So we have three private offices. We have our open access space, we have 10 dedicated desks. We do the virtual mail option. We have our student membership, we have part-time membership,"
00:31:37,"we have our full-time membership. So bunch of different tiers, but I have a wait list of private offices. So of course what I decided to do is expand. So now we are in the process of acquiring 10 additional offices. Wow. In the building. Okay. Building. So we'll be on the second floor, which is why I went with this space."
00:31:59,"I'm like, I know it's smaller but we potential to grow. I mean that's ideal. Is it not ideal? Yeah. It's really hard to have that talk with yourself. To your point, self-funded. Yeah. First space to talk yourself into taking a lot of space all at once. And in a town where people don't know Coworking, so Right."
00:32:18,"So it was a risk and I said I'm gonna have to take it. And I was excited I did. So I think I, I built the hype so it, it's good and bad right? Because it's bad that I am literally turning people away. Yeah. I get at least three calls a day asking for private offices. Yeah. And we don't have a lot of competition near,"
00:32:38,"there's a space in Daytona. Yeah. Workspace Collective is, is growing in this area. I met, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes, yes. I met, yeah, They're in our community management program. They've been on the podcast. Yeah. Yeah. They came and visited this space and we're also gonna create a partnership. Okay. So I'm in the middle of the two locations that they're looking to add,"
00:32:57,"which will be great because then now I can have folks use their space if they're in their part of time and, and vice versa. So we're gonna work together, create a partnership. They've been amazing. But besides that, there's an executive center probably a few miles away. Okay. And I've been sending folks that way too. So it's really not competition for me."
00:33:17,"It's like okay, let's work together to help each other and you know, get people understanding what Coworking is. Cuz that's, that was my biggest, That's really the hurdle. Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Okay. So you're adding offices just on an adjacent floor? Yes. Yeah. Offices. So they're pretty much already all taken. Okay. Right."
00:33:37,"So already going. I mean that's the beauty if you can can't expand, I was able to do that in my Chicago space. I sold all the offices before I signed the lease. Like I took deposits and I was like, okay, done. Right Now we can sign the lease. Are you leasing the expansion space? Just like a traditional lease with the,"
00:33:55,"yes. Good. So I remember you saying grab at least 10 offices. I keep replaying that conversation and I always tell my husband that I was like, I shoulda listened. I know again, it's hard trade offs. You gotta find the right balance for you. I'm excited for you that you got into a space where you could expand and now the landlord knows you,"
00:34:13,"you're paying rent every month. And so it's probably a lower hurdle to get in because Florida is tough. We're working, we have a group that wants to do, they're interested in doing something with childcare. So like you not necessarily completely female focused, but real estate in Florida, you know, has gotten really expensive and hard to get into. So because of that population growth,"
00:34:35,"it's really in demand. So the fact that you're in feel like it's an advantage that you're outside of a major city. So you're, because the hurdle to get into those spaces, they're demanding like really big deposits and just, you know, a big cost of entry that that's hard, you know, for a lot of new operators. So. Sure."
00:34:55,"And then our downtown has a lot like, so Orlando downtown is, they have a lot of available space. Yeah. No one wants to go there. The traffic. Oh, Orlando. Because, yeah, So now where we're at, there's no availability here. Like everything goes so quick. And another kind of regret I have is not purchasing back then."
00:35:16,"Cause there was a lot of stuff for sale and now downtown doesn't have much here. Downtown land. Yeah. So I wish I would've owned the building. That's another thing that I learned from, from Everything. Coworking. It's better to own, but again, you know, a little bit of fear and, and the fact of the unknown. Right."
00:35:34,"Yeah. Cause we were smack in the middle of Covid, so I'm like add on know. Is there a reason why it's cheap still? And now everything has just boomed here. So Yeah. I wanted to ask about your classroom space. How big is it? How many people can Well our, Our classroom can accommodate up to 20. Yeah. Wow."
00:35:51,"And that is also like something pre covid people just didn't do a lot of That's working well for you. You're glad you did it. Our Classroom was gonna be dedicated desk. Okay. I tripped into that. Ok. So he called me and said I wanna host a class or workshop of some sort. And then we prepped the room that way and then another person called and another person called and I'm like okay."
