‘Tis the season for prediction posts, so here goes.
But I want to take a different tack. Rather than make predictions about the future of coworking, I want to paint a picture of what coworking could be and why—to share my vision for coworking.
To do so properly, I have to backstep a bit.
As you may know, I spent 20 years working in record stores. Yes, records. Hipsters, artists, collectors, vinyl, concerts, incredible humans … and a bunch of things I’ve sworn to never tell.
I loved that job, but my creativity, potential and strategic brain were stuck in idle. I knew I wanted more, but I didn’t know how to get it.
Then I discovered coworking.
Well, technically, I started doing music writing for the local alt-weekly paper, then community writing for Shareable, a publication about the sharing economy, then I discovered coworking.
And I was intrigued by it immediately. So I wrote about this budding coworking movement as frequently as editors would let me — which wasn’t as much as I wanted to. I joined my first space, which was not a good fit for me, then found NextSpace Santa Cruz, a place that became my home space and community for years.
And so it began.
Coworking helped me grow from a budding freelance writer into a professional writer, and eventually business owner and entrepreneur creator of Coworking Convos, The Lab and more. I am deeply rooted in coworking and, as my friend DeShawn Brown from Coworks says, I am a product of coworking.
So back to my vision.
Coworking has changed. The spaces are nicer, bigger, they have more offerings and the focus is increasingly on hospitality.
The people inside coworking spaces have changed, too.
Back in the day, coworking spaces were full of starry-eyed entrepreneurs, tech startups, coders, and teams. Coworking pioneers were scrappy, collaborative, visionary and rebellious. We didn’t want the work experience that had been served up to us. We wanted something fresh and cool and connected.
These days, all those people and the scrappy upstart vibes are still here. You just have to look deeper than the headlines that dominate conversations about “coworking.”
But coworking now also has a lot more remote workers, corporate players and large companies. This poses some challenges, but ultimately means we can reach and serve more people.
And the heart of coworking remains — whether we wear it on our sleeves or not.
I was chatting with the leader of a corporate team the other day. She expressed that she was inspired by what she saw and heard in the coworking space, and lamented the fact that she didn’t have the freedom and creativity she was surrounded by.
It was a good reminder that beneath all the titles and professional posturing, we’re all little humans trying to have a fulfilling experience in this life. We are deep in a loneliness epidemic, we’re still reeling from a pandemic that challenged us all; people are isolated and over-screened.
And coworking still has the power to transform businesses … and lives.
Like mine.
And like yours.
My vision for coworking is that even as it evolves and grows, it remains deeply rooted in its humanness and focus on helping people become their best selves, create their dream, collaborate on important projects, and activate their lives in a way that aligns purpose, passion and people.
Coworking can change our world by helping people feel more supported, connected and engaged. That’s why I do the work I do. That’s why I’m always banging on about community and coworking.
The potential for coworking is limitless. No one knows where the ceiling for this movement and industry is. All signs are that the future for coworking is very bright.
So let’s make sure that coworking doesn’t become simply a boring real estate play. Let’s make sure that coworking continues to be the movement and community that changed the game forever.
Further together,
Cat
