What is the Cowork22 Journey About?
In July of 2016, I left Tampa, Florida, to go on a life journey exploring coworking spaces in the United States and Canada. In the following year, I was in a different city almost every Sunday and worked out of a new coworking office every week. I visited 16 states, 2 provinces, and 30 coworking spaces and managed to work in most of these offices for an entire week.
Where did I go?
Tampa Bay WaVE – Tampa, Florida
The Hive RI – North Kingston, Rhode Island
NGIN Workspace – Cambridge, Massachusetts
Think Tank Coworking – Portland, Maine
Abri.Co – Quebec City, QC, Canada
La Gare – Montreal, QC, Canada
Syracuse Coworks – Syracuse, New York
Bamboo Detroit – Detroit, Michigan
Madworks Coworking – Madison, Wisconsin
Flock – Minneapolis, Minnesota
COCO Downtown – Minneapolis, Minnesota
Prairie Den – Fargo, North Dakota
The Garage – Rapid City, South Dakota
L-Atelier – Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Collective Chemistry – Seattle, Washington
CENTRL Office – Portland, Oregon
The Trade Coffee & Coworking, Sacramento, California
ECO-SYSTM – San Francisco, California
Ignited Spaces – Los Angeles, California
Union Cowork – San Diego, California
I started this coworking exploration to experience, first hand, the management and culture variations in different offices and to learn how each community’s culture is created and maintained.
I worked remotely in each office and plugged into the culture as quickly as possible. I wanted to meet the people who ran and worked in the space, but I also wanted to understand the vibe and what made each office special while getting work done for my day job.
I mentioned to the members and managers of each coworking space that I was not there to critique. I was there to live in the city, learn from the people, and experience the space as any coworker would. I believe that every space can succeed with the help of the owners, operations team, coworkers, and community partners. We all just need to pay attention to what works and what doesn’t in our communities. Get the basics right, listen to the workers, and keep a finger on the pulse of the community. We are all in this together.
Cowork22 is dedicated to the growth of coworking. Our mission is to help people understand that coworking is more than a desk; it is the future of work.
Edited December, 16th 2017
As my journey has continued to evolve and expand, I have learned a number of new things about myself and what is important in our industry. Not only are coworking and shared workspaces a powerful change in how and where we work, but the idea of a job tying us to one place and a certain type of life doesn’t always have to be the case.
I am a digital nomad, or an extreme example of a remote worker, not only because of the type of business I am building but also because I knew it was possible. Whether a person wants to work in different cities every week or in one for the rest of their life, I want people to be able to find their balance between work and life. Work shouldn’t always dictate where and how we live. Freedom isn’t unlimited money. Freedom is choosing how and where we spend our time whether that it is during or after work hours.
Being a remote worker or digital nomad in this era is not only possible for many people, but it is a wonderful way to live. Here is to another year of exploring and bringing this idea to more and more people. Come join me!