00:36:12,"So it wasn't even part of the original plan or the performer? I didn't even incorporate Okay. Into my revenue stream. Interesting. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. And being near the college. So it just kind of turned out okay. So I love that example. Cause it's a little bit like, And then the attorneys, I didn't anticipate, I didn't think about the amount of attorneys we would have because of our,"
00:36:36,"you know, how close we are, our location where we're at, we've had an attorney that was trying a case locally. Their office was 30 or 40 miles north of here. So they booked my conference room, paid a per day rate for an entire month while happening. And I was like, huh. And then they told another person that told another person and before you know it,"
00:36:57,"like my conference rooms were all full. Which is why we had to create the other room, the vision. Because our room was constantly booked out with attorneys just wanting to be here because they wanted to be walking distance to the court. So another, you know, revenue stream that I didn't even think about. So now we're marketing more towards attorneys and just,"
00:37:16,"you know that. But that came from word of mouth. One attorney told another that told another and it's been nonstop since. So I'm curious, how do most people find you? Where do your leads come from? This town? Word of mouth. Mm. And Google. So if you look up Coworking near me, we're gonna be, you're there only ones that come up."
00:37:38,"You've got your 15 five star Google reviews. Yeah. So you're looking good. People trust you. Yeah. So Google Has been popular for us and word of mouth. Word of mouth is huge. Being part of the chamber has been amazing. They use our space for their leadership meetings. Okay. I love that. I think there are a lot of,"
00:37:58,"you know, suburban Coworking used to be like, does it work, does it not? You know, pre covid, I had literally had I think number 50 my podcast was like, does suburban Coworking work? And there are some real advantages which is like one right word of mouth. Like you know people, you know in other places word of mouth is just not as powerful."
00:38:19,"Oh, here it's everything. Yeah. Right. Yesterday I gave a tour. So I had a gentleman's that was sitting in the front, gave a tour. She walked by and saw a few and empower women through Coworking. Cuz that's part of my brand, right? That's right on the window And your retail level. So you get right, you get the,"
00:38:35,"so You're walking by and she came in, she was like, I wanna know what this is about you and Empower women talk to me. And she left out of here almost since here. She's like, this is amazing. And she's like, I know him. The guy that was sitting there working. So I'm like, really? Okay. And so,"
00:38:52,"yeah, it happens all the time. We're also across the street from a coffee house. So people are in there trying to work. It's loud. It's a smaller coffee house. They're like, we need a place to work where it's quiet and we can get stuff done. They come right across the street to us. So do you, you have signage on the windows,"
00:39:08,"do you have like a sidewalk sign? I Do. I have one of those sidewalk signs right out front. I'm gonna have a big old sign and you can see us. If you're opposite end on across the street, the sign is big enough that you can see it. Yeah. Perfect. So people are sitting there like, this is not working and they glance at your sign."
00:39:26,"So there's a light right there. So while they're at the light, see them look and read the window and many times they'll do a U-turn and stop right in front parking. We have parking at the building, which is huge for us downtown. So they love that they have access to parking and they can walk everywhere when they get here. So the location,"
00:39:46,"I I, yeah, I was gonna say you got lucky in a few ways I think. Yeah, like the courthouse piece, which you didn't necessarily anticipate being downtown in a, in a like visually really notable building. Right. I mean you could tell people or people can tell their friends, Hey it's in that, does the building have a name?"
00:40:03,"No. Okay. People, It's next to another like a theater. So they'll say go find the Draka theater. It's right, it's right there across the street from the coffee house. Yeah. And it's, it's a really visually notable building. Yeah. I think it's super interesting when you think about marketing, you just never, you, well you can make some assumptions based on the market type."
00:40:25,"If you're in a big city though, you know you're gonna have to pay for ads, right. Because you're gonna be at the bottom of the list of Coworking, you know, near me for a while until Google catches up and starts to, you know, move you up on the list and you work on SEO and that kind of thing. Speaking of which,"
00:40:41,"what did you build your website on? We use Wix. Okay. It looks great. Thank you. I paid someone, a young kid who was, he used another platform and wanted to learn W so he's like, if you're interested I'll do it. Yeah. So he's like, I'll, I'll do it and I won't charge you much. I'm like hired."
00:41:00,"Yeah, Especially for your first one, right? Because you'll, yeah, I like your membership grid is nice, really clear, easy to follow. You've got, you know, everything kind of just easy to find. Super simple. And then how do you, are you using management platform? How do you build people? Yes. So I'm using N cards right now."
00:41:23,"So they're also, yes, it's new and I, I think I mentioned to you what you, what we're using for the door access. Yes. And I got that recommendation from Michelle down in South Florida. Okay, cool. Yes, You connected us a little over a year ago. And so we built a partnership here in Florida and it's been great."
