Solopreneur Transitions from Home Office to Collaborative Community for Business Growth

Amber Waldeier (00:00) Hi, I'm Amber Waldeier with Zypplicity Un-Luggage at The CO-OP at Shoal Creek. I have loved being at The CO-OP at Shoal Creek. Working in a coworking space is so nice as a solopreneur because you are showing up at work while other people are showing up at work. And there's energy and synergy through the day. There's someone to talk to if having a rough hour. There's someone to talk to if you're celebrating when you have all this energy after you get done with a really great virtual pitch. So the community, the camaraderie, sharing work hours with other people is so, so wonderful for the lonely solopreneur journey. I've been utilizing this space for the last 14 months. I was the second person to move in, this new venture, and that was a very exciting thing to be one of the first offices in one of the first coworking spaces, and to be able to welcome in other small businesses that were sharing this space. It has been a great experience. The flexibility that The CO-OP provides has helped my business greatly. I was able to get all of my business out of my house, out of my bedroom, out of my basement, out of my storage. To see my whole business in one space and to keep it organized was very, very helpful. My favorite resource was the copier - sharing a copier. Solid, reliable internet, and I did enjoy utilizing the conference room, shared spaces, renting out the kitchen, the upstairs large meeting rooms for personal and family events. The #1 feature that kept me coming back to the shared coworking space was... relationships. Heather is a cheerleader and a listening ear, and so very helpful. Bob is a source of wisdom. Wednesday mornings there's a networking meeting that The CO-OP hosts, and the relationships there, as well, have priceless. I have made collaborations and great connections while being at The CO-OP at Shoal Creek from side projects. I used to be a graphic designer, so I picked up some logos for other businesses that were starting, and just encouragement from people saying, "Keep going, don't give up! I know this is a hard season." I was eager to office out of a church space. My children had gone to a preschool at that church years and years ago. So I was familiar with the building. I did not know anyone on staff currently, but it was easy and nice. It's a known church in this area. It's easy to tell people how to find it, and how to find me and my studio. So. No hesitations there. Working at The CO-OP is different than working at a coffee shop because I could close my door and I could have no distractions. I could open my door if I wanted the distractions, but being able to leave projects undisturbed overnight or for a week indefinitely was a huge perk. You don't have to pack everything up. I could make calls, I could be loud if I needed to and you can't do that at a coffee shop, and you can't always do it at home either when you're officing at home.