We’ve all heard the saying “A Cobbler’s kid has no shoes”.
Amy and I originally started In Good Company because we needed this kind of shared work space and entrepreneurial community ourselves. And, for the past 3 years I have enjoyed the benefits of what we have created.
Most women I work with know that I work in NYC and live in Philadelphia. It is a balance which I have considered to be the best of both worlds. I love working from home some of the time and being in NYC around other smart, professional, entrepreneurial women some of the time.
This balance worked quite well for me until I began my maternity leave. Well actually, it worked well until June 22nd when I had my travel restricted for the last month of my pregnancy. While I have spent much of the time working from home (save for the 5 weeks after my daughter arrived) it has now been almost 3 months since I’ve been at the office!!! I miss all my working pals tremendously and am not surprisingly finding it harder to work at home with an infant around. Still, I was making it work…hours late at night, a few minutes here and there during unpredictably timed naps.
However, this week that all changed. On Tuesday my childcare provider officially started and I officially became in desperate need of a place to work! I felt a bit liberated to have the time and space to get work done. I also felt stuck because I had no place to do it. I kept thinking how ironic it is that I am the co-founder of an office space and in the business of real estate and yet here I am, trolling coffee shops like all the other people without an office. I am the cobbler who has no shoes.
After spending one “homeless” day in 2 coffee shops (both lovely but too loud and cramped), I reaffirmed the need for the business we created and reconnected with the feelings of frustration about hampered productivity and effectiveness. Something had to be done! How am I supposed to write a book like this??
So what did I do? What any determined, self-employed person with a variable work schedule and who is looking for a bit of sanity would do. I joined a co-working space, of course!
Lucky for me, IndyHall – a Philadelphia co-working favorite – is in walking distance from my house.
How strange it is to now belong to and work from a co-working space that is not my own. How strange to be a client of my own kind of business. How strange to be in such dire need of the very services that you provide.
I’ve spent much of the last two days thinking about the value and importance of being a consumer in your own market. It is certainly worth considering how you can experiment with something similar.
Certainly my situation is ironic but I’m excited to have a solution and I’m happy to be supporting the co-working movement in multiple ways. Also I’m finding it refreshing to experience another person’s way of doing something. It is cool to be able to appreciate the similarities and differences between IGC and IndyHall. It’s a great opportunity to see and think about things differently. If nothing more it is a good experience to be in the client’s shoes for a while. Hey…at least there are shoes!
Posted by Adelaide Lancaster
Image courtesy of marthastewart.com