00:41:43,"Awesome. So she gave me some recommendations as I was building everything and it's helped save me a ton of money too. Yeah. Well I think that's important to Right. Make it simple. Can I was actually was looking online, is it simply that you're using for your Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you can ta can you just talk about it a little bit?"
00:42:02,"Cause that's one of those little things that everybody listening wants to know about. Yes. So totally. I'm gonna give Michelle props on this one because she's the one that told me about it. So she sent me a picture of the guy actually installing it. She hired someone to come and do it for her. And I was like, okay, I'm gonna try it,"
00:42:18,"I'm gonna, I'm gonna buy it. And so I had a locksmith come and install it for us. Super easy. You have web access, you can access from your phone, you give. Okay, so it has the digital access. Yeah, digital Access. I can see who comes in when. So if like we have a group that works out of here."
00:42:35,"It's an employee of three, you know, they have three employees, it's a group of three. So sometimes they'll say, Hey, can you run a report? So I know who came in when I can do that really easy or you know, my staff can do it for them. So it's super easy. They can get access if I'm not here,"
00:42:50,"someone needs to come in to set up for an event I can easily unlock for my phone. So it's, it's really cool and easy. I love it. And save me a bunch of money and I don't pay monthly for it, which is great. You don't pay monthly for it? I don't Pay monthly. I just purchased the equipment. Yeah."
00:43:07,"And different, different types of, of locks based on your door. And we had open doors so we had to do some maneuvering because of the, you know, it being a landmark and the doors being different and a traditional door. So that kind of cost me a little bit more because of the door type. But the equipment itself was super cheap."
00:43:25,"Okay. I'm gonna put a link in the show notes because yes, people are always looking for simple if people who have multiple locations and I think, you know, sometimes it makes sense to do, you know, the QCs et cetera. But I know those can get really expensive. So this is awesome. Perfect. Very. And It all adds up when you're self-funding and you know Totally."
00:43:46,"Yep. Was like ok, what can I save on? And that was one of the things that worked. Yeah, a hundred. I mean it's amazing that it has the digital door access, so I love that. Okay, so speaking of, we'll give Michelle, is it her power space? The power Space? Yeah. Downtown two locations. So yeah,"
00:44:04,"She's rocking and rolling. We'll give her a big shot. Okay, so you know, worked with her, you took our Startup school. What advice, now that you're like eight months in, what advice would you give to other Coworking space operators? Either who are like just starting, like in general or thinking about a niche, what have you learned that you would pass along?"
00:44:23,"Oh boy. Couple things. I'm gonna say location, location, location. That's gonna be key. You know, I met folks that have co-working space in other places and haven't been as lucky. So I think for us being in the downtown main street area has helped tremendously. So location, location, location. And if you're gonna be specific to a niche,"
00:44:46,"make sure your vision is understood. So as I mentioned earlier with you know, some of the members being able to tour and speak of the space means everything, right? That means that I delivered the vision, they get it, they love it, they understand it and they're telling other People, right? Yeah. I mean your story about the woman who walked out almost in tears,"
00:45:06,"it's like, yeah, clearly she thought you made a space for me. Yeah. And it's got, and also guys, so earlier this week and so it's funny, two guys were talking about men's health stuff and sometimes I sit in the front and I'm working, but I'm listening and they're talking about guy stuff. And so I'm like, okay, let's hear what these guys talk about."
00:45:25,"So it's funny, they were talking about health, men's health stuff and they ended the conversation with, well I wish you all, all the best in your tests. And they were talking about certain tests that were, they were gonna get done. And then one said, okay, I'm gonna pray for you, you pray for me. All right, let me know how it goes."
00:45:41,"And he walked out and I was like, oh, like this is what this space, yeah That is beautiful. This is why I built this. Yep. And it's too totally different. Like they're not even in the same industries. They probably would have never met if it wasn't for this place. And now they're talking about their men's health issues and they're praying Now they're going see doctors and doing all the important stuff that us girls always say they have to do."
00:46:07,"So we're rubbing off on them, which is great. But things like that, just make sure your vision is clear. Make sure location, location, location. And make sure that if it's specific to niche, that the community understands your vision. Okay. So I have a question about that. What do you think you are doing to create that culture?"
