“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals.”
Idowu Koyenikan, Wealth for All: Living a Life of Success at the Edge of Your Ability

Our First Family Dinner

Tamara Coleman
Jul 22, 2017 · 2 min read

Tonight, I hosted our first Co-LaB dinner. It was a success! Great food with even better company made for a great evening. Our first two residents, both Atlantan expats are making the most of their experience here in the busy city. We spoke about why they chose a co-living community and to see if their experience here so far has lived up to their expectations.

Co-LaB is a social enterprise that offers personal and professional leadership grooming for young professionals in a co-living space. People from diverse backgrounds living together to develop social ventures and themselves as mission-driven leaders. We work with both for-profit companies and non-profit organizations to provide the best-in-class all-inclusive curated living experiences for remote employees, social entrepreneurs and leaders-in-training. One of our members is a travel nurse for one of the top hospitals in Atlanta, and as a part of her job, has seen a plethora of ‘life’ as part of maternal delivery. Our other member works in strategic planning for a top university in Georgia, developing impactful collegiate programs for students. Our members have various mechanisms, but the goal is the same: to use the power of purpose to impact our communities and the world abroad.

“Humanity is not an aggregate of individuals, a community of thinkers, each of whom is guaranteed from the outset to be able to reach agreement with the others because all participate in the same thinking essence…everyone is alone and yet nobody can do without other people, not just because they are useful (which is not in dispute here) but also when it comes to happiness.”
Maurice Merleau-Ponty, The World of Perception

Family dinner is a time for us to do professional and life check-ins. No phones, tablets, or electronic devices at the table. Only head and heart. Our members have little to no family here in Atlanta, so it’s important for us to be extended family, caring for them as people and to be extremely invested in their journeys as conscious leaders. We all get really busy. It is easy to live in a house with individuals and never see them, let alone have conversation. Different schedules prevent us from connecting throughout the week. Family dinner allows us to be extremely intentional about prioritizing quality time with one another as a family.

I’m very grateful for our small yet growing community. I’m grateful that they entrust me with their visions, desires and friendship. As Co-LaB expands, our goal is to maintain an interconnected community for authentic connection. This is our essence and the heartbeat of our organization.

Founder of Co-LaB, a social enterprise developing conscious leaders in a co-living environment. She also works for a social impact consulting firm based in SFO.

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