How We Survived 2020

In March 2020, The Coven St. Paul was filled with hundreds of people celebrating, connecting, and finding joy together. It was week five of opening the new location, and even though it was a brisk 20 degrees outside, it was sunny, bright, and warm amongst the historic vaulted ceilings, hot pink floor tiles, and tropical indoor foliage.

It was mid-day at our annual FeMNist Days event in March of 2020 (to our friends from outside The North, we did not spell our favorite word wrong…MN = Minnesota). We had just finished celebrating brilliant entrepreneurs pitching their businesses when I caught a news alert on my phone. “First positive Coronavirus test found in MN.” As this was early March, we didn’t know much about the virus, where it was, or how people got it. As I quickly shared with our team, we all grabbed a handful of Lysol wipes, and started scrubbing door handles and serving spoons in between hugs and high-fives with our members and guests.

Two Mondays later, our team sat together in the empty space. A nervous electric current ran between each of us as we stared at one another, uncertain of what would happen when we made the collective decision to temporarily close for the safety of our communities. It was a group discussion, weighing what we knew (which wasn’t much at the time), the safety of our staff and members, and our values as a company, of which adaptability, abundance, and hospitality rank high.

We knew the short-term closing of our physical locations would mean the erasure of the magical happenstance that occurs in our spaces. We often watch members sit next to someone new, and by the time they leave for the day, they’ve found a business partner, friend, advocate, or connector. Without proximity, that wasn’t going to happen. What we heard from our members quickly moving into quarantine that second week of March was that they missed one another. They missed the connectivity and camaraderie that made even the most uncertain moments less scary.

The day we made the decision to temporarily close our physical spaces was the same day we launched our digital community. We offered opportunities to participate in virtual entrepreneurial problem solving dialogues, career advancement webinars, and digital networking. The way we work has fundamentally changed, but the reason we connect remains the same: to feel a sense of belonging.

Pivoting a business requires a solid foundation to make a focused turn. As we head into the next phase of the pandemic, cautiously opening up capacity, we reflect on how we survived the last year.

1. Privilege. According to the Federal Reserve, more than 200,000 extra businesses closed in 2020 due to the pandemic. Among them, some of our favorite local hangouts and staples. The pain of saying goodbye to your life’s work isn’t lost on those of us who made it through. One step to the left or right in the midst of a turbulent economy and mandated shut downs will sink your business baby. The co-founders of The Coven were able to take freelance work or lean on savings to sustain our families. It’s a privilege many founders don’t have, but that we were able to use to keep our employees paid. It was stressful and challenging to manage children, family, business, freelance, and ourselves, but we’ve always operated from a place of abundance, supporting each member of our team’s needs to stretch and flex. People don’t often talk about the how in entrepreneurship, but we think it’s important to share the sacrifices, hustle, and focus needed to sustain a business.
2. Sustainable Growth. The Coven’s success isn’t dependent on inflated valuations and a rocketship to the moon. We believe in sustainable growth that is both good for business and the communities we serve. Our first three years were spent understanding our two locations in a familiar market. We learned a lot since opening the business, shifting from a mindset of scarcity to one of abundance. We’ve become more thoughtful in building capacity with a clear vision of where we’re going and an entrepreneurial mindset of how to get there — not by any means necessary, but by the means that make the most sense. The pandemic revealed which areas to invest in to continue growing. We’re seeing the most impact in professional development that works for our new, adjusted lives. Our on-demand approach to content allows people to engage with high-quality leadership centered content when it works for their schedules. We’re also finding ourselves supporting more teams looking to offer flexible “third space” work options for employees. We’re helping businesses find focus, productivity, and respite in our physical locations. Our on-demand professional development series is an extra perk for workers not found at other co-working spaces. We’re building the future of work alongside our members. This rocketship has seats for everyone, and we’ve got our eyes set on the next galaxy.
3. Mission-Aligned. We stay committed to our core values and mission. The pandemic may have changed how we connect with people, but it didn’t change the foundational pillars of our business:

• Recognizing the intersectionality of each individual.
• We strive to do the most good for our community. We’re not always going to get it right, but when we know better, we do better.
• Approach everything with a mindset of abundance.
• Adaptability runs through our veins.
• As a hospitality business, we do everything in service of others.

A few pivots and countless pirouettes in 2020 made us a more resilient company in every way.

Our spaces digital and physical spaces are filled with renewed energy more vibrant even than pre-pandemic days. If this community can survive 2020, we can get through anything together. Onwards and upwards.