00:46:26,"Oh boy. Staying involved. Staying involved in the community, I mentioned, Yeah, what does that look like? How do you spend your day? You said sometimes you work up front, but right now you're hiding in a a room while we record. I know. Yes. I have to hide cuz I have all these members that decided to come in today."
00:46:42,"Cuz typically that's why I picked a Wednesday was quiet on Wednesday. Sometimes it's quiet, it just depends on what's going on in the town as well. Okay. So I said okay, let me pick Wednesday in the afternoon. And of course it got so busy so I was like, I grabbed my laptop, I'm like, I'm gonna go hide. I put signs outside the door,"
00:47:01,"do not disturb all over the place. And I've already seen two people kind of peeking but it's okay. All good. So I don't know if you know this, but I stayed working my full-time job while building this. So I hired a staff. Yeah I had two and I worked and that was the hardest thing. And I'm gonna tell you why because I could've done so much more a lot earlier."
00:47:23,"Like I was invited to a bunch of things. Yeah. They invited me to go speak at the university. They had a business management course and they wanted me to go and speak to the students. And so I had to find my, I found myself, myself asking for days off so it's taking so I can be here. Yeah. And it was just so hard juggling the two and I kept telling Kate,"
00:47:47,"Hey I'm still doing it. She's like, how are you doing it? Like how I was like, I don't know but I'm tired and and I just found myself super tired because my heart was here, this was my baby. Yeah, yeah. This was what your passion was now. Yeah, my passion Was no longer at the corporate place and you know,"
00:48:03,"things just got ugly over there and it's like why am I going through this if I have a space that I love and this is my passion. So I stopped working and did this full time and it's been the best decision I've made. Yeah, I think we talked about that at Juicy. I think that's really tricky because it just depends on, you know,"
00:48:20,"for people listening, it depends on finances. Yeah. Like do you still need the day job? You know, can the space, because it takes time to build up the space. I mean you have ramped up pretty quickly and you're expanding already after eight months. So that is going well and I suspect those extra 10 offices will go a long way to creating profit for the space."
00:48:40,"Oh yeah, yeah. And having time to focus on that. It's super tricky cuz I like the risk mitigation of keeping the day job. But you know, we were talking about culture and getting started and it's different when you put somebody else in the space right away to take care of it. I think that can more easily be done after you've established Yes."
00:49:01,"The culture. But again then you don't, you know, it depends on what your day job is too. Right. If it's really all in, some people can do both a little more easily and it sounds like that was just hard cuz you had to be super present, you know? So both were Demanding. Both were really demanding. Yeah. So,"
00:49:16,"you know, and and with the expansion and everything that was going on here, I said okay, it's time. Yeah. And yeah, it's been amazing. I mean, three days out of the week I'm out in the field just in the community. Yeah. So, so you don't have staff all the time? I do have staff. I have one full-time."
00:49:33,"Oh, You do have somebody there who's full-time. Okay. And Then I have a part-time person that helps with just it stuff and you know, technical stuff and we have a, we have a classroom on the third floor. So I had to grab extra when I found out okay, hey classroom is on high demand. I grabbed another office on the third floor and I created a classroom there."
00:49:53,"Cause I used to have it here but it was too small here so I had to love It. Yes. Your landlord's like, okay and you want more. Yeah. They're loving it. They're loving it. They've been, they the owners of the building live in New York and have been in the office a couple times. Oh interesting. Yes. What's happening here,"
00:50:10,"right. Because you're activating their building and you're like now the face of you're on the first floor, the retail level. That's awesome. And I also, you mentioned staff cuz I was thinking, oh, if you're not staffed, how do you handle mail? Cuz you went straight for mail, lots of operators. Was that a, a Michelle influence?"
00:50:29,"It was, yes it was. So I asked her like, this mail stuff, I'm kind of scared to launch. She's like, no, it's amazing. Great revenue stream. And yes, so we have folks from all over just wanting to have like a space in this area, you know, is the attorneys are, we have a few on the list for private offices because now they wanna office in delay."
00:50:51,"So yeah, it's, and and so they're virtual members now For now until they're off. They already have, you know, their office picked out on the second floor. I have the floor plan and everything. Yeah. So they know that they're gonna be, but yeah. So are you listed on anytime or I postal. How do you get your mail leads?"
00:51:09,"Yes, Yes, yes. So mail has, initially it's been just organic. Okay. Folks Googling, you know, virtual mail or, Which is also just a learning. I'd love for people to hear who are listening because you're in a smaller market and somebody, I think operators all the time are like, who needs an address in deland, Florida?"
