When I first opened up Walnut back in September 2016, I was extremely intimated by the 94 dedicated desks that we had to fill. These members would be entrepreneurs, remote employees, students— individuals that could choose to work at home but decided not to for the following reasons.
- Fear of loneliness
- A want to be part of a community
- Support from others as they experience their work journey
- Education
I had to brainstorm how we can provide value to this large group of people. Trust me, going into a new coworking space brings me back to the feeling of the first day of school, entering the cafeteria and not knowing who you are going to sit with.
I had organized 12 successful member spotlight happy hours where I had 44 different members present an idea, market their services, or chat about an idea they were passionate about to our community.
Did it work? During my tenure at Walnut and my apex at selling, I had 78 dedicated desk members in the space (83.8%).
Our first WeWork Walnut Member, Ryan.
Check out his medium article “We Over Me: WeWork My Saving Grace”.
Some were not the best public speakers, but this was an opportunity for them to practice in a safe environment with their “co-workers”. Each group felt a sense of camaraderie with those they have presented with.
Julia showing us her new invention idea about creating a box to lock her snacks in.
Kedzie, 2019 Chubbies Model and Branding extraordinaire.
We even hosted a “Girl Power” Edition.
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