On Freelancing and Coworking
During those hazy days between Christmas and New Year, when one is not quite sure what day it is and plans rarely stretch past the next meal, I indulged a fair bit of reflection on 2015 and in particular, where I work and what it means to me.
2015 heralded the end of a long cycle immersed in the world of craft and design. I left with a lot of great memories and a body of work that I’m proud to have worked on.
The team I was working with were based in Inspire9; a location choice made initially to help the team through a period of rapid expansion. I’d never worked in coworking space before. When I was running my own jewellery design business I worked from a solo studio and, after that, I had worked in small solo offices or from home. I’ve never considered that this soloist outlook was actually making me pretty sad and could have possibly stymied the growth of my jewellery business.
Sharing space with others takes some adjustment and coworking spaces are no different. I’m a fairly outgoing person, and I found it easy enough to meet the other coworkers in the space and hear about their stories of startup sorrow and success — much like those late night confidence sessions I had with new flatmates in my share house days. When I decided to strike out on a new path as a freelancer the benefits of this effort became clear. I’ve never been busier; I’m more engaged in a diverse range of activities, I’m exposed to new ideas, I’ve made some great friends and collected a host of new clients. All this has happened within 766 square metres.
I could get quite intellectual about the benefits of coworking for startups, freelancers and creatives but, that’s not my style. Instead, I would liken being in coworking space to being in a small village peopled by some of the most interesting, well travelled and occasionally surprising residents you’ll meet. Sometimes these people will spark something in you that will open a whole new side of yourself and expose skills you didn’t know you had. That’s the joy I think of being part of space that is more than a desk; it’s a community.
If your goals for 2016 include “getting out there” or “networking” (ugh) then you wouldn’t do much better than taking up a few days at a coworking space such as Inspire9, plonking yourself down next to some stranger and seeing what happens. It could be just the shot of inspiration you are looking for.