00:51:27,"No one. They do. Yeah, they they, they did. Yeah. So it's been really popular. And just local businesses that are remote, they don't want their home address on Google. Yep. That's been a biggie. So we have a lot of folks with side hustles that don't want their home address on Sunbiz, which is where you put your corporation here in Florida."
00:51:48,"So if you plug in that's all public information, you can see their home address and they don't want that. Yeah. So that's been pretty popular with the, the side hustles and the home based businesses. Awesome. And then you're gonna list on those lead gen sites? Yes. Yes. I believe we, I have to check, but I, my Community Manager already had those on my Okay,"
00:52:07,"good. Perfect. And a few others. Yeah. So I think we're already in a lot of those. Wait, and you're $60 a month? Yes. $60 for the I Like it. Okay. You didn't go for the low. Good, good, good. Okay. Yes. No, we decided to keep it, our, our lowest cost membership is 60,"
00:52:26,"so we're not doing anything under that. Yeah, Perfect. Okay. Love it. Thank you Michelle, for giving her the influence, because I talk about it a lot, but I know sometimes you just need to hear it from somebody else who's, who's doing it and can say No it works. And Michelle's been really committed and has done well with it,"
00:52:43,"so I love that. Okay. So look, talked about culture, location, being super clear about who you serve. Anything else? Yeah. Anything else you'd share about kind of, Yes. So something that I like, I like to call it our sisterhood. So in connecting with Kate, she's very well connected and she designed a sisterhood, i,"
00:53:08,"I like to call it sisterhood, but a partnership of other female forward spaces throughout. And I think we now have three that are international. So it's a total of 26 or 27 spaces. And the cool thing is that our members here, if they're traveling anywhere, you know, within those 26 locations, they can utilize that space. So it really is like a partnership and expansion without us having to pay for,"
00:53:35,"you know, an expansion. And now they have access and it's been used, like I had a New Jersey and went to the New York location and worked out of there and actually met a client there. So it's been great. And so Kate started that partnership. I initially, when we started, I don't think we were, we barely at 20, we're at 26, 27 now with three international locations."
00:53:58,"We meet monthly during Juicy, I think it was about six of us that all I was just thinking, I was like, I know is in IT and who Yep. Haven. Yep. Yes. Leslie from MA Space. I know Leslie's coming up on, she's in our operator membership, she's coming up on her year anniversary and same thing. I was like,"
00:54:17,"I cannot believe it's been a year already. Yes, it's been great. I love that. When I kinda started at the same time, I think we probably were at the same cohort with you. So when we met at Kate's, you know, partnership meeting, I was like, I remember you from everything go. So it was pretty cool. And then I got to meet her in person over at Juicy."
00:54:34,"So we all decided to those that were going to Juicy to meet up at a, at one of the spaces in Chicago. And we hung out the night before the conference started and that was so much fun and we got to know each other and that was a lot of fun. So that partnership has been great. And then we meet monthly, we talk about what works and we market each other,"
00:54:55,"right? So just being able to post that map and say, Hey guys, there's these other amazing spaces. If you're traveling and you're a member, you have access to all these spaces. So that's been awesome for us. Very cool. I love it. Jeanette, thank you for sharing. Take, taking the time to do this and you're still new and learning."
00:55:14,"Congratulations on your success to date and your expansion. So we'll have to have you on again in a year and, and learn, you know, what you're up to. And I'll link, I'm gonna link your lock system and your website so people can kind of take a look and look at your messaging and, and see what you're offering and all those good things."
00:55:35,"So yeah, thanks for sharing your story. It was so, it was super fun for me to hear kind of what you're, you're up to and, and more of the, the story. Yeah. You have been like my Coworking mommy, so I have To be reading. Oh, no, totally. Yeah. I mean that's why we do,"
00:55:52,"you know, I love, I was just thinking, I was like, I really am fortunate to do the work that I do and to get to meet people like you who are, you know, bringing this to life and the impact that you're making on your community. It's, it's amazing. So you Thank You. I love it. Thanks for doing this."
00:56:06,"Talk to you. Thanks For having me. Thank you for listening to today's episode. If you like what you heard, tell a friend, hit that subscribe button and leave us a rating and review. It makes a huge difference in helping others like you find us. If you'd like to learn more about our education and coaching programs, head over to Everything Coworking dot com."
00:56:31,"We'll see you next week."
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