Witness the Business
My first coworking space was a cold, glorious, high-ceilinged art deco communal studio in Melbourne’s legendary Nicholas Building. That commitment to $200 or so dollars a month for a spot at a shared desk of four in the heart of the city felt magical. It made me feel legitimate. Even now - 13 years later - I can still remember the thrill of packing up my laptop and hopping on a tram down Swanston Street. The lift attendant (yes, they actually had one!) who’d chat as they took me to my floor, the click of my key in the office door, the balcony with a vista directly onto St Paul’s Cathedral. Journal Cafe for coffees, and hot crepes from Degraves Street for lunch.
Iolanthe surveying Melbourne from her first coworking space circa 2011. Read the OG piece accompanying this throwback if you like.
Sure, it was a novelty - and a relief to move my business away from my home study. But more importantly it was profound step in self-actualisation as a business owner. In this Good Axe Journal piece, I reflect on why shared professional workspaces change both you and your business for good.
Success as a freelancer - or business owner at any stage of maturation, really - depends significantly on our ability to self-actualise. If there’s one thing pandemic taught the wider community, it was the negative impact of isolation on our psyche. Sure, in many ways it was same’ol same’ol for freelancers and consultants who are often used to working in isolation. But isolation is not good for our practice, regardless of category.
When we’re in isolation with our business it is hard to recognise our expertise. This is one reason why it’s so tough for newbie marketers to develop their skills when they take roles in small organisations. They are silo’ed in an organisation where they might be the only creative. They’re unfairly looked to for a level of experience and insight they individually struggle to have at the beginning of their careers, and they have no peers to bounce ideas off. In short; they can’t take the temperature of their own ideas, success, or the wider industry they function within. It’s hard to grow without a way of measuring progress.
Self-actualisation means taking a chance on a new way of being and doing. Throughout our lives, we try on a variety of ‘hats’ for fit. They might be careers, suburbs, relationships, hobbies, methods of exercise or eating. Embarking on any new life mode is a vote of confidence in growth, and the only way we’re able to build ourselves into the fully-realised people we desire to become. But we can’t do this on our own.
When I look back at Iolanthe circa 2011, standing proudly on the deck of her ‘more Melbourne than Melbourne’ first studio, I see this self-actualisation in action. There is a direct link between that woman’s Vivienne Westwood-gumbooted actions and the Good Axe empire I am on the cusp of building today. And you know what that link is? It’s a vote of confidence in myself, a taking-oneself-seriously momentum that has continued to move me towards my joy.
Gosh, ain’t she cute? I still remember this outfit: vintage Missoni coat, Westwood galoshes, Dinosaur Designs ring.
At this stage I could have stayed working at home and remained successful as a freelancer using contractor support occasionally. But I wanted to grow, to adventure and to give more weigh to my baby business by having an office. It made me feel different about my daily work, about my client list, about my brand. It was absolutely a catalyst in development as a person and an entrepreneur.
Working in a communal space and putting my money where my mouth was really forced me to begin the process of maturation and improving standards and systems within my business. Opportunities such as the Heide Gallery fundraising campaign that featured both me and Mirka Mora feel like a direct outcome of this time.
The Heide Gallery campaign featuring Ruby Assembly. Read more.
Over my career, I have made Ruby Assembly a home at a variety of personally important coworking spaces. From Burnley’s ‘The Man Room’ to Brunswick East’s ‘The CoWork Co’ and Hub Parliament at Orica House - each space I’ve been in has been a stepping stone to connection, to taking the temperature of my progression as a business owner, and to personal development.
At Bec Mutch’s ‘The CoWork Co’ in Brunswick East, 2015.
The most valuable element of growing myself and my business in these spaces were the deep relationships I have forged. I think the secret sauce to being able to have longevity and success in self-employment is relentlessness. The turning up day-in-day-out. It is this quality that sets business owners apart, and leads to more robust practices. It is rarely because a business idea is bad that it fails. It is because the business owner isn’t able to prospect and keep on keepin’ on. A professional workspace offers you a community and a place to show up; it’s a pre-made booster platform from which to self-actualise as a freelancer.
When you work in isolation, there is no-one to see that you’re turning in day-in-day-out. To check in on you when you’re looking a bit less-than-chipper. You can’t eavesdrop on other conversations to learn new things. You can’t make new friends. You can’t compare notes on challenging clients. You have no-one to share the wins and the losses with. I credit much of my growth to having turned up - again and again - to a working community of other business owners. To having my business journey witnessed by my peers. Without their presence and support, it would have been much harder to see how well I was actually doing. Without their viewpoint, I would have had less diversity in my decision-making processes.
The privilege of a relationship is in the seeing of one another. The daily witnessing, turning up, exchanging courtesies and hopefully confidences. These valuable relationships are to be found both in the personal space with a partner, and in the professional, shared workspace with a peer. It has been my privilege to witness the success of so many peers who are now friends. It’s a cumulative thing that happens over years. It’s a beautiful thing that life evolves.
Good Axe is my offering to you. We are here to witness your business. And it is both our pleasure and honor.
Iolanthe circa 2013, looking towards the future in some sweet pants.
