BUILDING A COWORKING COMMUNITY
When most people were winding down at the end of 2019, we were gearing up for a solid two weeks of renovations.
At The Corner Palm, we’d always dreamed of having a coworking studio contained within a little coastal cottage. A space with a large backyard filled with fruit trees, with room for garden beds, a rope swing and a workshop out the back. Like a beehive of activity, we pictured all of our studio friends weaving throughout the cottage – lunches shared on rugs in the backyard, passing conversations in the kitchen and cosy desk spaces for deep focus.
...and at the end of last year, we stumbled across the perfect place.
So on 30 December 2019, we packed up our old studio and with a slight sadness farewelled the place where it all started. We shared so many memories and learnt so much in our old studio, but it was time for our community to have more space.
We had an enormous task ahead of us to transform the new cottage but from the moment we told our studio community we were moving, the offers of help came flooding in – painting, building, baked goods, cold brew coffee and moral support, whatever we needed it was ready and waiting. Friends even gave up their holidays to fly or drive to Byron Bay to lend a hand.
It absolutely confirmed everything that we love about our studio and this coworking community. In a traditional sense, our studio was brought together through work and I suppose we would be considered ‘colleagues’ in a regular office. Yet how many of your colleagues would spend their holidays with you digging holes, painting ceilings and lifting furniture?
This is the definition of community.
We work together, we are customers, we are employees – we even exchange money and services from time-to-time. But before all that, and most importantly, we are friends.
In our old studio, we would often explain to others that whilst we built the physical space we aren’t the ones who built The Corner Palm community. Every morning our studio friends (and often their furry friends) make their way into work – they hug each other good morning, they announce that there’s some homemade cake in the fridge, they walk together to coffee shops, they organise a surf meeting for the following day, they share work wins and work woes - they care for each other. And that’s something you can’t just build with nice furniture and beers on tap, it’s something that comes from the people themselves and the energy they bring every day.
The renovation of our new studio involved two weeks of 15-hour days building desks, completing minor repairs, deck building, cleaning, painting and gardening. It was a massive effort and was only made possible because of the incredible people that we are lucky enough to share our days with and call our friends.
From all of us at The Corner Palm, we want to express our sincere gratitude to all of those who helped us move into the new studio. We cannot thank you enough for all of your generous donation of time, food and energy.
Thank you!
